Add a Pop of Color Through Art April 12 2025, 0 Comments

By Kimberly Nicoletti

As we gradually transition into springtime, nature’s palette turns primarily from fields of white snow and evergreens to the promise of colorful wildflowers. The seasonal change often inspires us to wear brighter clothing and to incorporate fresh pops of color into our home. Art is the perfect way to do the latter; just as springtime ushers in more vibrancy and warmth, paintings do the same.

Color reflects the natural environment not only through its hues, but also in the ways artists like Miri Rozenvain incorporates natural stone and sand or Kristof Kosmowski grounds up plants and flowers to produce, or enhance, colors. 

Nathan Bennett, who first became enamored with color through sunsets, employed iron from a bucket in which he mixed nails and the right chemicals to showcase the monarch’s wings in his new piece, “Safe Space.” His orange tones are always made from iron. He also infuses the natural elements of copper nitrate, silver, cobalt and titanium dioxide onto bronze or aluminum with his fiery torch to create his patina paintings.

Of course, each artist has his or her own unique approach to working with color — even within the same family. Take the Rozenvains, for example. Aleksandra Rozenvain balances bright colors with subdued black, whites and grays in a structured, geometric fashion. She can fill a rainy Parisian day into a kaleidoscope of colorful umbrellas and glowing windows, inspiring viewers to conjure up stories about people in the scene. In this way, color adds intrigue.

Her husband, Michael Rozenvain, makes his colorful renditions burst from the frame with contrasting, gray-scaled backgrounds. His technique involves combining several colors on his palette knife at once to create what is called palette reflections and layering paint to create more depth and texture in his impasto technique.

Their daughter, Miri Rozenvain, drips, smears, scrapes and spills color, and then fills her pieces with washes of gray to generate a compelling sense of atmosphere. She and her brother, Barak Rozenvain, team up to present 2Wild, which showcases Barak’s textural skills and her color applications upon Plexiglass or panel through layers of resin and vibrant paint, resulting in lively expressions of sports, wildlife and “love.”

“There’s a rainbow in every inch of their paintings sometimes,” Brian Raitman says about 2Wild.

As we all know, color draws attention. It’s the part of the painting that attracts your eye first — though not necessarily the most. For example, Rodrigo Franzao’s sculptural pieces, created from hand-folded paper infused in latex, shifts in values of blues, greens or bronzes, enveloping you and moving the eye around, into the lighter center.

“He creates this soothing, soft, seductive atmosphere,” Raitman says.

While many people think they should follow their home’s palette — or even its architectural style — when choosing artwork, let quality be the thread that connects interior design.

That means a home with blue cabinetry and furnishings isn’t limited to shades of blue. Incorporating different colors to compliment, or even offset, the blue tones gives the room depth and intentional energy. And, these days, with interiors often donning grays or black-and-white, the neutrals offer the perfect backdrop for a great multitude of other colors.

Since colors bring energy to a room, Raitman suggests deciding just what kind of mood or energy you want the room to reflect.

“You can go with the starkness of black and white — there’s a quiet beauty to that — or you can go really colorful and joyful,” he says.

Neither choice is right or wrong, but both make a huge impact on the home or office’s vibes. For example, 2Wild’s bouncy splashes of color would add excitement to both a kid’s playroom or a sophisticated living room. Rodrigo Franzao’s paintings, which similarly burst forth with color, bring a softer and more calming energy to a room. Art puts the finishing touches on a space. The colors you choose to show off in your space give it the feeling and atmosphere that you want to surround yourself with.

So, this season, pick a color — any color.

"Tender Moments" by Aleksandra Rozenvain