17. Bruce

If you are reading this, then you have likely come from Kate’s blog. And if you read Kate’s blog, then the namesake for today’s colour needs no introduction.

Bruce was philosophical; companionable; playful; beloved; and legendary in all his doggy ways.

Bruce was the original dog in a line of characterful black Labradors that now includes Bob and Bran. His dark and glossy fur inspired the name of this specific (and very Bruce-like) shade of black.

For if you look at an animal with black fur, you’ll see it’s not at all a flat colour, but one that gleams and shines; that’s full of reflections and subtle tonalities, and little bits of grey. It’s an interesting black, a vivacious black, a warm, lively and bright black.

Finding a lump of charcoal on the beach, I spy the same shininess; non-flatness; and interestingly rich surface qualities that characterise this shade.

These qualities are everywhere in the black things I can see beside the sea. A seawater-soaked old railway sleeper, dividing the tarmac path from the beach stones…

…an old corrugated iron shed, painted black and weathered by time, is mottled and gleaming, like Bruce.

A popular path has a crumbling edge where the tarmac meets the shingle, and I spy a seam of Bruce. A fluffy gingery-coloured dog almost has off with my ball of Bruce as I am setting up the shot, just so. What was I thinking, laying down BALL so neatly, on a popular path!

A coil of fishing ropes – one clad in jet black fibres – reveal how much greyer Bruce is, by comparison; where the outer layer of the rope is shedding and revealing its white core, the mix of black and white is closer to the colour of this yarn than in the places where the covering is intact…

…black pebbles flecked with dull grey white and not uniform in colour also speak to Bruce.

Plastic tubs of fishing gear lingering beside the sea in the salty air have gained a marbled, streaky, rain and salt-washed patina that reminds me of Bruce, too…

…as does the mottled roof of a tiny shed filled with fishing gear.

A tarred cabin sits on the rocks and stones, facing out to sea. It’s weathered front tips towards the waves like a warm wooden smile, and my ball of Bruce is happy playing there, sniffing round its interesting old beams.

Back at home, Bruce almost perfectly matches the colours in a woolly woven top that Mark loves to wear; it’s worked in black and grey, and its herringbone weave gives it a flecked appearance – like the yarn.

A Christmas card from one of my brothers’ families arrives and, in a proud-Aunty moment, I notice that my niece Scarlett has coloured the sky in her lovely festive scene in a shade that looks just like Bruce.

How luminous and friendly that sky appears – how sweetly scattered with stars – with its soft and mottled clouds.

Resting above the deer and the forest, at the darkest edge of the sky, the black that Scarlett has used looks vivacious; not-flat; warm and comforting. Just like the dog after which it was named.

This black is full of interest and life.

From tar, charcoal, sheds, net boxes, rocks and roads, to the glowing twilight of a winter scene, Bruce (the yarn) leads its human buddies on wonderful and unexpected adventures – a fitting legacy for Bruce the dog, who always did the same.

Where will Bruce take you, today?

These posts coincide with the KDD & Co. Colour Compass advent calendars. Each day, throughout December I’ll be opening my calendar beside you, and exploring the yarn shade that is revealed for that day. Read more about these posts here, and prepare for a few weeks of polychromatic fun as we discover the shades together and revel in their suggestive associations and creative possibilities together! Even if you don’t have a calendar, I hope you’ll love exploring colours with me, and thinking about each shade as it appears, and how it is connected with the everyday colours of your life.