Bringing colour to life: yellow

It's a very grey, wet day here at the studio, so what better antidote is there than an injection of bright colour? 

Indian yellow, Persian yellow, lemon, golden, saffron, sepia: yellow is one of the strongest colours but I don't think there is another colour which has such a split personality.

The colour of life, with yellow aconites and daffodils pushing through the winter foliage and last week snow to add a much needed injection of colour in early spring, through

to a riot of colour in the summer borders. But don't forget to heed nature's warning combination of yellow and black: the wasp and bee sting isn't as welcome as a bunch of glorious blooms!

Yellow is a colour which keeps on giving all through the year,

adding vibrancy to our plate as well as our vases.

I couldn't resist adding these warning signs taken as I plodded up (not being mad enough to cycle) the switchback road on the Nilgiri Hills on route to Ooty, India.

However our studio sign is far less dramatic!

Yellow isn't a colour either of us use very much (or at all , says Terry) and we have to consciously make an effort to dye fabric and thread to sell.  But, just as it was with the colour orange, I'm discovering that the golden, mustardy shades are becoming more appealing the older I become. 

In Asia yellow is a sacred colour but it is one of the least favourite colours in the West, being associated with cowardice and yellow cards in football!  And never to be forgotten are the yellow stars Jews were force to wear by the Nazis.

But where would we be without the helpful yellow sticky notes, a jar of mustard for our beef and a yellow cab is easy to spot if we need to go somewhere fast?

A colour to represent energy, joy, cheerful, optimism, sunshine, hope, spring, youth, action, imagination and happiness or greed, envy, treachery? 

What's your favourite colour?

Hazel & Terry