Week 8 - Christmas Contrast

                                ⥣ Christmas Contrast ⥣

I suppose the one benefit to royally mistaking the blog assignment stop date #EPIC #FAIL is that lights have emerged as a part of holiday decor in homes, shopping malls and outdoor plazas.

Christmas trees and their potential variance in lighting styles inspired this post.  I thought about why there seems to be a childish, fun, playful and exuberant feel to Christmas trees that use multicolor lights, such as the one in the Simi Valley dance studio (where I teach) pictured below.

 

And, conversely, why Christmas trees with only white lights seem to have an air of sophistication and elegance, such as the giant Christmas tree in the center of Fashion Island shopping center; or if you rather, the smaller Christmas trees placed in Fashion Island's shop windows:



Though I've been cognizant of the " 'white' (technically amber or blue) light = sophistication / multicolor light = playful" phenomenon, I've never been overly cognizant of WHY this may be the case until this year's lighting class, introducing color theory in relation to light and light's power with the possible uses of color, brush stroke, position, or intensity to create a "world": an overall aura, emotion, physical environment or mental state.

Monochromatic color seen in the latter Christmas tree photos with 'white' (amber/light blue) light helps the mind to relax and the eye to focus on the object it is illuminating primarily - namely, the Christmas tree.  It is more calm and focused, reflecting a beauty that is centered with a graceful kind of distinction and gentility.  Multicolored expressions seen in the former Christmas tree photo is more of a spectacle: eye-entertaining, fun, even distracting (in my view) from the object itself with its own draw of attention, as the eye attempts to "take-in" each hue.

While many of my friends would guess my own Christmas tree to be much like the former based on my [spunky] personality, I actually much prefer monochromatic color schemes.  ENOUGH wildness going on upstairs in my brain, I much prefer to dwell in environments that are opposite to my internal world.  Calm, very little color, even minimalist with decor.  Below are photos of my grad-school apartment and my own Christmas tree
.

Cheers to balancing the brain with monochromatic light and color!