Thursday, March 4, 2010

Orange You Glad?

When the winter gets rough and the photos become fewer, it's time to go back into the archives and explore a colour. This time Orange gets the luck of the draw. I hope you enjoy this warm and energetic hue. Please remember to click each image to enlarge.



A close up of the dazzling orange flower found in the bouquet featured in my previous post.




The setting sun does it part to warm brick, wood and the bare bones of this patio chair.




Tiger lilies joyously seek out the summer sun.




A game of dodge ball makes a splash as it bounces through a playground's water pad.




The gentle wings of summer flutter and dive into autumn so quickly - a metamorphic dance of vibrant colours.




Spindle berries produce brilliant colours as autumn approaches. Orange berries under magenta pods.




These rusty old gears have been weathered by exposure to many seasons of our Canadian climate.




Fall is the season of orange. Trees magically transform from their summer greens to autumn's fire.




The late day sunshine illuminates this fallen oak leaf.




An ideal way to relax after a perfect day. Bottoms up!

54 comments:

Susie said...

I've always had a love/hate thing with orange. For some reason it's the only color that brings out such passion.

I love these shots. I think the rusty tractor wheel/gear is my favorite

Tom said...

Like Susie I also have a love/hate relationship with orange. I've never forgiven my old landlord from 15 years ago who thought it'd be great to decorate and furnish my Victorian flat in Nottingham, UK, with the most outlandish 1970s stuff - most of it bright orange!

Wonderful pictures yet again though!

Tom

järnebrand said...

Oh, I loved those photos! I agree, it is definately time for color now! Inspired by you, a little while back, I explored the color of green, very much hoping to soon see some green for real... In order to find some other color than "ice, ice, baby"-color I had to dig through my archives as well... :)
My favourites of these photos will have to be the spindle berries and the patio chair! Lovely. :)

Zuzana said...

Beautiful orange. It is a warm colour, to me signifying summer and autumn as well, depending on the shade.
In contrast to others, one of my favorite colours.
Lovely photography as always.;)
xo
Zuzana

ethelmaepotter! said...

Ah, one of the benefits of taking a little break from reality (otherwise known as playing hooky!) is that I get to stay on top of my favorite blogs, read slowly, enlarge each picture, and SAVOR. AAAAAHHHH.
I agree about the orange love/hate relationship. I live in a state where orange is king: it is the color of the Tennessee state college football team, and every man, woman, and child is expected to show their team spirit by wearing orange on Saturdays during the fall. Doesn't matter if one's skin or hair clashes horribly with orange: one must overlook that and rise to the occasion, go to Walmart and buy that orange tee shirt, buy that orange jacket, buy those orange sweat pants, those orange shoes, the hat, the gloves, the scarf, the pompoms, heck why not go all out and get your face painted half white/half orange?
I'm serious. LOTS of people do just that. Straight line smack down the middle of their faces. UGH.
BUT...I DO love these orange pictures, especially the "rusty old gears." Maybe it's because green and orange is one of my favorite color combinations, but that photo just calls to me. The spindle berries are brilliant! And that butterfly looks as though it's seen a battle or two!. And, Hilary...is this the first of your photo essays where we've seen no BIRD photos?! Is that why you left us with a glass of beer, so we wouldn't notice the absence of the birds? Tsk, tsk.
I do hope you're enjoying your time off. But find some birds, for heaven's sake!

Sueann said...

These photos are magnificent! I happen to love the color orange. It glows and brings such joy to it's surroundings! It is my granddaughter's favorite color too! So orange is good here! Those spindle berries are awesome.
Thanks
Hugs
SueAnn

Unspoken said...

I have been cold! Warmth is just was what needed. Thanks for the orange :).

Anonymous said...

Perfect choice to warm our cockles, Hilary. The sun is shining today but it has no warmth-I LONG for some heat on my body.

I don't choose orange, ever, and that is silly because there are so many things that are orange, and beautiful. Rust,flames,oranges,some fungi and gingernuts.

Tabor said...

Perfect color for the beginning of a cold dreary March. But we are supposed to break 50 several days this coming week!!

Brian Miller said...

beautiful hilary...a dash of warmth in all the color this morning...

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Orange always enlivens and invigorates. If I recall correctly, in the Chakra system orange represents the sexual centre - energy - passion - life!

Leah J. Utas said...

I feel so warm now. Thanks. The gear pic is wonderful.

Steve Gravano said...

You have a magnificent eye.

Daryl said...

Oh that butterfly's wing is broken...

Wonderful oranges ...

ellen abbott said...

Orange was my mother's favorite color. she also loved lime green and often paired them together. this made me think of her.

Mental P Mama said...

Such a happy color!

steviewren said...

Love the spindle berries. I've never heard of them before. They're so pretty. The color orange is a sure fire way to bright any day. Thanks for the late winter boost.

Suldog said...

The tiger lilies immediately gave me a frisson. My Mom used to grow them in our front yard garden.

Display Name said...

Lovely orange colours on a terrible bleak PEI day. I'm craving sunshine! Thanks for sharing Hilary! Cheers!
:)

Travis Erwin said...

Great shots as always.

Anonymous said...

Great pics as always! :) The Bach

photowannabe said...

Beautiful brilliant orange. I have to say its not a color I choose very often but its stunning in the pictures. I love the basketball splashing . Terrific catch Hilary.

Fragrant Liar said...

