Ways of working with light, darkness and colour

Colour circle with 12 qualities


This method was developed by the paintress Liane Collot d'Herbois (1907 - 1999). She developed the “Knowledge on Colour” of J.W. von Goethe and Rudolf Steiner further to a deeper spiritual understanding and practical use for painters and therapists. Birgit and Roland Tiller are working in an artistic way with this method.

The starting point of this way of painting is not colour or shape for itself, but the emergence of these in the encounter of light and darkness. At best this can be perceived in the atmosphere, because there the colours appear the least bound to matter. A mood that merges seamlessly into another, constantly moving in space, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Which colour we see in atmosphere depends on our point of view towards the light. Based on the atmosphere as the realm of colour we beginn to paint a picture that looks like coloured air, which gives the feeling of "breathing". The colours that occure in the painting are taken from the initial situation. We work on a base of 12 colour qualities. The technique of veilpainting allows the watercolours to slowly condense into form.

 

Diagram microcosm-macrocosm

We are deeply connected to light, darkness and colour. While we think clearly, we feel light within us: „I see!“ The thinking is the light in us. Darkness is connected to the will, it consists of warmth, sympathy and life. We know about our willpower, but the reasons for wanting something lies in our unconscious. Therefore we can call this darkness within us. The light of consciousness continually meets the darkness of matter. Between these two poles pulses the manifold world of colour.

If we try to describe a colour, then we say, for example: a warm red or a joyfull yellow, a calm green. Warm, joyfull and calm are words to express a mood, like the colour expresses a feeling. We can experience colour as a feeling, depending on a certain mood. We can experience this feeling as an inner movement and find a gesture to make this visible. This makes it obvious that every feeling has its own colour and its own movement. The colours in the outside world, correspond to the feelings within us. These inner connections are the base of our paintings. This makes the following connections visible:

Thinking = Light / Feeling = Colour / Willing = Darkness

This painting method also offers the opportunity to work therapeutically. If a person is not healthy, a colour in the human has become too bright or too dark, dirty, or immobile. The healing effect of colour enhances the healing of the disease. This healing can be achieved by a personal painting. In this method of painting, there are many aspects and possibilities of developing a healing picture.

 

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Want to know more about Liane Collot d'Herbois, please click here.