Gallery of past work

Thursday 15 August 2013

Violet, purple, lavender and memories

A gentle colour, violet (or purple) makes me think of my grand-mother, a delightfully gentle and contented lady whom I loved dearly. She was born in 1880 and was traditionally and firmly Victorian in her approach to clothes and most aspects of life. Widowed in her early sixties, she wore purple often when I knew her, along with black and grey. She always used the lovely lavender-smelling 4711 eau de Cologne, a perfume first produced at the beginning of the 20th century but now very much out of fashion.

So purple, violet and lavender are for me colours that are heavy with meaning.

Most of the flowers in my garden are now past and I've been busy with family visitors, preventing quiet forays out with my camera, so I've sought refuge in the archives this time. I seem to have had no problems at all finding photos so perhaps sub-consciously I take lots of photos of violet or purple or lavender.

Here is a sample of my findings ...

Heady thistles photographed in an Essex garden.














A friend's collection of water-worn stones.












A richly patterned and stitched textile photographed in the chapel at Lydiard House near Swindon in Wiltshire.












Wonderful marble facings to the walls of St Mark's Basilica in Venice.

















A  fine filigree of rusting metal seen at a water mill in Northern Italy - a cheat this time as it was colour-adjusted in Photoshop. When I had played with it, it reminded me of the lace my grand mother used to wear so often in the neck of a dress so it seemed right to post it here.
















And last of all, a fortunate trick of the light turned to violet this panel of corrugated iron with its peeling paint.





















And now, because we've reached the end of the rainbow, an extraordinary picture taken on a canal in Burano, Italy, shown here because it includes the whole amazing spectrum of colour in one photo.



















If you're a new visitor to my blog, further details of this colour fun are to be found on Julie's blog and some previous colour posts herehere  or here... explore!

13 comments:

  1. What a wonderful recollection of your grandmother. I love the variety and texture of your violets. A great Roy G Biv surprise at the end! Thanks for playing along!

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    1. A lovely, easy colour this for me - and I wear purple a lot. Maybe my grand-mother is the reason why ...?

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  2. What a lovely collection of violets and mauves ! Thanks for the journey through your photographs and for the glorious ending !!
    I feel great after that !

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    1. One of my favourite colours - maybe this post explains why! So glad you enjoyed it.

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  3. So wonderfully imaginative and colorful. I really enjoyed this post!

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    1. Thank you for your comments - really glad you enjoyed it.

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  4. I love the variety of textures found in your violet-themed photos - they all seem to complement each other beautifully too. And the final image...what a wonderful surprise - and a perfect way to end the post/round two of the ROY G BIV challenge!

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    1. Thank you very much for your comment. I'm really glad you enjoyed the photos, Searching for them was a real pleasure..

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  5. I love these hues -- so peaceful, serene and calming. Thanks for the lovely pictures.

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    1. Thanks to you for visiting and commenting. Peaceful, serene and calm just sums up my memories of my grand mother. I think she infused the whole post...

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  6. une belle série de mauves... pour l'été ..un bonheur!

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  7. Lovely post , reminds me of my grandmother too, but she wore a lovely scent, April Violets, I still have the bottle she kept it in. Needless to say I adore the thistle photo, thanks.

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    1. Doing this post brought me so many lovely memories of my grandmother. I'm glad it brought good thoughts to you too.

      I really admire your work and you - and all the other bloggers I follow - inspire me. I learn so much from following what you all do. Without blogging, it would be quite a long and lonely road.

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