The Color of August / 2023

At the end of July and into the beginning of August, Jesús and I were in Mexico City on vacation to celebrate our wedding anniversary!

Before leaving, my Color of the Month series was front of mind. But instead of planning and scheduling something in advance, I decided to let our trip's experiences, flavors, and sights influence my color selection for August.

Mexico City is a massive place (ranking among the ten largest cities in the world), so we mostly kept to the quaint neighborhoods of Roma and La Condesa during our stay, with the occasional excursion out of the city to see places like Teotihuacán and Frida Kahlo's museum and home.

Everywhere we went, my eyes were subconsciously on the lookout for a color to reveal itself to me as a distinct symbol of Mexico City in the summer.

Here and there, I would come across cobalt blue walls, bright red or yellow doors, and vibrant displays of papayas and mangos on the stands of street-side food vendors. Roma was also full of so much plant life, with lush, mature trees lining each street and nearly every apartment balcony featuring a potted plant.

I wasn't rushing to land on my color right away, but as our vacation started to wrap up, I felt no closer to finding my color for August than I had been before our trip. Nothing was really standing out to me as THE reoccurring color.

On our last full day in Mexico, Jesús and I were relaxing in our Airbnb before dinner when we started to discuss some of our favorite things about our experience in the city. We reviewed our favorite sights, spoke about what restaurants/meals we would miss the most, and we unpacked the creative inspiration each of us felt like we were taking away.

On the topic of inspiration – I quickly pointed out that one of my favorite things I noticed about the places and people of Mexico City was a celebration and elevation of that which is handmade. From the historic streets of Roma and Condesa, with their intricate architecture, to the pottery and clay artifacts displayed in the Folk Art and Anthropology museums, to the work of artisans in local shops, I was constantly blown away by the Mexican peoples' dedication to the beauty and quality of everyday objects.

This observation left me feeling re-inspired to approach my life and all the things I create - from my paintings to clothing to household renovations - with that same attention to quality, beauty, and detail.

However, it wasn't until I was on our way to the airport, about to leave for home, when the color I had hoped to find on our trip found me.

As I was scrolling back through my camera roll and our week’s worth of photos, I began to notice a similar warm, reddish clay color appearing over and over again in my photos.

Throughout my pictures of interiors, architecture, ancient pottery, and modern works of art, I started to see little pops of this warm, earthenware color - terracotta - sprinkled throughout!

Terracotta (a distinctly reddish clay) is my nod to the many raw, natural materials that are the foundation for so much of the beauty I admired during our time in Mexico City. And it only felt right as the color to represent the warm summer finale that is our month of August.

As you move through this month, how can you seek to infuse a little more beauty into your days? Be it with a handmade project, floral arrangement, a hunt for inspiration, etc. This is my personal challenge and one you're invited to join.

Thank you for reading about August’s color of the month: Terracotta!

Now to share those photos from Jesús and my trip to Mexico City. :)