Jacquie Severs

Here's the official introduction of a new feature on the blog, Colour Lover. 

I've been in love with colour my whole life. My paintings are about colour. People will ask "what is your painting about?" and while I have many answers about themes and meaning and so on, the truth is, I always start with planning the colours. I not-so-secretly want to work on the Colour Association or name colours for Mac makeup or work for Pantone. All would be awesome.

Years ago I was working in a boutique and a woman came in wearing red and pink together. I lamented to my boss that I wished I had the guts to pair colour that way. She said to me, (and I remember the moment perfectly) "Don't worry, when you get old you won't care as much, then you'll wear whatever you like." It couldn't be more true. As I've gotten older I've grown more confident with mixing colours in unusual ways. I've even started doing it with patterns. Lately leopard print mixed with plaid has been a favourite.

I also forecast colours for work. I do this to provide myself with direction for the upcoming year. Colour trends are a trickle-down thing. I don't work in fashion, I work in gift and home decor, so the trends take a little longer to surface, and definitely take longer to go away, which can be annoying. The odd thing about forecasting colour trends is that by the time the colour is popular, you are kinda sick of it. Nonetheless, it is one of my absolute favourite things to do at work. I've done my three 'Upbeat' colour palettes for the upcoming year (which in my business is "everyday 2011" and "dated 2012") and here is a peek at one of them. I'll post the other two later on, to keep this rolling.

I call this one "Love Tiffany's". Click to see full size.

Inspirations include:
Cath Kidston
Martha Stewart Weddings
Fine Stationery Blog
Hawaii
Tiffany & Co.