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Sunday, August 19, 2012

Fifty Shades of Blue

A fellow blogger was recently given an award and asked to answer a few personal questions, such as: What’s your favorite color. The blogger’s answer—blue.


I began thinking about this popular yet elusive color. In spite of the fact that our planet appears to have a blue sky and looks blue from space because of the vast oceans, blue is rare in nature. Only a small percentage of plants and animals are blue. Historically, blue as an ingredient in art is rare; today blue is produced in factories from chemicals and used to color fabrics as well as paints, but during the Renaissance artists ground their own colors and blue was made from pulverized lapis lazuli, a pigment so expensive that the amount used was often specified in a commission’s contract.


Blue has fascinated writers over the centuries and the English language has no shortage of adjectives describing this obscure color: periwinkle, azure, cobalt, indigo, ultramarine, sapphire, turquoise, navy, sky-blue, powder-blue, baby-blue and robin-egg blue, to name a few. In the 1930s American illustrator/painter Maxfield Parrish became so famous for his use of a particular shade that the color was named for him—Parrish-blue.


Over the years I’ve experienced serious blues around the globe, but it wasn’t until I entered the legendary Blue Grotto on the Isle of Capri that I experienced an orgasm of blue, a DEFCON #1 explosion of liquid sapphire. Tourist attractions seldom live up to their hype and I had low expectations for this one, so I wasn’t prepared for this visual feast. I was transfixed by the color beneath our boat as we passed through a small opening in a cliff and entered into a cathedral of phosphorescence. We were only in the grotto twenty minutes but the experience burned Capri-blue into my memory.


Recently, Daniel LaFrance at The Pixel Collective, a friend and renowned photographer, posted an exquisite picture of an indigo bunting (a bird) that knocked my socks off. Have you experienced an intensity of blue that took your breath away? Were you ever held captive by the power of a blue moon? A lover’s eyes? Maybe something seen during your travels?


Share it with us.

39 comments:

  1. Blue eyes intrigue me. I've never seen in person the Blue Grotto on Capri, but I have seen it in HD on a Travel Channel documentary and it looks spectacular. I hope to make it there some day.

    S

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  2. I love love this post. I am a big nerd when it comes to learning something new and fascinating and this fit the bill. Now you've also made me want to go see the Blue Grotto one day...

    My favorite color is turquoise and I once swam in it when I was in the Riviera Maya area (Caribbean side of Mexico). It brought tears to my eyes, literally, it was so beautiful.

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  3. Being a scuba diver, I've had the pleasure to dive in some beautiful gin tonic clear aqua-marine waters that embraces you like your favourite blanket.

    Intriguing write-up with a dash of history.

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  4. You are a fountian of information my chatty friend. I love Bluebirds. We do not see them too much though they are making a comeback.

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  5. You ever wonder why they called blue blue and not something else? It all seems so arbitrary.

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  6. Your photos are wonderful. Such a majestic place that must have been.
    I love watching the birds and have a variety that frequent my feeders. One of my favorites is the Blue Jay, especially when he is perched on a tree branch near one of the Cardinals, the color difference is a beautiful sight. One of them usually retreats before I can grab and focus the camera, of course. Finches are also frequent visitors, but a week or so ago I saw a blue one. Kind of speckled blue, not solid like the bright yellow or the red/purple ones. I actually got a photo of him. I looked him up in my little bird book, as I like to learn the names of my feathered visitors. But, I could not find him. I even did a Google search with no luck. He is a Blue Mystery to me and I haven't seen him since that day. Glad I was able to capture him in a photo. Otherwise my family would really think I was nuts.

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  7. That's a most exquisite orgasm.
    Thanks for sharing the info and photos.

    xoRobyn

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  8. The blue waters of Grand Turk. That's the blue that jumped out at me.

    Have a terrific day. :)

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  9. Loved this info on blue. The most intense blue in the States I've seen was a small lake in Wyoming- literally took my breath away.

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  10. Amazingly, the two blues you mentioned are the ones that left a lasting impression for me. My sister came back from seeing the Blue Grotto for the first time around 1970. She was overwhelmed by the color and I was stunned when I saw the photos. And, I saw my first indigo bunting in Connecticut in the '80s and have never lost that image!

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  11. Hm...I guess I would list blue as my favorite color. I had never thought about how rare it is in nature, so your comments and photos really made me think about that.

    Also, if your wanted to up your number of hits, you should have named this post "Fifty Shades of Blue." Or something like that... ;-p

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    1. PP:

      You are brilliant! I just changed it. Thanks.

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  12. The scenes of the Grotto are stunning. Blue is a special, almost magical color for me. Great blues that I have seen-
    ---Paul Newman's eyes. I interviewed him over the years. My brother provided security for him at some '68 campaign stops
    ---the blue of a glacier "lake" as we flew over it at Mt. McKinley
    ---the deep blue of the sound off Grand Cayman
    ---the blue in the blue Mosque in Istanbull
    ---the blue of a clear California Central Coast sky
    the deepest and most intriguing blue was a stone in a piece of jewelry my English grandmother had. Family tradition has it that as a baby I would stop crying when she held the stone before me. Later as a kid I can remember staring at it, for what seemed liked hours. I have never seen a blue quite
    so liquid and intoxicating as that stone.

