The recent trend has been to decorate homes in a neutral colour, grey in all shades from wall colours to soft furnishings is the popular colour. Many houses are painted in the shades of grey from Farrow and Ball paints. These backdrops are the perfect opportunity to add a splash of colour.
I am drawn to colour and always have been which was amplified as a Buyer in the Fashion Industry, latterly working for Liberty London as The Accessories Buyer. My preferred colour palette echoes the Impressionist painters particularly the works of Claude Monet who used bright, pure colours. The Impressionists used contrasting or complementary colours such as orange and pale blue. They never used black.
Tricia Guild of Designers Guild is one of my favourite designers and I have furnished various houses I have lived in with her fabrics and paints. Her style and colour pallet of paints and fabrics seem to perfectly compliment the paint colours I intuitively use.
It is sometimes hard to deviate away from the current monochrome interior, but be brave and look at bright coloured cushions and artwork to bring colour to your life. Take a trip to my Dove Tree Art Gallery in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England to view my paintings hung on white walls with complimentary Designer Guild paint colours on the woodwork. You may be surprised how much you are drawn to them.
My background to painting outside stems from early childhood. No matter what the weather - I'll always try and paint outside of my studio to capture the subject matter be it animals, landscapes or as is often the case - a combination!
Beautiful autumn colouring this year inspired me to capture the cherry trees on the stray in Harrogate - slightly windy conditions made the outdoors challenging but well worth the effort - !
Had a fabulous time at the gardens of Monet in the tranquil village of Giverny. Made all the more exciting when a massive storm hit the village the evening we arrived - ended up eating my Sea Bass in a plate full of rainwater..... as the restaurant got deluged!
Anita Bowerman
Author
Artist