My agent is Simon Trewin
Simon Trewin Ltd, Adam House, 7-10 Adam Street, London WC2N 6AA
simon@simontrewin.co.uk
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My agent is Simon Trewin
Simon Trewin Ltd, Adam House, 7-10 Adam Street, London WC2N 6AA
simon@simontrewin.co.uk
Victoria Finlay 
I am having trouble finding a copy of Victoria’s book Color: A Natural History of the Palette. My father is 88 yrs old and an artist. I know he would love that book & I want to get it for him for Christmas. He’s not getting any younger 🙂 so time is of the essence! Can you help?
Many thanks
Patty Clarke (we are in western Canada in Calgary)
“On occasion we have an idea that is so clear and simple and elegant that we are astonished, as if a rare and precious meteor fragment just landed at our feet. We pick it up and examine it closely. And we ask ourselves, where could this have come from. Looking back to the blue sky we marvel. But we can never figure out what to do with the idea. Some meteors become doorstops or paperweights. The same is true for these special thoughts. We marvel at their novelty for a while and then tend to forget them. But ideas, like a seed crystal, need to be nurtured so the can grow and influence us. An idea with beautiful symmetry must be planted deep in the mind with long and considerate reflection. Then it can be the seed crystal of thought that will grow, reflecting internal beauty and geometry.”
– The Structure of Delight
5am…
A moment that can happen at any time.
when everything falls into place,
clarity is at it’s clearest,
confusion transforms into oneness
and when fate…
Welcomes you with open arms.
http://www.wix.com/project5am/project-5am
I just read your book “Colour” and LOVED it! Thank you…
http://traditionsmexico.phanfare.com/9999/
this is a great website to look at for pictures of extracting purple from shells in Mexico
Victoria, there is a piece in the National Gallery in your neck of the woods if you are in London now, by Rogier Van der Weden; Magdalen reading. I think it is a tsitsit she is wearing. It has seven dinglies though. and I beleive he used Indigo to render that. hopefully someday I will see that in person but for now I will suffice to look at it on screen. you can get a good degree of resolution on their website. take a look and see what you think.
Hello, Victoria, I bought Color in 2003. Six months after buying the book I was in Nurnenburg Germany and visited Albrect Duher’s studio. There on the wall of his studio was a map of the world as he knew it, with scallop shells filled with raw pigment and a ribbon leading from each shell to the place on the map where the pigment originated. it was a visual of your book. Based on your description of the “lost blue” at Chartres, I visited the cathedral to see that blue. Since 2003 I have given that book to 14 friends who are either artists or interested in color. In relating the story of the lost blue last evening to an artist friend, she asked if I had ever told you how much I enjoyed the book. As soon as she said that, I determined to search out an address for you. Now I find this terrific blog! The book has made me look at color in a new way. Thank you for writing it.
Best,
Fran Ginn
I found your book COLOR at the Jung Center of Houtson, Texas. I’m an art teacher and was very excited to read it and I loved it. I also shared it on my blog for all my students and colleagues to read. Thanks so much!
I loved your book Colour – read it while living in Australia years ago. Have just dug it out of my library to reread it. Would love to be put on your blog mailing list. I will try and read your other books too. Love the subject matter. Love the writing. Very best wishes, Joanna
hi, ı am gökçe and ı am from turkey and gemolog ı saw your book about gemstones so ı was very happy. I wonder that you write second book about gemstones because ı read your book , ı liked it.
ı want to ask a question did you go to sappihire, emerald and other gemstones mining realy because it is so beautiful
Hi, Victoria!
Your books are wonderful! I studied culture anthropology and history of art in Odessa, Ukraine. So, your works help me to understand аn interconnection between chemistry and art.
Dear Olga, Thanks for your kind message. It inspired me this morning to write a post about chemistry and colour. https://victoriafinlay.com/2012/06/08/colour-and-chemistry/ Good luck with your studies!
Ms. Finlay:
I am a quartz collector who has enjoyed your Color & Jewels books, and the segments of your website about agates. One quibble however:
You write at:
Castellani, Augusto. Gems: Notes and Extracts. Trans. Mrs John Brogden. (London: Bell & Daldy, 1871.)
“…Ear agates are the parts of the stone where, in the cutting, are discovered circular bands, small in diameter, arranged with regularity abut one spot. The first round is white, the second is black, green, red, blue or yellow…”
You do caution us that this section of your website consists of your notes on agates, which you have not fact-checked. Upon some further hunting on my part, I believe you meant to say EYE agates, not ear agates.
This can be checked easily in several online versions of the Castellani book, for example:
http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/castellani-gems/page_025
Castellani, Augusto. Gems: Notes and Extracts. London: Bell & Daldy, 1871.
“Eye agates consist of those parts of the stone in which the cutting discovers circular bands of very small diameter, arranged with regularity round one circular spot. These circles are frequently so perfect that they appear to be traced by the compass, and consist of two or three, seldom of a greater number. The first round is white ; the second, black, green, red, blue or yellow ; the most rare are those whose circles are at equal distance from the centre.” (pp. 22-23)
Too bad! I keep up with the literature on agates, and really wanted to believe in this new type, “ear agates”!
Keep up the good work, as you have a fine suite of interests and a gift for description.
