Color Inspiration

I went to Sunnylands the other day. Sunnylands is the former winter home of Walter and Leonore Annenberg in Palm Desert, CA. I’d been there many times to view the small art museum set in the middle of some fabulously lush, desert gardens. But, then guests came in to town and I decided to book an actual tour. Wow! I learned so much. What a cool story of the luxurious lives of the Annenbergs and how The Annenberg Foundation Trust preserves the estate as a place where world leaders meet. The Annenbergs built their own golf course, collected art from all over the world, have several guest houses that are bigger than my primary home. But what really caught my eye was the color of the exterior walls of the complex. It’s this pale pink color which look amazing juxtapose you the green cacti growing around the perimeter. On the tour, I found out this particular shade of pink was called “Peach Parfait” by Dunn Edwards. The tour guide told us that the Annenbergs created this shade of pink based on the colors desert sky at sunset. <I just shed a tear> Immediately after the tour, I bought a gallon of Peach Parfait. I had no plans for it, but I knew I needed it. 

After a week of staring at the paint can, I painted the inside wall of my garage. I thought, “this is a safe place for a pink wall.” The color is fabulously delicious and it warms up the cold garage a bit. (Not that we needed more warmth in Palm Springs…)

A few weeks after that, I got the brilliant idea to paint one of my art pedestals. The Peach Parfait made my Rotganzen sculpture pop in the best way possible. 

Then, several weeks later I was walking past the Trina Turk store in downtown Palm Springs. There were the monochromatic plants in the windows. I could see that the designer took fake plants and painted them. I just had to make one of my own. Unfortunately for me, I really wanted a Peach Parfait plant, which meant I had to actually paint every leaf. I really don’t suggest painting a fake plant unless you want to make a huge mess. What you should do is go buy a can of spray paint and spray it. It's so much easier. If you do use aerosol, make sure you wear a 3m rubber half-face respirator with organic vapor cartridges and wear gloves to protect your skin (and, of course your manicure.) It sounds excessive, but fumes and chemicals are not good and I would be an awful human if I downplayed the effects of paints and resins on the respiratory system. Be safe and send me pix of your creations.