Oh, I do love orange, mostly because of the fall foliage, but those flowers are GORGEOUS! A good splash of orange in a bouquet just makes all the difference. Plus, if they're orange, they probably smell good, and I'm all about the fragrance, ya know?

abb said...

What a great series of orange! Love the first one and those wonderful rusty gears.

Redbush said...

OOOOO! I just loved the tiger lilies, and the spindle berries. I gives me the urge to want to paint them. I could almost smell the fresh rain on the lilies.

Rosaria Williams said...

Orange is not shy or reticent. Orange demands attention. Yeah.

Cloudia said...

You are MAGIC!!

Aloha, my talented Friend


Comfort Spiral

Wendy said...

I just love orange! Wear it a lot! I like the way you captured the light through that oak leaf. Very special! And those orange berries are so pretty with their magenta flowers.

Tiger lilies are lovely too. Reminds me of summer. It's a-coming. It's a-coming! LOL!

Scott Law said...

Nice work on your Orange theme of the day. I was at Country Girl's blog and noticed your comment and had to come and look. I'm like you in my love of word play and after looking at your fun photos I thought I'd hang around a bit if you don't mind. I look forward to getting to know you better.

Joanna Jenkins said...

I was going to say I liked the basketball shot the best then I saw the last one. Perfect!

xo

LadyFi said...

Marvellously vibrant colours!

Land of shimp said...

The color of the sun! Could anything be more warming on a winter's day? Like one of the commenters above, I have an iffy relationship with orange as a color.

It's a color that doesn't seem to suit the indoors for me. It's the realm of the outside world. Some colors we can sort of bend to our will, bring them into our environment, tone them down or mute them enough to have them blend with the household.

There's a vibrancy to orange that demands being outside, don't you think? I know I think so for a specific reason. Years ago when I married my husband, he told my son, "You can pick the color for your room!" (in the old 1912 house) and my son, his face filled with delight, "Any color!" "Yes, any color you like." (and I laughed in the background because I knew what was coming) "The Denver Bronco colors!"

Not merely blue and orange, but perhaps the ugliest form of both. For years my son had one white wall, one that wretched blue, and two an orange so bright that it practically sang to us in the night.

When we got rid of that color (at my son's request) we had to prime the walls twice to kill that orange off. But it made my son happy, and if my husband ever regretted that "Any color you like!" moment, he's never said a word. Although, when we were on our second priming he did say, "So...that's a lot of determined orange, isn't it?"

That's really the thing. Orange is a color that seems determined.

ds said...

Orange is a tricky color, but right now I feel its warmth. Wonderful! Thank you.

Hilary said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone. I'm quite amused that so many of you who claimed purple as a favourite colour a few posts back, also have this love/hate thing with orange. I'm much the same. I love orange in its true environment but am not particularly fond of it as a decorative colour. I can handle about one orange t-shirt in my wardrobe and then I'm over-saturated with it.

Thanks, all for stopping by even though I wasn't around to re-visit and reply to your comments. :)

MaggieGem said...

Once again, Great Shots, Hilary!

Love the first flower and the basketball the best! Have a great weekend!

Kerri Farley said...

Absolutely stunning Hilary...you take orange to a new level! WOW!

Debbie said...

Orange is the perfect color for this winter that won't end!

Unknown said...

Perfectly beautiful! I love orange : ) It is Kaishon's favorite color! Did you see his picture reading your article? I knew you would be excited : ). He loved it!

Mage said...

Oh, passionately lovely stuff, orange is. Only on finding a Mexican mirror yesterday have we decided to paint our half bath orange. Such enthusiasm. Such a get you moving color. A leave you smiling color too.

Kat said...

Ooooooo!! I think this post was just for me. A nice peachy/orange is my FAVORITE color with a rusty orange coming in second.
I needed this post. It made me feel all warm. :)

Kappa no He said...

Mmm, orange. I'm warming up already. One thing I really miss being in Japan is brick. Because of all the earthquake (or maybe it's just a cultural thing) no one builds with brick.

the Bag Lady said...

Yes, I am glad! I'm glad you chose to post these gorgeous photos for us all to enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Very enjoyable! Thanks for a little taste of orange to get my mind ready for the vivid colors coming in the spring. I'm ready.

Andrea said...

Hilary, your photos continue to take my breath away! Just gorgeous! Getting caught up with all my blogging friends. :)

Hilary said...

Thanks everyone for the very kind words. I appreciate your visits more than I can express. :)

~JarieLyn~ said...

Orange reminds me of my Papaw. He picked out orange curtains for his kitchen. My mamaw never liked it.

Beautiful pictures as always but I really like the patio chair and of course the very last photo is very cool. I also really like the orange and magenta berries.

Dave said...

More great photos Hilary. Well done and thanks. - Dave

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Hilary: Those were some neat orange shots.

Paul C said...

I like the recurring colour motif here. Wonderful shots and I am glad I discovered your site.

Kelly H-Y said...

Stunning shots!!!

SandyCarlson said...

I love orange, and I was so happy looking at these. And feeling mighty warmed up! Great stuff.

Anonymous said...

That first shot really captured my heart with a sunny smile. ♥

Unknown said...

Bowing to these photos, and to how they make me feel.
Thank you for sharing . You gift . You know that don't you.

Cheryl Kohan said...

Wow! These are just great! I like them all but the picture with the sun shining on the brick wall just warmed me right up!