Is there black in your palette?
For the month of October, I wanted to start sharing some of my favorite quotes by women. If you’ve noticed in the top corner of the header, there are quotes that randomly change when the page refreshes. These are from my insanely huge collection of quotes that I have collected over the years. I like quotes. I just love it when people can capture a huge idea or an inspirational thought and then simplify it in just a few words. It amazes me.
To kick things off, I thought I’d start with a quote that is attributed to one of my favorite singers of all time, but in fact it actually came from the late Minnie Pearl as Amy Grant tells us:
“I’m thinking about a conversation we had years ago,” she says. “It was after Minnie’s stroke, and she was bedridden, but this was one of her lucid days. We were talking about light and dark. She was saying, ‘They’re both a part of life. For instance, what do you think is the most important color on an artist’s palette?’ I said I didn’t know. She said, ‘Black, of course. Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there’s shadow — no, not just shadow, but fullness. You’ve got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that’s real.’”
I just love that quote. As a designer, I love any kind of artistic references but this one is especially moving. In order to be real, we have to mix the dark in with the light. In order to have any kind of depth (think maturity, character), we have to experience the bad along with the good. If we haven’t, we are merely a bunch of pastel colors on a canvas with no shadow, no depth to our character. Without some black mixed into our lives, we’re shallow. We’re not real.
Oh and in case you have no clue who Amy is, here’s your chance to sample her work…Yesterday, Amy Grant released a Greatest Hits Special Edition CD with a bonus DVD containing 5 videos. It actually arrived in my mailbox a few days ago (thanks to the perks of being in the fan club - the only fan club I subscribe to), but I’ve not even had a chance to break the seal on it until this morning. I decided to shred the cellophane and pop the DVD into my drive for a little inspiration. I had forgotten how awesome the “Lead Me On” video is! Fortunately, YouTube has a copy of it for me to share with you. The scenery is just fantastic.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:30 am
Ah, pearls of wisdom from Ms. Minnie Pearl herself.
She was a funny yet wise woman. 
That song, “Lead Me On” always makes me cry…it’s the second verse that gets me every time.
October 13th, 2007 at 10:56 am
i love how certain people always use black to describe something bad…
October 13th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Um, last time I checked…shadows were dark. Black is a dark color. Every graphics program I own uses black as the default color for any kind of shading. What is your point?
October 13th, 2007 at 11:15 am
lol thanks for the art lesson…but that wasn’t what i asked. I asked why certain people always use black to describe something bad.
October 13th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Why is red used to describe angry? Why is green used to describe envy? Why is purple associated with royalty?
October 13th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Maybe because society associates things to the color most seen when the emotions occur? When people get angry their face turns red. Purple was a color dye that was not readily available for a long time so only wealthy people who had a high standing in society could afford it. So what situations are you so uncomfortable with that force you to associate black with negativity?
October 13th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Black = dark storm clouds, gray skies. Black = night. In poetry, night time is often used to describe a “bad time” in one’s life. Are we really having this discussion? What color would you like me to use? Orange?
October 13th, 2007 at 11:55 am
What is so negative about rain and night? We need to sleep and plants need water.
It takes at least 2 people to have a discussion!
Orange is just fine with me!
October 13th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Lol, okay that last comment was overly sarcastic lol. But think about it, it just looks really bad to me when people use black as something so negative. That was my original point.
October 13th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Well my favorite color is green so I should be really mad that people associate it with envy - a NEGATIVE emotion. I happen to like black. It is my second favorite color. I would have preferred to design this entire site in green and black, but chose pink (a color I despise) because it is more feminine. Why does it look bad to use black as a negative? I think every color has some negative attached to it. Should I be upset that my favorite color represents greed? Black can also be used to represent class and elegance. I guess I don’t get where this discussion is going.
October 13th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
People also associate green with earthly things and fresh things (usually positive).
There are both positive and negative connotations with many colors. And I realize black CAN be used to describe class and elegance. But you DIDN’T associate it with those things, you used it as a negative. I just asked why.
fun fact: pink used to be associated more with males than females. I wonder why it changed?
October 13th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
I said black because the original quote was referring to shadow. Shadows are usually dark. Had I said “yellow”, it wouldn’t have had the same effect.
As for pink being associated with men…can’t everything be traced back to men first?
October 13th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
The “effect” being to say that you have to just “deal” with the horrible black. And that black was negative.
Yeah most things can, but at the same time I guess I don’t really have a problem with that. I guess some things are more suited for men, and others are more suited for women.
October 13th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Yes -we do have to “deal with” the negative in our lives.
I don’t have a problem with it either and yes men and women are typically suited for different things. The point of my site is that when a woman wants to pursue a dream that may be considered unconventional for her gender, that she should have ample opportunity to do that.
October 13th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Then you should have just said that instead of tying it to black.
Exactly. But then again parents should also teach children to realize there are some things they just cant do.
October 13th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Did you read the featured quote? I was tying it to the quote which was referring to an artist’s palette where the color black was being used to add shadow or depth to an object. “Black” was the correct word choice there.
And telling kids there are some things they can’t do is ridiculous. Why set limits?
October 13th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
of course i read it otherwise i wouldn’t have asked my original question which was, why do people feel the need to associate black with negativity?
lol limits? really? or is it just being realistic. do you believe there are things you cant do or are you actually naive enough to believe you can do everything? Whenever I do have them I want my children to work hard towards goals, and if they cant achieve them they need some way to realize it and either move on or try something new instead of continuously doing the same things trying to get different results. Which will happen if they don’t understand that there are some things they just cannot do.
October 13th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Yes - I do believe people can do anything they set their mind to do. That is not being naive. One needs to look no further than the technology in front of our faces to realize that people are amazing and creative beings. The limits we set are our own and are in no way permanent roadblocks to what we can achieve if we truly believe in ourselves.
October 13th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
If you set your mind to it do you think you could become a supermodel?
October 13th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Yes.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
In the quote above by Minnie Pearl (as stated by Amy Grant), I thought that the color black was referred to as having “depth.” I didn’t find it negative at all.
Gretchen, you’ve mentioned storm clouds, etc, and imani has said that even those things can be positive. I agree with both of those. In the quote above, I felt she was referring to the fact that even with storm clouds (which some associate with negativity), there is rain, which is a positive thing. She was, in my opinion, saying we need to take all of our experiences and create depth in our lives. She was saying there’s no use in being shallow. At least, that is what it speaks to me.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:53 am
lol, interesting.
Gretchen there is no way you actually think that unless you’re not in your right mind. So i get it, you want to end the convo. Great quote, i just dont like when ppl associate black w/negativity. But honestly, at this point I dont even care anymore. So whatev…
October 15th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Actually, I’m left-handed which means I’m always in my right mind.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:16 am
…clever…
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Great entry. I have always loved this quote. The video is also one of my favorites! It is just so pretty.
I just did a series of posts on Amy. A review, photos from events, etc. inrebasworld.com
October 24th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Thanks Reba! That was a great review and your pictures were awesome.
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