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Welcome to my blog Playing with Color.

As many of you know, I love working, playing, and creating with color, dreaming about color—–and even photographing color in whatever form I can find. With this in mind, it’s time for me to begin a blog to share ideas, experiences, information, and thoughts about color.

It is my goal to have this blog provide a color dialogue for all who are interested in the many aspects of color. Whether you are a passionate color lover,  someone who is apprehensive about using color, or a person with little or no color experience, I welcome you. Please visit this blog often. Feel free to ask questions and give suggestions.

Each week I plan to have one main blog posting that will offer a slice of color information, an idea or two, or a color concept to ponder. Once I get my feet on the ground and find my rhythm, I shall have one or more ancillary blog postings each week to incorporate an expansion of the main blog posting subject. I plan to include at least one project, activity, exercise, or lesson based on the week’s primary blog subject. I hope you will enjoy these extra blog features. Feel free to partake in whatever interests you……and have fun doing it. Keep me posted as to where these extra activities lead you.

Color has so much to offer and it is such a vast subject. I think we will be kept very busy thinking, expanding our ideas, and experimenting. In other words, I look forward to playing with color with you.

Happy Coloring!  (And, for those of you to the north of us and across those large ponds, happy colouring!)

Joen

Joen Wolfrom is the author of nine books (C & T Publishing), including Color Play, Visual Coloring,The Magical Effects of Color,  Adventures in Design, and The Visual Dance. She is also the designer of three products: the 3-in-1 Color Tool, the Studio Color Wheel, and the Magic Design-Ratio Tool. Joen teaches color and design classes nationally and internationally. She is a textile/fabric artist, quiltmaker, photographer, and owner of the pattern company JWD Publishing.

My name is Joen Wolfrom and I am thrilled to blog about color with you.  I hope my blog Playing with Color will be a great way for all of us to share information and ideas. Admittedly, my career in the field of color began quite accidentally. So perhaps an explanation as to how this happened might be a good introduction.

I come from the region of the United States that is notorious for rain, fog, and dreary winter days—the Pacific Northwest. To balance out the rain and heavy cloud layers, this region is also home to beautiful surroundings, such as Mt. Rainier, Seattle (my home town),  the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, and Puget Sound with its many islands (I live on one such island). You might wonder how a person raised in such a land of overcast days and seemingly never-ending drizzle could ever be interested in color.

Admittedly, the sun shines beautifully in summer and fall (and much of late spring), so our senses are open to the luscious colors of these seasons. On any sunny day you’ll find the masses enjoying life by walking, running, hiking, boating, kayaking, and gardening. We love to be outside when the sun shines and the sky is blue. And, when the mountain is out we’re all higher than a kite with excitement to breathe in the beautiful scenery and the surrounding colors that glisten like jewels in the landscape.

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Regardless of the weather, I have always loved color. Growing up in a home decorated with softly muted hues made me realize how much color affects our senses. After a decade as an elementary school teacher, I decided to stay home to be a full-time mom. Being a sewer, I began making quilts and other projects for our children and home.

It didn’t take long before I yearned to create landscape art that featured the beautiful scenery of  western Washington. However, working with fabric was difficult to reiterate nature’s subtle color nuances.  It was quite an awakening to realize depth, luminosity, and luster didn’t just appear.

The realization that I didn’t know how to create these color illusions in fabric made me determined to learn as much about color as I could. I began my own color study. Each month I focused on one color concept. After doing my research and studying, I created a design featuring the concept. The months turned into six fascinating years of  researching, designing, and creating. It provided me with much more than I ever expected, as it not only forced me to explore color thoroughly, it made me investigate the full range of design elements and principles. This adventure began over thirty years ago.

My exploration has taken me down many unexpected paths with the most surprising one being an accidental new career.  I created commissioned artwork for private residences and corporations for fifteen years. Twenty-five years ago I began teach color classes and I still love teaching them.

While studying color, I found few books that answered my color questions. The best resources were physics books and nature herself. Hence I have written three color books that I wished I would have had as references when I was exploring color: The Magical Effects of Color (1992), Color Play (2000), and Visual Coloring (2007). Each has its own color perspective.  Color Play led me to create the 3-in-1 Color Tool. Recently I designed a large 24-step studio color wheel poster that is intended as a quick reference for artist and designers. It is a companion to the tool.

Additionally, I have written six other books. The latest is Adventures in Design, which I am very excited about (Sept., 2011). All of my books and color products have been published by C & T Publishing. In 2005 I began the pattern company JWD Publishing. We are dedicated to publishing beautiful, high quality patterns for quilters and sewers. We are fortunate to have fifteen talented quilt designers who create super designs in their own niches.

