Welcome to our new occasional series on colour - despite the fact we're usually to found dressed in various shades of blue we're fascinated by colour!
The first colour we've chosen is PINK, one of the youngest colour names. First referenced in The Oxford English Dictionary in the late seventeenth century as a colour to describe pale red, in the English language it was firstly the name of a delicate small variety of carnation, a member of the genus Dianthus, before being used as a name to describe a colour.
I don't grow pinks but there were plenty of other pink flowers in my garden this spring - from the delicate blossom on the apple tree, in the many pots of tulips and who could forget the amazing camellia? It started flowering just before Christmas and carried on until March was nearly through
and of course: Peony worship - you can never have too many peonies, *sigh* my favourite flower.
A blend of red and white, pink brings a softness to the colour palette but in the 21st century it's having a bit of an image problem, partly due to the backlash against old-fashion sexism. I still recall my own daughter crossly commenting on the commercial 'shrink it, pink it' mentality in the market place. But is pink really just for girls? It wasn't until the 1920s that western culture began to associate colours with genders; until then boys could often be seen dressed in pink, perhaps because it's related to red it was seen as a more masculine and decisive colour. Actually, thinking about it, I do quite like to see a chap in a pink shirt!
A couple of years ago we spent time in Jaipur, the pink city, in Rajasthan, India with its towering forts and temples glowing pink in the hot sun
shocking pink will always remind me of northern India.
We use many words to describe pink: blush, rose, shell, baby, shocking, fuchsia, magenta, puce, salmon, sugar, candyfloss, skyblue pink and even Barbie, to name just a few.
There's the pink of the London Financial Times, ‘in the pink' from the fox-hunting tradition and of course, the smallest finger on your hand is your 'pinkie'. Goodness, you can even be tickled pink! Interestingly though, pinking sheers have nothing whatsoever to do with the colour, but they are named after the genus Dianthus because the cut they produce resembles the flower petals. Neat, in all senses of the word!
Love and romance, sweetness, compassion and friendship, soft and tender: is Pink the colour for you? We certainly hope it is as this week we’ve dyed enough of it just for you!
There's the pink of the London Financial Times, ‘in the pink' from the fox-hunting tradition and of course, the smallest finger on your hand is your 'pinkie'. Goodness, you can even be tickled pink! Interestingly though, pinking sheers have nothing whatsoever to do with the colour, but they are named after the genus Dianthus because the cut they produce resembles the flower petals. Neat, in all senses of the word!
Love and romance, sweetness, compassion and friendship, soft and tender: is Pink the colour for you? We certainly hope it is as this week we’ve dyed enough of it just for you!
Best wishes, until next week,
Hazel & Terry
Hazel & Terry
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