I love working with limited palettes and winter themes actually offer a lot of opportunies for unexpected combinations, but that still communicate “winter.” There’s certainly nothing wrong with working with reds and greens for holiday. They’re traditional and there’s no doubt they say “Christmas,” and sometimes that’s exactly what we want. But what about when we’re not trying to convey that “holly jolly” festive feeling? There’s so much excitement and anticipation before the holidays, that when they’re done, it seems sort of like we’re forgetting something. January 2nd feels like a non-event. Alternatively, it’s also a time that’s quiet. I’m able to reflect, and when I can untangle all the fibers and bits of things floating around in my head that I’d been collecting and jotting in my Field Notes, and weave them into tangible ideas. If you really just observe Winter, there’s so much life milling around, even when everything seems barren. There’s actually a lot more color going on than when we think of the “typical” winter if we stop to observe. More than grey skies and grey, dirty snow. There are varying values of red in cardinals, woodpeckers and berries. Warm yellows and khakis in dormant grasses, worn out fence posts and cedar waxwings. At night there are so many blues and violets: crisp, cool ones that at night, play on the snow, softer ones that are warmed by an evening sun. I enjoy working with all these palettes for winter too. That’s where I was going with this pattern, with warm, organic elements and textures. I hope you like it too…  a : )