Robert, in California
Dear Robert. That is an excellent quibble. Though as you say a shame that ear agates are not a rare cousin of eye agates but simply a slip of my typing fingers. I imagine them, if they existed, to be rather whorly. Thank you for your sharp editing and I will go and change that straight away. Glad you enjoyed the book and thank goodness I didn’t put anything about ear agates in that! Best wishes, Victoria
Hello Victoria,
I recently finished your book Color: A Natural History of the Palette. Fantastic book! Its sense of adventure is infectious; so infectious in fact that I have decided to switch to the use natural dyes. Thank you for inspiring this decision its added a new level of intimacy to my work.
I was wondering if you had any suggestions on reading material about making traditional fabric dyes perhaps even recipes.
Thank you so much for your time,
Nathan
Hi Nathan
That is wonderful! What were you thinking of dyeing? I’ve got one book which looks great and has loads of recipes – it’s called Wild Colour by Jenny Dean and seems to be extremely comprehensive and clear, with really good photographs. She’s done another one, I see from Amazon, called Colour from Nature, A Dyer’s Handbook… I don’t know how different that would be. I have another book, more anecdotal, called The Colors of Casa Cruz which is far more local-specific, about the colours found around Oaxaca in Mexico, and about how Fidel Cruz – the dyer I mention in the book – finds his colours but unless you’re in Mexico or New Mexico it would be less useful than interesting. I’ve not done much dyeing at all so if you have a successful vat do let me know…
Dear Victoria,
I am reading “Color” with such gusto that I have to talk myself into putting it down often.
I was reading Orange last night, and I wanted to share a thought as I was reading the part about mastic production on Chios. On page 181, you talk about how the Turkish harem bought 3000 kilos of mastic for the harem. I believe, the Turkish women used that mastic not for bad breath (so much, hopefully) but for waxing body hair, which I believe was something attributed to Turkish women and very much desirable. Although the mother of the Turkish sultan might not have revealed to harem’s secret to her producers.
I enjoy the book so very much, mostly with a smile on my face and a realization of how much we take for granted.
Thank you,
Nihan
Dear Nihan
That is a terrific story – I had no idea about the waxing potential of mastic though if I’m ever given the chance of revising Colour for a new edition then I’ll definitely add that. Brilliant! It certainly explains the astonishing quantities. Thank you…
Best wishes, Victoria
I have read your book Color once from cover to cover, But I have read all of the colors individually many times. I return to each color when the emotion calls it out, when I need a break from my work mind or a spark for my next project. Each color’s story has a personality and adventure uniquely it’s own, but they are all so passionate in how people have found a way to release them.
I am reading Orange right now, As I wore amber jewelry to an event last night. Thank you for writing this wonderful book
Patti
Dear Victoria,
Thank you for your amazing book. It has taken me 7 years to complete reading your expedition through Colour – which is entirely my own fault and nothing at all to do with your writing. I have relished dipping in and out of Colour and read and re-read the chapters in the rare quite moments in amongst having 3 young children and running a business. It has been my sanity and reminder that I am part of a world of wonder beyond my front door that doesn’t revolve around nappies and putting food on the table. Your fascinating research and travels have been an inspiration and constant reminder to me to instil a general curiosity of all things into my children. And also, to try to answer as patiently and fully as I can their unending questions.
Thank you – I now look forward to tracking down and reading a copy of your book about Gemstones.
Sarah
Victoria your book “Colour” responds to me on a very deep level – I take it with me almost everywhere – I’ll say no more because Patti has virtually read my thoughts!
It’s strange though and you may find this peculiar it seems to be pushing me into some amazing direction – as if it is giving me answers of what action or direction or…..? to take – all good though – please keep writing…..
Just finished reading your book (in a German translation). Liked it. Don´t know if you heard this about dyeing with woad: In our area here in Westfalia in northwest Germany we say about a woman who can do ANYTHING: “sie kann hexen und blaufärben” she can do witchcraft and bluy-dyeing. Probably because the complicated process -as you describe in the book- does not create the desired blue colour up until the vey end (which may appear like witch craft) and also because it involves the little secrets any decent craft carries…
Hello, i´m having trouble to find a spanish version of the book Color: A Natural History of the Palett, in a electronic – spanish version, i usualle use a Kindle for reading, could you please let me know where can i buy it?
Thank you Victoria for “JEWELS”. i read “drival” according to my husband.. but a copy of JEWELS was in a bunch of books given to me by a friend. If I had read on a kindle I would have never seen it this is why paper books must stay in print. This book was greater than any fiction I have read. I will never look at any stone the same again and know that each one has its own story. Thank you again.
Hi again.
I have learnt my preorder for The Brilliant History of Color in Art is now on its way. Can’t wait to start reading …
Tony
I really enjoyed Color: A Natural History of the Palette. I taught drawing to my own children and continue to teach other homeschoolers. I love being able to take drawing lessons to improve my skills and observation. I work parttime at a bookstore, which has a used book dept as well, where I came upon your book. I am scooping up other copies to be able to give them as gifts. Such fascinating stories and great information.
The book Fabric was amazing! However, there was an incorrect reference to the Persian Gulf (incorrectly called the Arabian gulf), which reduces credibility of the research. Hope it is corrected in future versions
Such wonderful books you write! I just discovered Color and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I thought you might appreciate this demonstration of using mollusks for purple photography, published after your book came out.
Click to access 133-160_Haubrichs.pdf
Hi Meadow. Thank you! I’ve saved it for later reading, but love that illustration of the molluscs on the beach at Tar. Best wishes Victoria