Ode to Color

Book excerpt: Internationally renowned textile designer Lori Weitzner presents a novel, layered perspective on the use and significance of color in design and culture in this spectacular treasury illustrated with 225 full-color images. Ode to Color, a stunning anthology by renowned and award-winning textile and wallcovering designer Lori Weitzner, principal of Lori Weitzner Design, Inc., offers an immersive, sensual, and engaging journey in the world of color as it applies to culture, design, mood, and memory. Each of the ten chapters in this richly illustrated volume presents a distinct color world through an intimate and often kaleidoscopic perspective, a compilation of the numerous—and often shifting—associations and emotions we assign to a color or group of colors. Each chapter combines diverse imagery—evocative fine art and photography, environmental interiors, details of Weitzner’s gorgeous designs as well as her sketches and watercolors—with excerpts from literature and her own essays on a wide array of topics relating to the palette. The result is a fully sensory conveyance of each palette’s particular power as well as a consideration of its tangible and intangible connections, from its place in religion, pop culture, and commerce to the impact it has upon our decision making, our moods, and our tastes. While each chapter is unique in its approach to the ten worlds, with its mix of essays, prose and range of art, from a Technicolor Disney cartoon in Out Loud to David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust in Silverlight, each chapter includes: An introductory essay on a subject that characterizes the palette A two-page photographer of an open drawer in Weitzner’s studio that she has arranged with various fabrics, skeins, and objects that, together, comprise the palette; An evocative two-page word collage that presents both color names and the words commonly associated with the palette; Design pointers that provide in-depth insight to working with color and to decorating with each palette throughout the home, from wall treatments to accessories. Spectacular and imaginative, this experiential volume will captivate, inspire, and inform a broad audience, including interior designers and decorators, architects, graphic and fine artists, and anyone interested in art, design, fashion, pop culture, and spiritual discovery. Sumptuous, beautifully designed, and filled with wondrous imagery and compelling stories and facts, it makes an inspiring and unusual gift for almost any occasion.