The Color of July / 2023
July's Color of the Month is Spruce Pine.
If you leave Asheville, NC, drive north on I-26, take Exit 9, and head eastbound for about 25-30 minutes, you'll reach a little town surrounded by scenic mountain views called Burnsville North Carolina.
If you keep driving a bit further, you'll find yourself in Spruce Pine.
In the summer of 2016, I took a road trip to Burnsville with my family. It was the last week in July; the sky was thick with summer rain clouds, the trees passed us by in rich blurs of green, and the air was warm (but not overwhelmingly warm, like I'm used to in Florida).
Our car was packed to the brim with all kinds of things that you wouldn't usually bring on a family vacation.
Next to our suitcases sat boxes full of things like linens, tableware, vases, cafe lights, and other party-related odds and ends. In the back window hung a white garment bag with my wedding dress inside.
A day later, my family and I were joined by Jesús, his parents, his sister, and 42 of our favorite people.
We all shared a long weekend of hiking, brewery hangs, and good food before gathering together in the backyard of a house on Plum Branch Rd. for Jesús and my wedding on July 31, 2016.
Our wedding and reception were held in Burnsville, and our rehearsal lunch in Spruce Pine the day before.
It was the best weekend of my life.
After our wedding weekend, July officially became my favorite month in the year – and one that I will always associate with very specific sounds, smells, and colors from the region in NC where we got married.
Green represents July in my heart. More specifically, Spruce Pine – a deep, rich, slightly muted shade of green.
And while there are so many colors of green that I could've picked to associate with this month, I landed on Spruce Pine because I wanted to capture a particular feeling of calm in this shade of green. The kind of calm that feels like a really satisfying exhale.
Here's what I was going for…
Imagine sitting in a soft grassy field on a summer evening, surrounded by your favorite people. You're not worried about mosquitos or bugs crawling on you (because we're leaving those out of this visualization).
The sun has just set, but it's still light out. The sky is a beautiful display of dark blues and orange.
There's a campfire that fills the air above you with a soft billow of smoke, and the air smells really good – like fresh-cut grass and charcoal and a blooming butterfly bush nearby. There are definitely smores in hand.
The backdrop for your evening is a dense forest of trees (this is where our green comes in). The forest feels more comforting than daunting – like a familiar place of rest.
As the sun drops below the horizon, soft shadows begin to transform all the trees' leaves from their daytime hues of chartreuse and emerald into deep shades of olive, hunter-green, and Spruce Pine.
The fireflies put on a show in front of these many washes of dark green, and because you can't bottle the day to relive again, you feel an urge to really soak in the moment - to be extra present on that cool summer night.
That's the feeling of Spruce Pine. Can you feel it?
This peaceful, green summertime moment is the same one Jesús and I experienced during our beautiful wedding weekend with our friends – a time that I did everything I could to soak in and memorize – and we've been fortunate enough to recreate similar moments in the summers since.
When I see the color Spruce Pine, I can't help but think about my love for these kinds of moments in July in the mountains of North Carolina.
To help commemorate this love and the memories Spruce Pine brings up, I also decided to start this month with a new painting.
The piece is called The House on Plum Branch Rd., and it's a large 48" x 48".
Available only to a special collector who shares a mutual love for summer and the color green. ;)
If that's you and you're interested, please feel free to inquire at annanunez.art@gmail.com.
The House on Plum Branch Rd. — 48” x 48”, acrylic on canvas, 2023
Thank you for reading July's Color of the Month!
I hope this edition of our series encourages you to consider what colors feel the most synonymous with your summer memories.
Perhaps you can find a creative way to reflect on or celebrate that color this month.
Cheers!
Anna
July 31, 2016
Looking for more Spruce Pine inspiration? I made a moodboard for you on Pinterest! Click here to see it.
