Tropical Colors

by Laura 

Recently I have noticed that something unexpected has been happening to me this year. As I live in Manila, in the Philippines, in a tropical country, my perspective on color is beginning to change.

 
I am not a visual artist. My awareness of the colors, designs, and styles around me is amateur at best. I do, of course, have certain preferences. I tend to like muted, deep colors—blues and greens and purples. I generally like homes, rooms, clothing, and paintings with understated color schemes. Colors that would be advertised as "tropical" in a store catalog are generally not what I would choose for my home or wardrobe. Those preferences haven’t suddenly disappeared, but I’m learning that they have been environmentally influenced! (Who’d have known? Well, maybe an art major would have, but not me!)

 









Now I'm living in a new environment-not the American Midwest but a tropical Pacific island. In Manila, pretty much everything is brightly colored. It’s tough to find clothes in the colors I usually buy. Clothing here tends to be in very bright colors, with lots of hot-this/that/the other, or almost-neons. This is for everybody—men, women, old, young. The houses here are brightly painted—turquoise or yellow or green, with deep red roofs. And commercial areas like malls almost assault the eyes with their contrasting, competing signs and decor.

In Chicago, I would probably find all of this garish, if not downright ugly. But not so much here—and that’s what has surprised me. I've decided it's because of the environment. The tropics work with a different color palate. The greens around here are everywhere, overtaking everything else. There are many hues, but the plants seem to favor the bright grass-green end of the spectrum over the deep pine-green side. On a clear day, the sky’s blue is stunning. Most flowers are bold—hot pink or brilliant yellow or bright orange-and there are flowers everywhere. One of my favorite trees is a flame tree—the whole top bursts into glowing red flowers when the tree is in bloom. When the sun is out, everything shines back until you could be swimming in color.

Here, in the tropics, houses that look tasteful, beautiful, and elegant in the States would look washed-out and faded. They’d hardly even register to the eye when you walked down the street! Here, the houses that are beautiful, tasteful, and elegant are the ones that people have painted brightly to show boldly among the colors around them. And the people themselves are the same. Bright clothes don’t look garish—even on a quieter introvert—they look right. I’m fairly sure that I often look washed out, with my current “classically understated” wardrobe.

My favorite color is not going to suddenly become hot pink. However, my eyes and color sense are adjusting to their new setting. I love the new kind of beauty I see.