Ellen Kennon's Newsletter

Living Well Newsletter

Winter 2008

Dear Friends,

Happy 2008! I wish you all the best for a wonderful year ahead. I can’t begin to express my gratitude to each of you who has contributed to the continued growth and success of Full Spectrum Paints.

I especially want to thank the designers, architects and color consultants who have given me such support and inspiration over these past years. They have inspired me to put together our new Full Spectrum “Designer’s Palette” which is now available! These new colors have been selected by our most talented and loyal customers—designers, architects and color consultants, who I’ll introduce to you along with each of our new colors!

2008 Color Trends

Once again, a growth in greener living has inspired the 2008 color trend forecasts. Greens are becoming the new neutral along with other colors that represent the natural environment. As our existing palette contains many greens already, you’ll find these new yellow-greens to be more powerful and rejuvenating—much like the “bamboo green” that Margaret Walch, the director of the Color Association, selected as her choice for the color for 2008.

However, Barbara Richardson, ICI Paints’ Color Marketing Director, in association with ICI’s International Colour Futures Team, has chosen a golden yellow (Ginger Ale) as the color for 2008. The color of life-sustaining sunshine, yellow is both physical and mental, promoting optimism, communication, creativity and the intellect. We have included “Ginger Ale” in our new palette, along with several other yellows selected as favorites by our designers. Although the colors in our Designer Palette have been favorites of the designers for years, they also happen to be right in style, according to the 2008 color predictions, which is not surprising since they not only have their fingers on the pulse of the trends, they are leading the way.

Pantone named blue the color of the year for 2008. You’ll be seeing many hues of blue, representing the earth colors of the ocean and sky. Blue will not replace green as the color of nature, but this year, blue will be seen with closer associations to the environment and global issues. With growing concerns over having sufficient clean water and air, blue is a natural choice. We have four very beautiful new blues, including deep blue-black, which is also predicted to be popular this year.

Globalism continues to inspire our love for ethnic accent colors, and as serendipity would have it, we have some fabulous new accents that will pair up nicely with our neutrals. Neutrals never go out of style and are more popular than ever, as they also come from nature’s palette. Neutrals represent harmony, stability and practicality. Combined with these new “colors,” there’s a balance between old and new.

Introducing Our New Designer Palette

(L to R: Sandy Lagoon, Classic Marc, Jaunty Jen, Silk Road Plum, Barry's Babylon, H2 Ahh!, Ginger Ale, Dean's Dream, Perret Ivory, Pearl, Tiffany Taupe, Powdered Pebbles, Cloud, Juliet's Potion, Amy's Sarasota Sand & Morning Yellow)

“Ginger Ale,” ICI Paints’ Color of the Year for 2008, is a golden yellow that is timeless. ICI’s Colour Futures Team describes it as “having the ability to convey a mood of warmth, sociability and welcome. Soft and sunny—neither too strident nor too understated—a happy, forward-looking colour that speaks of optimism for the future but also represents a serious respect for history and the past—a warming reminder of the need for balance in all our thoughts and actions.”

“Morning Yellow,” selected by architect-interior designer Richard Morrison, is the color of pure sunshine, radiating warmth and cheer, much like Richard’s personality. Richard is a much sought after architect/designer in Menlo Park, California, who specializes in home remodeling and is also a Home & Garden columnist for the Palo Weekly. He can be contacted via email: richard@richardmorrison.com.

“Classic Marc,” named after designer Marc Charbonnet of MECA Productions in Manhattan, is a very soft creamy yellow—a color so popular with his clients, it has been used at least somewhere in almost every project! You may have seen it in Michael J. Fox’s homes in Architectural Digest Magazine (Marc has been selected more than once as one of their top 100 designers). We create custom colors for each of Marc’s projects which are almost always very ethereal, pale shades of creams and whites. Currently, Marc is working on a line of furnishings which he plans to debut soon. I’ll keep you posted! Marc can be reached by calling his office: 212-687-1333 or via his website, www.mecaproductions.com.

“Pearl” is as its name suggests: a pearly white with a slightly rosy cast, that works well with all other colors. We created this color especially for Marc Charbonnet, whom we’ve nicknamed the “King of Whites,” because he incorporates numerous shades of white into every one of his fabulous designs which can be viewed in his portfolio at www.mecaproductions.com.

