Yellow, the color of sunshine, and its cousin, gold, are generally felt to be cheerful colors, indicating vitality, expansiveness, gregariousness, confidence, and enthusiasm. This month Partners gallery has elected to present the works of its twelve artist members involved with that color.
Who would have known that once a kind of yellow pigment, Indian yellow, a few hundred years ago seemed to have a kind of ammonia odor? It was derived from the urine of cows who had been force-fed leaves of a particular mango tree in Bengal. We don’t use that pigment any more!
Another yellow pigment, orpiment, was used in Asia for centuries, even on sarcophagi in Egypt. It contained arsenic. Thanks to some 19th century chemists we have fewer toxic pigments readily available for painters.
Here are some random associations regarding yellow:
Kathy Carl says that yellow for her means sunshine and light. It feels like I am getting a solar charge of energy after hibernating in the darkness of winter. Yellow is happy. When I am making monotype prints, yellow plays an important role as I build many other color layers. There is no better green than what comes from mixing yellow and blue.
Mina Cohen: The yellow color chosen has historical references to a kind of topaz, a yellow green stone which in contemporary chemistry, is most likely chrysolite. The name topaz may have been derived from the island of Topazios in the Red Sea. Topaz or pit’dah was a prominent gem in the biblical times, placed in the breastplate of the high priest.
Virginia Sharkey: I have a series of paintings based on the topic of noon that use immense amounts of yellow. Noon to me is the time of day when it is most exuberant, most aggressive in a way, and I used yellow to make the paintings very “in your face” alive and powerful. It seems the most prominent, expansive, dazzling color, like the sun at its zenith.
Miriam Davis: After reading about colors, and where they came from, I picked up a lump of rock on an Oregon beach that looked like it might have ochre in it. When I wetted it and drew on sketch paper, it made marks: yellow ochre. Then I outlined them with fine pen lines. Something new!
Pam Hahn: I am interested in the positive and negative connotations of any color. Yellow is sacred in Buddhism and then we have yellow journalism. The history of a pigment is also fascinating. Ochre goes back 17,000 years to cave paintings. Personally the color yellow in Turner’s paintings is an inspiration. I am able to see the sun set over the ocean and then the beautiful end of day low light illuminating my garden. I am attracted to yellow flowers and leaves as they turn. Some of my work specifically relates to these experiences in nature; other times I can’t explain the choice.
Karen Fenley: Every Spring my mother took us to Daffodil Hill. It was near the ranch where she was born in the California foothills. Waves of yellow that meant Spring and the new growth that always happens no matter what else is going on in the world.
Adriane Nicolaisen: When I wove fabrics for apparel, I avoided yellow like the plague because it made most people look sick. Yellow accessories are another matter. A touch of bright yellow as shoes or a handbag can make the outfit. Then there is “Indian Yellow” which has a generous amount of red in it. The best green comes from a pinch of black mixed into a tablespoon of yellow dye powder. I call this “don’t eat me green”. It is bright and acidic. When I was a hippie I had a yellow VW bug. But I didn’t buy it for the color. Yellow can be a naive color like the horrible yellow house on the south end of Main Street. Or it can be the color of butter. My father used to tell me about how, during WWII, yellow powder was mixed into margarine to make it look like butter. I wonder if it tasted any better when the color was the color of butter.
Kristin Otwell: As I was walking the trail across from the CalFire station, I noticed the new yellow spring flowers and the aging rhododendron leaves turning yellow. When driving I realized that ALL the traffic signs are yellow. Went to pick up my tax forms from my preparer...bright yellow folders, yellow manila envelopes and yellow highlights on the returns. I don't like to wear yellow clothing, but I sure appreciate yellow's existence in nature and its ability to really get our attention.
