Capturing the colour essence

I was reminded by my visit to London last week of a conversation I had with a friend once. A conversation about how I carry in my head a visual summary of places I've lived - always in the form of three colours...

I don't know why or where this distillation started. It's not something I make a conscious point of doing but when I think back to somewhere I've spent time that is meaningful to me, I always have a sense of a tri-colour palette. A particular combination that captures the essence of the place, as I remember experiencing it.

Of course one might argue that this over-simplifies and does not allow for the changing moods and multiple layers of anywhere or any time. But it doesn't work like that for me. This colour summary is just that, a summary. A headline. Once accessed, it allows me to explore the whole picture, all the facets of the place in my memories of it. All the colours, not just the three, and all the thoughts and emotions and experiences behind all the colours become available again. It's like a mental filing system.

So, my childhood bedroom is stored in a memory folder of deep purple, forest green and fresh white (it was the late 60s, early 70s!)

1. Purple Pansy, 2. Purple and Green, 3. purple power

My Nana's home, no matter where it actually was geographically, is always found under an emotionally charged headline of warm red, old gold and black

1. I feel smarter already, I think, 2. Red and gold, 3. gold leaf

And it happens with cities I know well and am connected to too...

Cape Town is - as befits a capital city in the Rainbow Nation - sea and sky blue, fynbos green and protea red

1. Canal Walk Business Park, 2. V+A Waterfront, Cape Town, 3. South African Flag,
4. Mouille Point Lighthouse, 5. Table Mountain - South Africa, 6. Kirstenbosch Protea flowers

Rome is terracotta gold, pine green and cerulean blue

1. Ground Floor PDR in Rome, 2. Rome, again and again and again...., 3. Fontana di Piazza Capitolina - Rome,
4. Orange mood, 5. Landscape of Ancient Rome, 6. Looking up? (in Rome)

Paris is subtle silver, pewter grey and dusky blue

1. Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, Garden, 2. Paris - Musée du Louvre: La Victoire de Samothrace, 3. Liberty,
4. Life in Paris (III), 5. Pavement - Aug08, Paris (France), 6. Il vient parfois au Sacré Coeur des airs de Taj Mahal

And London... London is undeniably red, white and black.

1. Black cab in London., 2. SwissRe Building (London), 3. London Tube - Way Out, 4. London - Sackville Street, 5. London - Piccadilly: Piccadilly Circus - Eros, 6. Double-deck red bus : a symbol of London., 7. Reflecting London, 8. London Red Telephone Box, 9. Aproximació al London Eye

I'm still waiting for the colour combo that captures my new city to crystallise. I know it will. In time.

Oh, and I do this colour triptych thing with people too...