Mr. Brett recently presented the library with a beautiful book all about colour. 'Colour, Travels through the Paintbox' by Victoria Finlay is an exploration into colour and its origins, meanings and uses. She focuses on a different colour in each chapter; ten colours in total.
In the coming weeks SCC Art will feature a number of the chapters from this book. At present it is displayed inside the door of the library and is well worth a look. Finlay's first chapter examines OCHRE. Pictured below is a photograph of the famous ochre mines in Luberon in Southern France.
Ochre comes from Greek meaning 'pale yellow'. It is an iron-oxide and is the first colour paint used and known by man. Evidence of this exists across the world and nowhere more than in the cave paintings going back 40,000 years, in Australia. It is here that the author first travels in her quest to uncover the secrets of ochre.
