MICHELLE BLAKEN PHOTOGRAPHY

This pondering has culminated in a pleasing first set of image contributions for a Cornish contingent of the ‘Incidental Landscapes’ collection.  I have yet to fully realise the colour balance that will assume the title of the chosen county colours; For me, blue and yellow reflected the cold and bleak yet often illuminative qualities of Scotland in early spring; Green and orange hints at the genuine coverall greenness of Ireland coupled with the rich and sometimes muggy warmth of our early summer visit there.  The green and orange is also a gently playful nod to the national colours of Southern Ireland, as is the blue to the Scottish flag.  The standout colours for me, here in my home county are gorse flower yellow, ocean turquoise, rain sky grey and autumn bracken burnt orange. The shades of turquoise in particular never fail to astound me when they reveal over in the ocean’s waters here in certain conditions. In summer most places are varying shades of green, much like Ireland, but in the shouldering seasons there is the trademark orange of the spent Bracken blanketing the valleys and cliff tops overlooking the ocean; and so I feel that this rich orange base colour for the shadows and darker tones, paired with a complimentary and uplifting turquoise for the highlights and lighter tones might be a uniquely identifiable and contrasting combination to harmonise with the Scottish and Irish split tone contingent. The rustic orange hinting at the iron, tin and copper in the ground and the turquoise of the sea and the sky and the sand combined.