Colour

When I was 11 my mother did a make-over on my room. We were allowed to pick any paint colour we liked and then she bought us some coordinated bed linen. My sister picked mauve and I chose yellow. A really sunny, vibrant, warm yellow.

I loved it when I got home from school and the afternoon sun would stream in my windows and my walls would glow. I was happy in that yellow room. I think one of the reasons I chose yellow was because at my dear friend Ella’s house down the road – her Mother had decorated their sun-room in yellow. There were big opulent sofas with feather cushions covered in bright marrimekko fabric and the most gorgeous Mirka Mora paintings on the wall…I’ll never forget that room. We weren’t really allowed to play in there but we did – and I loved it.

I think that this time in my life was the true beginning of my love affair with colour. I dressed myself in all sorts of wonderful colours (modelled on Punky Brewster & Cyndi Lauper) and decided that I wanted to be a fashion designer when I grew up.

The photo above shows my colour cube – which was a puzzle I found at the National Geographic shop. It was pretty tricky to put together and now lives in my studio. It’s quite sculptural I think and reminds me of the way I put my scarves together - in that they are squares of colour in tints and shades of one hue. Colour definitely makes my heart sing!