While nursing this nasty cold from home today, I've been thinking about how a quick jolt of bright color always manages to lift one's mood.
I captured this while on a walk last week outside my parents' apartment. It's a lovely neighborhood, tucked on an island among other islands. It's got water, trees, ducks, and a never-ending collection of pretty views.
Of course, leave it to humans to muck it up. A nearby set of buildings surrounds a courtyard that must be one of the worst examples of 70s-era landscape architecture. It's little more than a concrete canyon that is as welcoming to people as a bureaucrat is to change.
I kept the camera tucked away until I came across this chain barrier beside the road. It had been freshly painted, and as a result it stood out from the sterile, monochromatic environment. I thought it was worth remembering.
Passers-by stared at me as I snapped away. I was able to fling one-liners at them in French, which is always a joy. Now they think us crazy Ontarians are about to invade with our lenses.
Maybe we are.
Your turn: Do you have a bright swath of color - or a colorful experience - to share here or on your own blog?
Surprised me. I thought for sure it was going to be a spring flower. I actually do have something yellow posted on my site.
ReplyDeleteHey all the way from michele's.
i think so. i usually try to!
ReplyDeletebut i'll keep them on my blog and leave your space bright with your own brilliance.
lovely.
back from michele's and always happy to be!
I am a knitter and jewelry maker and my I often wonder what my neighbors think as I drap knitted items over my fence to take photos (oftentimes I'm still in my robe) or be clicking away at an object set out on my garden bench. I need a t-shirt that states "It's for the blog!"
ReplyDeleteNo one would want to see pictures from the operating room. I always enjoy coming to look at your pictures though.
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me this time.
My blog's colorful, I think. Pink & Orange make a vivid combo.
ReplyDeleteI'm always struck by the intensity of the colors in Hawaii. And I was enchanted with the pretty colors of the houses in Bermuda. In California, we are trying to blend into the landscape so bright colors aren't seen very often on the houses.
Michele sent me Carmi
ReplyDeleteIt just so happens that I posted a very colorful picture today--and a monochromatic one yesterday. Before that were bird pictures. You just never know what'll gather the fancy of a lens
I love that you always give a "Your Turn" opening - just thought I'd let you know...
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that comes to mind when you say "bright swath of colour" are the bookshelves at the library, where I work. It's curious to see how different publishers and authors decide on the colours of their book jackets, so some sections look like a row of skittles, while others contrast in dusty grey and earthtone jackets.
Michele sent me today, but in all fairness, you were due for a visit anyway - that's why the lengthy comment.
Sorry, Carmi. I thought I was getting petite Momma but you got there first--so you're left with me visiting twice. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteDaisy visiting from Michele's yet again
yellow is a color that always makes me happy. sent by michele.
ReplyDeleteI love bright colors. They always make me feel better. My favorite is pink!
ReplyDeletenow THAT is what I call YELLOW! I love it! I've got a picture of my new tulips that I blogged about a few days ago. Its not quite as striking as your yellow chaing, but they were still a nice splash of color after a long dreary winter!
ReplyDeleteI want to put that bright yellow chain on a billboard and just watch people's faces when they drive by...
ReplyDeleteThis just seeped into my mind when I read "bright swaths..." - I'd forgotten it was taken, and it wasn't even a year ago! Blogging has slowed down time for me. That is so cool.
http://hohmannbecker.com/LesBlog/2005/05/22/05/39/alice-in-dandelions/
let's see, I have a south park portrait of me done by another blogger... and many pictures of mountains and such things...
ReplyDeleteI love your picture, the color and contrast and composition.
To me the image is a bit revitalizing in it's bright color, while also being a tad stifling because, well it's a chain and what else are chains for?
ReplyDeleteAs for my own splashes of color, I've been litering my blog with photos of spring flowers and children at Easter. Does it get brighter than that?
Color experiments are my stock in trade! There is a painting hanging over my desk here--a landscape in blues and greens with a red/orange streak that occurred by accident, running along the shore of a pond. If that accident didn't happen, this painting would not be hanging anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI love purple...don't know why...but I really love purple.
ReplyDeleteHere via Michele
Wow, the color in that photo is vivid. I'm sorry, I don't think I can give a good answer to your question, the brilliant color from your photo keeps coming into my mind.
ReplyDeleteHey... the Photo Friday this week is "golden" and yours is perfect for it! Go here and enter! www.photofriday.com
ReplyDeleteHere from michele's tonight...but too tired to think of anything colorful to say. :(
Yellow. A bright and cheery yellow is my favorite color. Its totally a sensory pick me up for me. Not here from Michele's. Here on my own. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Carmi...
ReplyDeleteLove that yellow chain. Almost every photo I take has something colorful in it, except for the ones that don't!(lol)...But really, I love anything colorful! It feeds something in my soul! And I think that is true for you, too...In fact, I KNOW it is!
Forgot to say I'm here from Michele tonight, but I come and visit whenever I can...!
ReplyDeleteThat is a picture that brings back memories... I remember seeing those yellow chains all over Phoenix when I was growing up!!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to look and see if I have an interesting color to post
Stopping by via Michele!!
Hi Carmi -
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me - I love the colors in that photo.
I'm too lazy to do a blog post right now, but my colorful contribution to the world is on my flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_sweet/129929021/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_sweet/129929020/
Thanks for having such an interesting blog!
art-sweet
Hello again my friend. Here from Michele's this time.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm colorful for sure, but its usually my vocabulary. Here via Michele.
ReplyDeleteps. I would pay to see you hurling insults at passersby in French; priceless.
Here on my own.
ReplyDeleteI was taking some pictures of a tiny flower, more like a weed. The little white flower is about 1/4 inch across and there are little round fuzzy "knobs" on some of the stems that are also less than 1/4 inch. These seemed to attract the ladybugs, first I've seen this year. The bright red was captivating. I took several shots. Then I tried to capture a macro of the fuzzy round knobs of the plant. Everything was green. When I downloaded the pictures, to my surprise there was a tiny 1/16 inch little bug, probably a form of aphid, running up and down the stem, bright orange. No wonder the ladybugs flocke to this plant.
You always amaze me with your insight. I saw a small documentary once by a private film maker in which he followed by camera a floating plastic bag in the wind. His audio of "what the bag might be experiencing" was bizzare, and so insightful at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI love your photos, and love your stories. You have amazing vision.
The epoxy paint of the floor of my patio is yellow. I find it energizing that's why I changed it from green.
ReplyDeleteHappy weekend!
Carmi, Michele sent me but I've already fallen in love with your blog on another visit. I know what you mean about 70s architecture. In fact, most buildings from the 50s-70s are a blight on most skylines I've found. As for bright spots of color I'd have to say it is all the blooming flora and budding fauna here in NC at the moment. Glorious spring as usual...but UGH the rain season has begun I'm afraid. I'll have to enjoy those bursts of sunshine in between the showers.
ReplyDeleteToday I was leaving the museum of science and noticed that they had just painted the Mass Gen T stop a very vibrant green. My camera card was totally full from pics at the museum, but I really wanted to photograph it.
ReplyDeleteSo you'll have to look at my museum pics instead. I'm working on the post right now.
Here via Michele
My bright spots of color are dyed wool and yarn and flowers. Nothing so fascinating as yours! Here from Michele, hello!
ReplyDelete