Scratch the surface

At Providence, I have been tentatively dipping into developing a paint range with it’s associated colours since late Summer 2006. 52 Colours is intended to be a weekly record of the colour research and development as it applies to this paint range.

Below is a quote from the preface of a book, Principles of Color and Color Mixing by J.H. Bustanoby, that I love because it encapsulates how I feel about colour in our environment.

“Color is not only a physical phenomenon: it is the vibration of life itself. Life, light, and color express the energy and unity of creation; and color is to life as a ray of light is to sunshine. Every vibration of light, from the celestial blue of the heavens to the darkest lump of coal, is alive with color, and man has only scratched the surface of its infinite possibilities and potentialities.” ………J.H. Bustanoby, Dec 1946

Let’s scratch the surface in 2007.

I Heart Providence

Earlier this year when we were in Providence, R.I. we spotted a great bumper sticker stuck to a wall in our favorite bar, The Decatur – on Carpenter Street.

We went to the website, to order an I Heart Providence, bumper sticker. Because we were leaving the States for England very soon we went the the person’s office to pick up not 1 but 3 bumper stickers. The envelope had a card in it from Seth Price who wrote that he enjoys life in Providence. Seth has set up a website where you can order the bumper sticker and that also includes of links to arts, entertainment and a blog (to date) featuring culinary exploits around Providence. The website is lovely and well worth a visit.

The back of the bumper sticker has 3 definitions of prov-i-dence n.
Here they are (from Seth Price):

1. The capital and largest city in Rhode Island; located in northeastern Rhode Island on Narragansett Bay was founded by Roger Williams in 1636 as a haven for religious freedom. Today it is one of the most important intellectual and artistic centers in the United States.

2. The guardianship and control exercised by a deity; “divine providence”.

3. The English word Providence is derived from the Latin term providentia, which primarily means foresight or foreknowledge but also forethought and Providence in the religious sense; thus Cicero used the phrase the “Providence of the gods” (deorum providentia). The Stoic philosophers thoroughly discussed the significance of the term Providence, and some of them wrote treatises on the subject. A hymn to Zeus written about 300 BC by Cleanthes, a Greek poet and philosopher, is a glorification of the god as a benevolent and foreseeing ruler of the world and mankind. According to Cleanthes, God had planned the world in accordance with this Providence.

In the early ‘90’s Tim and I named our business Providence, because we felt the word reflected the New England and Shaker style cabinetry and philosophy that we wanted to reproduce here in the Cambridge, England. I think that we also wanted a reminder of this fantastic (see definition no.1) city, (where we met and I grew up). Thanks Seth, I Heart Providence too.