“Christine’s Cloud” was created for Manhattan interior designer Christine Churchill. Christine’s Cloud is one of those enigmatic pale, sky colors, neither blue nor grey, nor white—heavenly! Perfect for walls and/or ceilings. Christine thinks of subtle colors like this one, or like our “Pumice,” which she recently used throughout a loft-like space in NYC, as the new neutrals: “People often think that if you use a color on the walls, you need to carefully match to it; but not with these subtle hues.” According to Christine, they provide more depth than whites when used as a backdrop for the sculptural, modern furnishings she often mixes into her room schemes. Christine can be reached via email at chris@scottmorton.com.

“H2 Ahh!” was created for color consultant Kate Smith of Sensational Color, the color guru I go to whenever I need the latest on color. Her website, www.sensationalcolor.com, contains a wealth of information on everything related to color. I especially enjoy her “Color for Your Home” and “Live in Full Color Blogs.” Here’s what Kate has to say about her signature color: “I love the colors of water. All of the hues from the deepest, most mysterious sea blues to the soothing, subtle spa blues speak to me and 'H2 Ahh!' captures all of what attracts me to these watery colors. The complexity of 'H2 Ahh!' gives it a sophistication that intrigues my mind and the perfect balance of this color has a meditative effect that captures my soul. 'H2 Ahh!' is a timeless hue that works beautifully with all other colors. When combined with rich tan, chocolate brown, antique gold, olive green, burnt oranges or even navy blue, gray or rosy pink, it gives the combination a sense of the unexpected, making it more interesting to the eye." You can email Kate directly: ksmith@sensationalcolor.com.

“Sandy Lagoon” was created for Sandra Yie, a kitchen & bath designer, space planner and color consultant, who is based in the San Francisco area. She describes “Sandy Lagoon” as a complex blue-green that is calming yet rejuvenating. She was inspired by her collection of Yi-Xing teapots, the mix of blues and chartreuses found in some natural stone she’s used for clients, and the color of recycled glass tile. This color coordinates well with yellow-greens, looks great with a variety of finishes (dark and light woods, chrome, nickel, or bronze fixtures), and serves as a wonderful backdrop for splashes of red or orange. Sandra can be reached at sandrayie@gmail.com.

“Dean’s Dream,” created for designer-lighting expert Dean Coe of New Orleans, is a classic navy that is predicted as one of this year’s most popular blues. Dean is known as the lighting consultant in the New Orleans area, as well as an excellent designer, creating stylish environments for a client list that includes the actor John Goodman. Currently, Dean runs the New Orleans’ showroom for designer Jon Vaccari (www.jonvaccaridesign.com), offering a mix of furnishings that is part Hollywood glamour, part refined elegance and part mid-century modern. Email Dean at info@jonvaccaridesign.com and he will keep you posted on the latest antiques as they arrive!

“Perret Ivory” is the color Interior Designer Pam Perret of New Orleans says she uses more often than any other neutral. Understated and elegant, it has already been chosen as the main color in two furnishings stores that will be showcasing our paints: Rabalais & Rabalais, which will open soon in Covington, and The Plant Gallery Home, soon to open in Lakeside. Pam, who started her career with the late Tom Collum, has over 35 years design experience under her belt. Pam can be reached via email: pmperret@bellsouth.net

“Amy’s Sarasota Sand” is named after the beaches of Sarasota, Florida by Color Consultant Amy Woolf, who splits her time between Sarasota and Northampton, Massachusetts. In addition to offering color consultations both on-site and long distance, Amy has an art background and has studied with the International Association of Color Consultants, Ringling College of Art & Design and University of South Florida. You can contact Amy via her website: www.awcolor.com.

“Powdered Pebbles” from Color Consultant Lori Sawaya was described to us as the perfect taupe that works well with most everything, including that hard-to-work with stained oak millwork. Lori is the principal of Color Strategies, Architectural Color Consultants, and can be reached via her website, www.colorstrategies.net. Color Strategies provides guidance to contractors, homeowners, business owners and design professionals on a national level. Lori is available for color consultations and speaking engagements on the topic of color and our environments. Her area of specialty is natural directional light and the affects it has on a room’s atmosphere. Lori has also created a completely unique color tool, the “Color Compass Rose” which is a method and process for choosing paint colors based on the natural light that beams through a structure’s fenestration.

