The Golden Gate

The Golden Gate Bridge view from Marin: photo by Lynne Rutter

This weekend San Francisco will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge.  An engineering marvel when it was built across the treacherous "Golden Gate" strait in 1937, the bridge is still one of the most admired landmarks in the world.  I cannot imagine my city without it.

north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge at dusk

Engineers work constantly to maintain the bridge which must withstand relentless wind, fog, traffic, and occasional earthquakes.

The iconic vermilion color of the Golden Gate Bridge is called International Orange, something akin to a "safety orange"  but which is actually quite a nice red, especially when seen against a clear blue sky.   

Left:   International Orange (Safety) above 
 International Orange (Engineering)  below, which is the color used on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Some colors I have matched to this - and by that I mean walking onto the bridge, fan decks in hand - include  Benjamin Moore 1307 "Geranium" and C2 Color  C2-067 "Firefly." This can change depending on the age and exposure of the paint.

Sadly this beloved landmark is also the site of dozens of suicides each year, more than any other structure in the entire world.  I think about this every time I walk or drive over this bridge.  What is it about beauty that can also inspire tragedy?  Once I saw a man wrapped in a blanket, being led off the bridge by police. Someone had noticed his desperate state and interceded. After too many years of debate, measures have finally been taken to install a safety net and in early 2013 this barrier will be in place.

There's Brooklyn Bridge, London Bridge, And the Bridge of San Louis Rey ~  But the only bridge that's a real gone bridge ~ Is the bridge across the bay  

Golden Gate Bridge  in detail at Wikipedia

The Golden Gate Bridge's Fatal Flaw  LA Times

Life in Color more about International Orange by Emily Eifler for Colour Studio, Inc.

photos in this post by Lynne Rutter

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Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Exterior Color: Aesthetic Inspiration

Stick-Italianate Victorian in San Francisco her new custom paint scheme

I am excited to show you this recently completed color project - a Victorian in San Francisco a stylish new artistic dress.

Eddy St. Victorian, before painting

This 1880s Stick-Italianate Victorian house in the Western Addition  was long overdue for a paint job. Pale and peeling, it was nearly invisible and set back from the street behind an added garage and a tangle of overgrown plants.  The owner asked me to help make the house show up better, and give his home an artistic look using some of his favorite colors.

I created a scheme using a muted split-complimentary palette of mauve, green-grey, ochre, and rose, with hints of purple and peridot, and of course, some well-placed gold leaf.  This isn't necessarily an historic color scheme, but such colors were popular during the Aesthetic Movement, along with those other "indescribable colors" that I have been studying lately, and which provided inspiration for this design.

Eddy St. Victorian with new, Aesthetic colors

The garage and foundation walls were painted a warm grey, very simple and plain so as not to compete with the house. The roof of the garage will become a front garden.

Entry doors painted a deep glossy phthalo green-black

Originally I suggested an intense peacock teal for the front doors, picking up some of the color in the stained glass insets, but we decided to use a deep phthalo green/black, for a more formal look. Gilt elements on the glossy doors make for a stunning entrance.







*****

Color Consulting by Lynne Rutter 415-282-8820
  

Paints used on this house are by Benjamin Moore and C2 Color.



all images in this post by Lynne Rutter  - click on images to view larger

Lynne Rutter Studio

Flow Blue

A break in the rain, and a color lesson from my garden.  Cymbidium blossoms in a flow blue sugar bowl.

Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Sans, Souci.

Sanssouci palace in the winter sun

One year ago I was visiting friends in Berlin and we went out to Potsdam, to see the famous Frederician Rococo palace of Sanssouci (written on its façade as Sans, Souci. I have no idea why.) It was an exceptionally clear and sunny day and the yellow lime-washed stucco was particularly vibrant.  "This is the color of joy" I told my friends. I always associate that bright yellow with a happiness beyond reason.

Today I am working on a color scheme for a building with curséd white vinyl windows,  and have been  looking for examples of white-windowed buildings as reference, and so I am studying at this image I shot in Potsdam: warm grey limestone, pure yellow ochre pigment, black soot, verdigris copper.

One year ago today I heard the news that Japan had been stuck by a terrible earthquake and an even more devastating tsunami.   So today also I am also thinking of my friends in Japan and wishing them no worries.


photo by Lynne Rutter:  Potsdam, Germany,  March 2011
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Lynne Rutter Murals + Decorative Painting

Exterior Color: Waking up the Neighborhood

Apartment building with color design by Lynne Rutter

Here is a color project from last year, a large building in San Francisco with condominiums and an office on the ground floor. Inside are lovely flats, all quite spacious and nicely finished.  The owners called me wanting the exterior of their building to look more like a nice residence, full of stylish people, like it is on the inside.

Before: Apartment block D

Before: the front door of despair.

Now look at the "before" picture. It looked more like a correctional facility than a nice place to live. Grey stucco and white vinyl windows and no personality whatsoever.  Could  you imagine coming home to this every day? 

The entrances were particularly  sad. You could not  see the addresses, the garage doors were unfinished metal and starting to rust. It was so indifferent as to be downright depressing.  

Because of the scale of the work to be done, the budget was of course an issue, so a lot of things I might suggest to embellish or personalize this facade we could not do here.   So, it all came down to color.  Talk about personal--- color can be so subjective, and people react emotionally to it.  Can you please everyone?  Of course not.  But if you go out of your way to avoid color you can end up with a desolate, if inoffensive, look.  When faced with a choice between "not for everyone"  and "not for anyone"   I choose color!   Can just color make this building look more like home?  Yes!

Entrance to posh homes

White vinyl windows are a curse for a colorist like me.  I think they really cheapen the look of a building and make it really hard to use deep or committed colors. They seem to be a standard in a lot of new construction so I have learned to deal with them.  In this case, with white as a mandatory part of the palette, I countered it by including some black, used on anything made of metal- railings, beams, etc. 

There is no question in my mind that the Homeowners Association putting work into the exterior of the building would not only improve the lives of the residents but improve the value of the building and the potential sale price of every condo inside it.

I was delighted to work with the HOA of this building because  everyone was so willing to try what looked like such a daring color. This took commitment, trust, and teamwork to accomplish.   After seeing the palette sampled on the building, one homeowner remarked "well this ought to wake up the neighborhood!"    The deep curry gold really glows in the sun and is full of life at night.  Accents of green/grey, sage, and mahogany brown call out the entrances which now have a welcoming quality to them. 

 



Color Consulting by Lynne Rutter 415-282-8820
Paint colors by Sherwin-Williams
Painting by Winning Colors

all photos in this post by Lynne Rutter
click on images to view larger

Lynne Rutter Studio