Color at Christmastime

Pablo Picasso once said,

“Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint.”

Essentially, Picasso was saying that the harmony—the beauty—of two colors is inexplicable. He relates it to an artist’s natural talent for painting. Truly, I do believe that many things in this world can’t be fully explained. As a Christian, my life is one based on faith.

But even the most beautiful, complicated designs have a reason for being.

The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year. I pretty much like everything about it—the movies, the food, the family get-togethers, the shopping etc. But sadly, it’s so easy to get caught up in the visual beauty of Christmas and forget the practical reason for it.

For example, the color combination of red and green is an accepted aspect of traditional Christmas decorations and designs. It’s become synonymous with Christmas—used to convey the general seasonal mood without even a second thought. These yuletide colors, though, are not just “put one next to the other” because they look good together. Like many traditions, this one has a variety of origins. Many say that the red/green combination originates from the Middle Ages, when pine trees decorated with apples were used during religious plays to represent the Tree of Good and Evil. Another belief is that the color green refers to life and the birth of Christ and that red symbolizes the blood Christ gave for us on the Cross.

Although the origin of this tradition can’t be exactly pinned down, we should be able to clearly see that, when designing something, even a simple color choice can have an important reason for being there. Truly, when red and green are used together, they “sing” the true story of Christmas.

Sources:
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-origin-of-christmas-colors-a72109
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Colors-of-Christmas-Red-Green-and-Gold
http://quotes.dictionary.com/author/pablo+picasso