THE COLOR OF KLEE

Color has always been my single most important visual stimulus. For me, pattern, texture, size, and shape are all secondary to hue.

I've always felt an affinity toward artist Paul Klee for his expertise in the subject of color. Though it took him years of study to develop his color theories, it only takes one look at his work to note his skill.

This vintage poncho immediately evoked the work of Klee, both because of the color and geometric pattern.

Klee (1879-1940) was a Swiss-German expressionist painter. Although he was aligned at times with German Expressionism, Surrealism, and Cubism, he eluded categorization into any one movement.

Klee was very influenced by the work of fellow Blaue Reiter artist Wassily Kandinsky (discussed here), and the idea of comparing painting to a musical composition.

Throughout his life, Klee's main goal through his art was to pursue the understanding of color. Although he struggled with it early on, he went on to become an expert and even published books on the topic.

"Colour and I are one." --Paul Klee

After a mini-blizzard last week, I was excited to debut the cozy snow boots sent to me by Cougar. The multiple layers of knit, faux fur, and suede, make them like wearing thick socks and boots at the same time. They're guaranteed warm to -22 degrees F, but they're not too clunky to wear when it's 38 degrees (which is plenty cold enough for me).

I'm wearing a metallic vintage Guatemalan poncho, Patagonia thermal tee, Citizens of Humanity jeans, and Cougar Ravishing snow boots.

[Klee images from personal.ceu.hu, davidsandum.com, breakoutofthebox.com, and julialapin.typepad.com, respectively.]