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  13. Our state bird is the bluebird. I see one every couple of weeks. The blue jays are more numerous. And feisty. They steal dry dogfood off our back porch.

    My oldest son's eyes are a clear, cornflower blue. He has a piercing gaze that has always reminded me of an eagle's eyes. The rest of us are of the hazel and green varieties, my mom's light blue/gray being the exception. I think he holds out hope that he was adopted.

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  14. What beautiful pictures.

    I think my husband's blue eyes are about the prettiest blue there is...in comparing them to other people's eyes.

    The blue water around some of the Caribbean Islands is always pretty. I think Tom Chochrum is right about off the Caymen Islands for one example, also off Bermuda.

    The sky on a pristine day.

    The blue in cobalt glass and Old Willow plates.

    And while all of those blues are lovely, according to your pictures they might look washed out. (except my husband's eyes...they are perfect)

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  15. Gosh, there have been a few blues that have held me in a trance. Hard to describe even.

    My son's blue eyes sometimes look turquoise and then sometimes it seems like I can see right through them through a deep sea blue.

    Water in the Caribbean is astounding.

    The deep blue of a Nebraska sky with the purest fluffy white clouds.

    I am finding that we don't all see the same shades of colors. So the beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder when it comes to shades of blue.

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  16. G'day CC. What an amazing colour. Lovely photos. In the state of South Australia, here in Australia, there is a lake called the Blue Lake. It is in an extinct volcano and during the months of November to March it changes from a grey colour to a stunning cobalt/turquoise. This change has something to do with the warming of the surface layers causing micro crystalites of calcium carbonate to form.It is a major tourist attraction for the area and is well worth a visit. Take care. Liz...

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  17. lovely photos- haven't gotten to Capri yet....as to blue- I love Lapiz Lazuli,Opal,Tourqoise,and Saphirres. and then there are deer and what they won't eat? Supposedly any blossom that is in the blue tones. Tomorrow I'll post something about blue. You have inspired me.

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  18. I am captivated by Stainforth Blue, a coloring attributed to Ronaldo Stainforth.

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  19. My grand newphew's eyes on my blog today! And the water off the shores of Aruba!

    Your photos are amazing!

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  20. Amazing blues, one of my favorite colors and the one that draws me in the most is the blue in my wife Cindys eyes.

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  21. I really like your post on blue. You covered a lot of territory. Now I haven't had a blue moment. I've even been lucky to not have too many blue days and blue nights!

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  22. In Puerto Rico is the Phosphorescent Bay. It contains the same microflagellisms that make the water glow. It wasn't in a cave, so it didn't glow as brightly, but it is amazing to see water glow.

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  23. oh my gosh..looks so breath takingly beautiful!!
    Mary must have liked blue.

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  24. The only blue that has ever impressed me is the one produced by Eiffel 65. I'm blue da ba dee...

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  25. Amazing pictures and I love blue too

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  26. Hey there,
    -new follower here...

    After reading the names of all those lovely blues in your post, I remembered a recent light-hearted disagreement I had had with my hubby regarding the color of my sun hat. I had said it was 'cornflower blue', and he had said it was 'sky blue'. We remain in at odds. :)

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  27. Beautiful photographs and a fascinating insight into a beautiful color. Blue is also the color of healing and communication

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  28. You brought tears of joy to my eyes -- the Isle of Capri shines like a star among my memories of my teen travels in Europe. Thank you.

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  29. I remember a long time ago, some friends and I were going to visit Capri. As we waited for the boat which would take us over, we settled in at one of the ubiquitous bars which are as common in Naples as dog turds and kids on motorbikes. One beer turned into a couple which turned into a few which turned into missing the boat.
    Not only were we disappointed, we stepped in dog poop as we staggered back to fleet landing.
    Capri looks beautiful.
    I wish that bar was closed that day.

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  30. Blue is my favorite color, as well; and I've never given a thought to its rarity in nature. I found your post very interesting. And your pictures of the Blue Grotto make me wish I could see it in person.

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  31. Blue is a wonderful color, and my son's personal favorite. One year for Halloween he wanted to be a blue dog. He got some puzzled looks, but he was happy.

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  32. gorgeous photos of the grotto. blue is one of my favourite colours too. it's always amazing when it is found in nature. i am grateful to see the beautiful blue sky on a sunny day. esp. lately coz it's so bloody cold and cloudy here atm. another fab post from you. thank you :)

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  33. my favorite shade of blue? my husband's eyes.

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  34. Scuba diving in the crystal clear aqua blue waters at the base of St. Lucia's Pitons. That was an amazing blue.

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  35. Wow, what a lovely bird indeed! I'd love to see the bluest of waters, that's what I want. I've seen a lot of blues and I love them, but nothing that has just blown my face off or anything.

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  36. I've never paid enough attention to blue before, but I will now try. Very cool post and those pictures are wonderful--you've got a gift with pics as well as words!

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  37. there is a section of sea of the coast of tobago which is referred to as the nylon pool. we were told the water was so clear there it looked like you were in a swimming pool. i thought it had to be hype but it was truly amazing to see. it was the clearest water reflecting the blue sky and just astonishing to me.

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