ST CLAIR
TheSecretLivesofColourauthorreveals
thepeople,placesandpigmentsthat
inspire her. Interview: RACHAEL FUNNELLWHEN DID YOU FIRST
BECOME PREOCCUPIED
WITH COLOUR?
I’d say the knowledge unfolded slowly.
I enjoyed it as a child, but then what
child doesn’t? I used to play with
flowers in my mother’s flower shop
and enjoy mixing combinations.HOW DID THAT BECOME A
CAREER PATH?
Colours came up a lot during my
history degree, since I was looking into
what 18th-century women wore to
masquerade balls
for my dissertation
and they thought
about colour a lot.
Later, I had the
idea for a column
about hues, tints,
pigments and dyes
for Elle Decoration
magazine.HOW DID THAT DEVELOP
INTO YOUR FIRST BOOK, THE
SECRET LIVES OF COLOUR?
I was working in the books and arts
department of The Economist while
writing on the
side, including the
column for Elle
Decoration about
colour. At one
point it seemed
like that might fall
through, which
was devastating.HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON
THE BOOK’S 75 PIGMENTS?
With great difficulty. There were a few
things that played into the selection:
sometimes it was about the beauty offaces,doa bitofshufflingandsee
what combinations catch your eye.DO YOU HAVE TOOLS TO
HELP WITH COLOUR
SELECTIONS?
I don’t use equipment, but I do have
a wonderful book from the 1930s:
Maerz and Paul’s Dictionary of Color.WHERE DO YOU GO FOR
VISUAL INSPIRATION?
Italy, always. I spent six weeks in the
hills above Lucca when writing The
Secret Lives of Colour and just can’t
get enough of north Italy.
Kassia will be giving a talk and book
signing at 6pm on 26 March at Pegasus
Art, Stroud, Gloucestershire. Her books,
The Secret Lives of Colour and The
Golden Thread, are published by John
Murray. http://www.kassiastclair.comthe word or needing a balance of
yellows to reds to blues, and
sometimes it was just about the
richness of the story behind a colour.DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE?
Ultramarine is one I would usually say,
but I’m also a recent-but-profound
convert to pink. I love a pale, slightly
grey pink, a bit like a frosted tile.COLOUR AND DESIGN OFTEN
FEATURE TOGETHER IN
YOUR WRITING. WHICH
DESIGNERS INSPIRE YOU?
I don’t think there’s a specific one,
but I will admit to a very large soft
spot for Hans Wegner.WHICH RECENT EXHIBITIONS
HAVE HAD A PARTICULARLY
ARRESTING PALETTE?
The Bridget Riley exhibition at the
Hayward Gallery really blew me away.
There were a few artworks that I
loved, but it was more the impact of
seeing them together in that space.WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU
GIVE SOMEONE STRUGGLING
TO SETTLE ON A PALETTE?
Be playful, maybe create a small pack
of cards with colours painted on thePaint colours on cards,
shuffle them, and see
what catches your eye
ANTHONY WHISHAW,BLUE ROAD NORTHWARDS II© THE ARTISTDIEGO VELÁZQUEZ,LAS MENINAS© MUSEO NACIONAL DEL PRADOPHOTOS: REECE STRAW/ROZ WOODWARD/STEVE PILL/UNSPLASH10 MINUTES WITH