In the Pink: Celebrating Valentines Passionate Colour

The ‘pretty’ colour, that all things cutsie are made of. Think candyfloss and cupcakes, Barbie, Flamingos' and well lets not get carried away here. Pink can be a serious colour too. Coming from the red colour group, the word ‘pink’ for a colour was first recorded in the late 17th century, mainly to describe flowers of that hue more than anything else. Pink is a combination of red and white and can be anywhere from a pale baby pink to a rich bright dark magenta.

Pink is really just a softer and less violent red. While red has connotations of passion and action, pink is thought to create physical weakness in people. The colour's association with the so-called weaker sex as in pink for girls blue for boys, which started in the 1920s, may have something to do with this. Pink for men goes in and out of fashion.

Pink and red both represent love but while red is hot passion, pink is considered more the romantic and charming sort of love. Use of multiple shades of pink and light purple or other pastel shades will maintain the soft, delicate, and playful nature of pink.

Did you know that pink flamingos' are not really pink, they are actually white and get their pink colouring from the shrimp and algae they eat? Interesting huh!

All shades of pink get sophisticated when combined with black or gray although they tend to remind me of the 1980’s when used together. Try using medium to darker shades of blue for abstracts and adding hints of pink to the sky in landscapes even if there is no sunset to consider! Medium to dark green teamed with pink can be a good combination.

Good Pink

In the pink - healthy
Tickled pink – extremely happy
Pink Ribbon – symbol for breast cancer awareness
Pink collar - female office worker (can be used in a derogatory manner)
Pink dollar – is when gay people are considered to have lots of money due to no children and high incomes, a common term ‘chasing the pink dollar’ is used.
Pink – the singer (Real name, Alecia Beth Moore)
Pink Floyd – the band
Pink & White terraces – the famous NZ natural wonder that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption on the 10th June 1886
Pink Lady – a cocktail made with grenadine syrup and gin

Bad Pink

Pink collar - female office worker (see above)
Pink - cut, notch, or make a zigzag (I have some pinking shears for sewing!)
Pink Eye – or as its really called Conjunctivitis.
Pink Elephants – when you see these its means you are really drunk and/or hallucinating!

Interesting Art things

In 1993, artist Gioia Fonda created a conceptual piece in the form of a week long holiday called pink week. The intention of pink week is to liberate the colour pink from all dogma and simply celebrate the colour pink as a colour.

Bubblegum Pink is an installation by the artist duo Bigert & Bergstrom which "confronted you the viewer with three different mental climates" involving large amounts of pink. This mirrors the use of the colour in American prisons to calm aggressive prisoners. It features a pink cell and a carpet worn by repetitive pacing.

Artist’s Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the wooded islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay with 6,500,000 square feet (604,000 m²) of bright pink fabric. Titled Surrounded Islands

Many of Franz West's aluminium sculptures were often painted a bright pink, for example Sexualitatssymbol (Symbol of Sexuality). West has said that the pink was intended as an "outcry to nature".

Other common names for Pink –

Fuchsia- pronounced ‘few-sha’ which is a pink/purple colour is also named after the fuchsia plant which has flowers in that colour. Fuchsia is used as an alias for electric

Magenta - is a bright hot pink colour is a mix of red and blue. The name magenta comes from the dye magenta, not from the place Magenta in Italy.

I think Pink is a great colour.