WHAT DOES BLUE MEAN TO YOU?

Last year I was fortunate enough to sail from Turkey to Greece with a group of dear friends. We called it our own “Blue Voyage”, a time-honored journey across the Aegean originated by the Turkish painter and author Cevat Şakir Kabaağaç, who explored the same waters in the early 1900’s.

 

 

 

The journey on a Turkish gulet (those lovely, double-mast wooden schooners) was an experience I will never forget. The images are indelible: azure waters juxtaposed against the pastoral Mediterranean coastline… The warm nights, with stars scattered across the sky like diamonds on indigo velvet… Gentle, hazy mornings, waking to the sound of the waves… And, of course, the fresh, vibrant Mediterranean food!

 

 

 

 

 

The trip took place a few weeks before introducing the Perlee collection, and was the inspiration for the vibrant Mediterranean tone of blue used to create Perlee Blue for Spring 2012. To achieve the color we used cobalt pigments, slightly infused with water. The blue is then hand painted around the “pearls”, making each piece unique.

 

 

I love that the color reminds one of both sky and water… while also playing on the image of the Greek Island’s famous blue domes, yet reversed, to become the white “pearls” that rim the pieces. The result is a celebration of that special voyage – I hope you find it equally evocative. 

 

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