With spring finally here and easter upon us I just posted some new images of delicate objects in soft creamy tones of mauve, aqua & pale green onto my Pinterest board.

While there I got tempted of course and meandered onto someone else’s fabulous color board, looking at all the subtle ethereal shades derived from the sea, the grass, the delicate blossoms, and the floaty sky.

These sorts of tones are often referred to as ‘pastel’ which often unfortunately has us thinking of sickly sweet baby pinks, mint green & so on, colors without depth or sophistication, often associated with young girls or old grannies. But these subtly nuanced shades can be so lovely, and should not be overlooked. Look how gorgeous they are when combined in the varying shades of these pool series bowls  I carry in my boutique.

The original literal meaning of the pastel has Medieval Latin & French roots, it refers to actual earth derived pigments, that when ground & mixed into a paste, then blended with chalk to varying degrees, produced the signature ‘pale colors’ now referred to as pastel.

Imagine that the white of an eggshell would be the chalk, and the dye you dip it into make it festive for easter would be the stronger pigment ~ the result of the two combined is this pale, soft, chalky tone.

And I love chalky tones as well as clear watery tones. They abound in nature, and are soothing and gentle to the eyes.

Artists well know the difference between opaque chalky tones and clear transparent mediums. With inks and water colors, the clear paints are washed over the white of the paper to produce a similar effect to the easter egg example above. Egg tempura paints, gauche, and pastels all have the flat opaque chalky quality blended into their formulation. Acrylic or oils can be either transparent or opaque depending on wether you add varnishes or white to them.

Offsetting a palette of soft ethereal tones in flat finishes against glossy watery can creates a very subtle, soothing serene atmosphere for an interior.

In this image above that I shot in the beautiful home of my talented artist friend Michela Sorrentino, you can surely see there is nothing unsophisticated or cloying about the gentle eastery tones of the setting. The larger painting of mine seen central in the image, is a mix of all the cooler watery aqua tones, inspired by the oceans edge. The touches of metallics, and neutral woods help to balance the mood of the room, which has a wonderful quality of light due to the ocean facing exposure.

Somehow, I find when soft tones are on very rough, dry matt surfaces, they seem to be more earthy, emulating tinted clay or paper, and the moment they are glossy or transparent they seem to be derived from the sea.

In any event, I still tend to cringe a little when I hear the word pastel used to describe my work or palette. I prefer the way Terri of the blog windlost put it  ’Entering the shop was like waking up inside in a lovely, watery dream’ I myself sometimes describe the more warm fruity easter tones as ice cream colors, which just seems far more delicious { think boysenberry ice cream, banana, mango, mmmm } Happy Easter Everyone!

 All photographs copyright Heather Ross  Please feel free to pin but photo credit