color theory

Color theory is at play in this delicious 1970s Mountain Mist New York Beauty, acquired last week from a seller in Vancouver, Washington. Intensity shift is the name of the color vibration phenomenon, an optical illusion. In a nutshell, when opposite colors of equivalent value are placed side by side, the colors tend to shift as the eye and the brain try to determine which color is lighter and darker. We learned all about it in Two-Dimensional Design class in Freshman Foundation at Rhode Island School of Design. Way back in the day! And I still remember. Gerald Immonen would be so proud.

Two other examples of the Mountain Mist New York Beauty are part of my collection. One is the contemporary 1930s colorway of burnt orange and yellow on white, and the other is the more traditional red and blue on white.

The red, white and blue colorway came from an inspiration quilt, now part of the Mountain Mist collection at the International Quilt Musein in Lincoln, Nebraska. Having lived with the two 1930s examples, which are also part of my first book, it's exciting to see such a dynamic color combination in the 1970s quilt. It's also fun to recall color theory lessons from college.