How colour affects your wellbeing: by The Colourist, Skylark Galleries

Using colour therapy to boost your wellbeing has always been something that many of us take for granted. It's no coincidence that colour can affect our mood and the way we feel.

Strong blue associated with tranquilising qualities
I remember standing in front of the infamous Blue Monochrome painting by Yves Klein in The Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York, immersed in the rich colour and feeling exhilarated yet calm. Strong blue is associated with tranquilising qualities and can have an effect on pain. No wonder I felt that I could walk the streets of Manhattan that afternoon with no pain in my dodgy knees! Many people have a favourite colour as it evokes a positive response and makes them feel in a certain way. 

I asked my artist friend Stella Tooth if she'd experienced a strong response to colour? She replied: 

Colour is actually part of light which is made up of vibrating energy. This energy vibrates at different speeds, and all of the energy put together creates the colour spectrum.

When we see a rainbow we are looking at the refraction and dispersion of light in water resulting in a glorious spectrum of light in the sky which is so uplifting. I remember being told as a child there would be a pot of gold at the end. That certainly would provide a feel good factor! 

Colour and light have been used by healers for thousands of years and such therapy has its roots in Egyptian and Indian culture and Chinese medicine.  Looking at a colourful original artwork, or wearing a colourful outfit, makes us feel uplifted and happy. Black can have a negative effect on our feelings when worn, but I've always accessorised with a bit of red lippy and felt a million dollars!
So why is colour so powerful? 

The secret of colour therapy
When you focus on a specific colour, or it’s completely in your field of vision, this can influence your energy vibrations. It's all about concentrating and focusing on it. Colour is made up of energy vibrating at certain speeds. Lower vibrations produce warmer colours like reds and oranges, while higher vibrations produce cooler colours like blues and indigo. At the highest vibration, the two ends of the colour spectrum meet together and produce violet. 

Studies have shown that the colours can have an impact on our feelings and mood. It can affect the way we perceive the world. Colour therapy can be used to relieve depression, anxiety, low mood and boost your wellbeing and confidence....So, if you sit in front of a blue painting for some time, you may start feeling relaxed.

Colour and our surroundings
The theory of colours having the power to affect our wellbeing and health is centuries old. We are aware, and sensitive to, our surroundings; including the colours! And the colours of the sea, or in nature, can be relaxing.

Each colour has a different effect on you, either transmitting peaceful and calm sensations, or their opposite, making us feel uneasy, excited, energised or unbalanced.

Chromotherapy
Chromotherapy came after colour theory and is an alternative medicine which uses colours as a means to help the body achieve its best state, both in mind and body, plus performance. It's the science of using colours to adjust body vibrations to frequencies that result in better health, balance and harmony. 

The different frequency and vibration of each colour is related to physical symptoms. I remember having this therapy years ago and wearing goggles that showed different colours which would flash in front of my eyes. It was a form of mediation. There are coloured saunas which are used with infrared technology so you can bathe in colour.

Colour psychology
Psychology took an interest in the effects of colours in well-being and created a new speciality: colour psychology. It may seem obvious but surrounding ourselves with colour can make us feel different and can create an entirely different mood in our homes. Cultural differences also impact our perception, where one hue evokes an upbeat feeling in one culture it can be the opposite in another, suggesting that society can also have an impact.

Colour is our speciality
Being experts at colour at Skylark Galleries, we show original artworks using colour to evoke response, including British figurative art, limited edition prints and art for sale online in creative colour combinations that can really enhance your sense of wellbeing. 

Many of our artists use a vast array of colour either complimentary, analogous or monochromatic. There is something for everybody's taste and the effects of our coloured artworks can be transformative.

Colours in your environment make you feel a certain way
Did you know that your environment may be influencing your emotions and state of mind? Or that some places can be especially peaceful or calming? There's a fair chance that the colours surrounding you are making you feel in a certain way.

Warm colours such as reds, yellows and oranges can increase heart rate, which leads to increased adrenalin being pumped into the bloodstream. They can ignite a range of emotions from hostility and anger to warmth and passion. Cool colours, greens, blues and soft purples, can create feelings of calmness, wellbeing and peace. 

Within colour therapy shades of colours are used to help evoke a response. The colour red is generally said to be associated with an increase in appetite and increased anger, purple with boosting creativity, orange with optimism and blue with a sense of security.  Green provides a feeling of harmony.  It's simple to see the relationship between colour and our mood.

Warm colours
These hot colours can be used to stimulate the viewer. They reflect light and stimulate the eyes either in a positive way creating energy or causing your tummy to rumble.. The colours are often associated with food. 

Cool colours
Looking for a peaceful and calming environment, cool colours - green and blue - are typically considered restful. Purple, which lies between cool and warm, can be stimulating, balancing and tension relieving. 

Different meanings for different colours
Red: associated with warmth, comfort, energy, intensity, comfort, life.
Green: tranquility, harmony, calmness, fertility, growth, envy.

Neutral colours
Black: the most powerful, associated with mystery, rebellion.  It can be edgy in design and is often considered sophisticated. 
Brown: a warm neutral which is easy on the eye with its roots in nature. 
Grey: often considered moody, conservative and sometimes dull it can also be beautifully balanced and peaceful.
White: tranquil, serene and calming.  The colour of absence of colour. Virtuous, pure and elegant. 

So if you feel you would like some more colour in your life and are creating your own path to self discovery, take a closer look at our colourful artwork. To add positivity, peace, joy, energy or to influence the way you feel just click here.