“Tiffany Taupe” was named after one of the collections from artist-designer Ruth Jacobsen’s handpainted wallpaper line, Jacobsen & Balla (www.jacobsenandballa.com). Ruth is a kindred spirit in that she also creates full spectrum paints for use in her wallpapers that have won numerous awards and been featured in several national magazines. Ruth and her partner Jim Schwandt can be reached via email: jacobsenandballa@gmail.com

“Jaunty Jen” was inspired by a golden-green silk fabric and is the epitome of the “new 2008 greens” described earlier. The color is named after Jennifer FaGalde, a Northern California interior designer, because it’s so fitting of her personality and her business philosophy. Jaunty is defined as being in accordance with current social fashions; "fashionable clothing"; "the fashionable side of town"; "a fashionable cafe." Jennifer’s eclectic design tastes have been very well received by her clients as indicated by the recent high demand for her time. She loves the process of changing her clients’ outlook on life through the art of recreating their space with interesting colors, textures, and fabrics. Her favorite quote is “Your environment shapes the way you feel about the rest of the world.” She truly loves to improve peoples lives by changing their living or working spaces. Specializing in residential and light commercial, you can reach Jennifer with FaGalde Designs by email at fagaldedesigns@aol.com.

“Juliet’s Potion” is one of Barbara Richardson’s favorite ICI colors (she creates thousands!). Barbara describes it as “a very strong and bright green with a yellow cast... a very incredible, electric green with a twist. I love the accent nature of it... and I love to use it in small areas... like alcoves... I love combining it with charcoal, brown, violet, cool blues and of course white.” One of her favorite combinations is to combine it with ICI’s “Windsor’s Purple,” a deep, rich regal purple. Barbara created ICI Paints’ Color Marketing Department, where they work on programs related to color, psychology, history, trends, the environment and many more areas where color impacts our industry.

“Silk Road Plum” is named after the new line of rugs (www.silkroadweaves.com) created by color consultant/designer Barbara Jacobs. Barbara has worked in many areas of surface design and decorative finishing. Throughout this time her work has been produced in many venues of the design marketplace, from print design for the garment industry to contract wall coverings. An architectural color consultant, Barbara is an accredited color consultant of the IACC (International Association of Color Consultants/Designers), helping her clients select color palettes for both interior and exterior areas of their homes and workplaces. Barbara is located in the greater Boston area. However, she often works with clients long distance. Barbara’s website, www.integralcolor.com, showcases her many talents and she can be reached directly at bjacobs@integralcolor.com. We are proud to showcase Barbara’s new rug collection in the furnishings section of our website!

“Barry’s Babylon” is a color described by him as “a great happy wild coral color for a dining room—every one looks good in. Bright and gutsy!” Barry is an interior designer based in Palo Alto, California who works among the Silicon Valley’s elite where he also creates the interiors for a chain of children’s stores, This Little Piggy Wears Cotton (www.littlepiggy.com). Barry also created a line of custom iron furniture called “Barry Johnson Collection.” You can view his collection at www.barryjohnsoncollection.com and email Barry directly at barry@barryjohnsondesign.com. So as you can see, our new Designer’s Palette represents 14 very talented designers from all over the country who use our full- spectrum paints in a variety of applications and lighting conditions. We plan to expand on this collection and will keep you posted!

If you would like to see hand-painted samples or small jars, please don’t hesitate to call or email us and we’ll get them right out to you!

Check Our New Furnishings!

If you haven’t visited the furnishings section of our website lately, please do. You’ll see examples of our new Dino Mark Anthony line of upholstered furniture and fabrics, as well as Barbara Jacobs’ Silk Road Weaves Rug Collection!

CBS Sunday Morning Segment

Once again, the CBS Sunday Morning segment on our client, artist Hunt Slonem, has been postponed. However, we are assured the “show will go on” sometime before this Spring. Rather than continue to send out unwanted emails, I will post the new time on my blog. However, if you would like an email reminder/notice, please email us to let us know.

Again, I wish you all the best for 2008!