|
Excerpted from The Beader’s Color Palette (Watson Guptill, June 2008)
CULTURES OF OUR WORLD: Latin America by Margie Deeb

Each Latin country has its bounty of spectacular colors and combinations. From Mexico all the way down to the southernmost tip of South America, the colors vibrate and sing. People paint their homes bright orange and pink. They stripe their blankets with Crayola-like hues, and there’s little backing off - most hues are at full strength! Softened cameo tones can be found, yet even the calmer tones are combined into bold high contrast schemes. Its a world alive with sizzling, festive colors.
©iStockphoto.com/Christina Rodriguez

Suggested Palettes Inspired by Latin America

Margie Deeb weaves saturated brights against a field of black to make a Guatemalan blanket inspired bracelet. Brickstitch. Photo by Margie Deeb.
Argentine Door
Deeply muted mustard and army green make this palette a quite a challenge. If you’re up for it, this would work best in a seed bead woven pattern rather than stringing. Delicas: DB-1530, DB-911, DB-663, DB-218, DB-1312, DB-206,
La Boca.
As you grow bolder with your choices you become a color sophisticate. And Latin palettes are the ones to cut your teeth on. A window in La Boca, Buenos Aires provides a playful palette. Pull out all the stops with this one and have fun. Add more shades of pink and lemony greens and let go! Delicas: DB-215, DB-914, DB-274
Painted Pottery
Painted Pottery. Inspired by the colors of this pot in a Costa Rican market, I wanted to make this palette applicable to more than pottery. So I sweetened it a bit by making the background lean more toward pink. Go lightly on the yellow and maroon accents or this will become garish. Delicas: DB-684, DB-1490, DB-167, DB-257, DB-160, DB-1312
About The Author
Artist, designer, musician, and color expert Margie Deeb is the author of several beading books, including the popular The Beader’s Guide to Color and The Beader’s Color Palette.
She teaches color courses for artists, interior designers, and beaders and her free monthly color column, “Margie’s Muse,” is available on her website. She produces a free graphically enhanced podcast, “Margie Deeb’s Color Celebration,” available on iTunes.
Her articles have appeared in Bead & Button and Beadwork magazines and BeadBugle.Com, and she writes a regular color column in Step-by-Step Beads. She has appeared on the PBS show “Beads, Baubles, and Jewels” speaking about color. Visit Margie’s website for her books, patterns, jewelry, inspiration, and more: www.MargieDeeb.com
|