An Exploration of Purple: A Guest Blog by Stephanie Cheers
Purple. An enchanting color, to be sure. Stephanie Cheers, writer and artist’s mother, explores the cultural significance and symbolism of the color throughout history, from its association with royalty due to its cost to produce, to its modern connections with Halloween, nostalgia, and diverse emotional meanings in art and everyday life.
An Exploration of Purple: A Guest Blog by Stephanie Cheers
My mom loves the color purple! Stephanie Cheers is a professional writer hailing from Leland, NC. She will be making guest appearances on this blog, and this is her first one. Let's find out about the color purple!
Close your eyes and think of a stormy Halloween evening. Can you imagine this scene without the color purple? According to the Scientific American Journal, purple (with regards to Halloween) was introduced between 1995 and 2010 to help Halloween seem less scary to children.
Purple has always been considered an elite color. Historically it was reserved for the wealthy, most notably royalty. According to Art History and Education, the reasons were not what we would commonly guess: purple is not an easy color to make. Therefore, it was very pricey.
I'm pretty sure artists research every color they use to create projects that simply amaze us. And purple is a pretty enticing color. After all, it's used in churches and for Heads of State to signify importance. Purple has also been the color of a very annoying dinosaur for many parents as a relateable friend to just a few generations of kids.
Purple: in a lot of the pieces of art I've had the joy of seeing, purple evoked emotions of chaos and stormy suspense! In other creations I get the sense of loyalty and honor. At other times purple reminds us of happiness--a little girl in a lavender room, sunsets with violet hues across a painted canvas. These pieces can take you to a place of peace and joy.
Purple has been top dog in the color palette for many years. And according to Reader's Digest, purple became a Halloween color that surpassed even orange in 2010.
Before that purple had long been considered mythical and of royalty but with the emergence of dark violets in 1856, royal purple took over. In this year Henry Perkins accidentally created a pigment that became known as royal purple. From there, violets and black purple splashes on witches hats and lavender cauldrons brought purple to a whole new level.
David Mitchell described purple as 'red withdrawn by the humanity of blue.' Wow, that resonates--especially where we are with the push and pull of our own environment today. Purple is an adaptable, brave, loyal, sustainable, strong, and sometimes unexplainable piece of art all in itself. It will forever mean Halloween to some and royalty to others. But that is ok. After all, we are each a different hue creating one hue-manity. Next time you pick up a paint brush or a colored pen or even chalk, use purple. I bet you smile and think of Barney!
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