Thus far, I find each pathway I have wandered down filled with enriching experiences. It is now time for me to take a new direction. This color blog has evolved with the help of several people who have guided me—and I am grateful for their knowledge and patience. I am excited to share my color information with you in this amazing global format.  I welcome your interest, support, color questions and suggestions. Thank you for visiting Playing with Color……and I hope you will join me often.

Happy coloring!
Joen

Stars upon Stars:
Because I love stars, I find myself designing lots of star blocks. My plan for this block was to create a design with slender, elongated star points, which could provide a sense of delicacy and dimensionality. Wanting understated beauty, I selected fabrics in muted hues. I used silk fabrics for my stars, although I do not recommend it. I found it a technical challenge to have clean, sharp points with the silk I used, which had a mind of its own. Hint: Using a dry iron with silk star points is a must.

     I have been creating quilts and textile art since the early 1970s. Currently, I find my time taken up with teaching and lecturing; writing books, particularly about color and design; creating quilts and textile art; and being the owner of the pattern company JWD Publishing.

Another chance to win a copy of 100 Blocks!
Just leave a comment on this post by 10:00 pm PST on Sunday, November 15th, 2009, and we will pick a random winner!  It doesn’t matter what you write, just make sure to leave a valid email address (so we can contact you if you win). Here’s our contest rules.

Make sure to visit the 100 blocks blog tour, as they have some great giveaways going on.  Also, look for 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers in your local quilt shop, or purchase it at www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks.

Also, make sure to join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jwdpublishing.

Just leave a comment on this post by Thursday, November 12th, 2009 PST, and we will pick a random winner!  It doesn’t matter what you write, just make sure to leave a valid email address (so we can contact you if you win).

Here’s our contest rules.

Make sure to keep following the 100 blocks blog tour!

Tennessee Quilts

BTW, Joen will be teaching a 2-day color class and a 3-day design class at Tennessee Quilts November 10-14, 2009. If you’re interest in either class, contact Tennessee Quilts or register online.

Tennessee Quilts
114 Boone St
Jonesborough, Tennessee
http://www.tennesseequilts.com
linda@tennesseequilts.com

Cindy Walter greets Andrew Dunlop of Tiffanies Treasures,  our favorite (and only) New Zealand distributor.    

The Gleesome Threesome: Ricky Tims, Joen Wolfrom, and Libby Lehman at Quilt Market

Boy, either the lighting is really bad or we’ve had an exhausting day. Behind us is Ricky’s booth where you can see portions of two of his beautiful quilts, as well as a poster featuring Ricky’s newest CD, Christmas in a Small Town (you’ll love it J).

Quilt Market in Action

A smaller attendance than usual made Quilt Market a more leisurely event for attendees to search for the perfect items for their customers. Looking down the aisle on the right, you’ll see a glimpse of Teresa Field’s new Snap, Grab, & Go quilt, as well as stacks of Ricky Tims’s luscious hand-dyed fabrics.

George R. Brown Convention Center

Today we find Houston in the rain. Coming from sunny Seattle area, we were amazed to find ourselves settle into a dreary weather day. However, inside the George Brown Convention Center was filled with positive, hopeful thoughts. Hundreds of vendors were working hard to prepare their booths for Quilt Market. A few dozen vendors made presentations at Schoolhouse, an activity that gives quilt shop owners the opportunity to meet with vendors and see the products they have to offer. Our late afternoon Schoolhouse session gave us the opportunity to show our newest patterns, which we love: Honey Bears by Alex Anderson, Summer Breeze by Christine Porter, In a Pickle by Larisa Key, and Snap, Grab & Go Tote and Quilt Ensemble by Teresa Fields (aka Quickie Chicks). We also introduced Ricky Tims’s Arabian Nights and Cindy Walter’s Poinsettia Christmas ensemble of beautiful painted table runner, placemat, coaster, and wallhanging. Ricky, Christine, Charlotte Warr Andersen, and Teresa Fields introduced their quilts, answered questions, Tomorrow is the first day of Quilt Market. When I left the convention floor just before 7pm tonight, vendors were still working hard to finish putting their booths together.

Tomorrow is a day of hope and excitement. We hope everyone has a great day tomorrow―both the creative vendors who sell their products and the shop owners who select products for their quilting clients. Here’s to three great days of great surprises and findings.

We also will be providing a schoolhouse presentation at 3:10-3:40pm in Room 371F on Friday, October 9th. 

More info about the new patterns to come on our blog and website!