Filed under: Color, Design, etc
This week, Brooklyn-based illustrator Bella Foster talks about her bright, bright shade of purple.If you're design- and interior-obsessed like us here you'll fall in love with Bella Foster's colorful illustrations and paintings of interiors in a heartbeat. You might recognize Bella's fanciful art from her previous works for Kate Spade, and magazines like W and The Wall Street Journal have also recently tapped her to do work for their upcoming issues. We took a few minutes to sit down and chat with Bella about a few things ourselves...unicorns and magic included. Scroll down to see.
Portrait: Noam Rappaport; Items: Bella Foster
1. Do you have a favorite shade of purple?
I love shades of bright purples, be it a bright lavender or an electric purple.
2. What comes to mind when you think of this shade of purple?
I associate bright purple with magic. It's the color of a wizard's cloak. It's what young girls like before they know better. There was a time I couldn't stand it in high school and I wouldn't have been caught dead in it. There are some tacky (or not) associations: Unicorns, fairies, The Renaissance Fair, self help books, incense, spells, crystals, New Age shops, Liberace...But it used to be one of the most expensive colors to produce--a luxury color during the Roman Empire and Middle Ages. But most of all, bright purple is the color of the time between dawn and sunrise and sunset and dusk. The mountains here have beautiful shades of bright lavender during sunset--it truly is the magic hour! I'm obsessed with it and it's my favorite time of day.
3. Do you have a favorite item that is in this purple you're describing?
Ah! I have a handful! My absolute favorites are these plates that I found in the south of Sweden in a thrift shop and these sunglasses that I got on Venice beach for $7!
4. How do you see this shade of purple used in a home?
Bright lavender shades are easy and you can't go wrong--It's good anywhere. Perhaps it's considered too feminine by some, but I still think it works anywhere. You can get books, napkins, paintings, flowers, or even a big crystal in a deep, bright purple! And rocks and shells with purple veining in them are also great.
5. What are three colors that go well with this shade of purple?
Ultramarine blue, yellow, and chartreuse. And I'm breaking the rules and adding a fourth: dark brown.
6. If you could give your shade of purple a name, what would it be?
Hmm...Magic Hour.
And if you haven't already, see our previous chats on the color purple with textile designer and illustrator Lena Corwin and artist Kimberly Brooks.