Breathing Colour | Living Colour Chart

The Living Colour Chart is a legacy project derived from Margo Selby’s 2024 Breathing Colour artwork. This ongoing collection invites people, to share personal colour memories and associations, exploring the connections we make with colour from both a sensory and emotional perspective.

Colour has the power to evoke memories, feelings, and sensations. Whether it's a colour you associate with a loved one, a nostalgic memory, a sports team or a colour you like to adorn or surround yourself with; this chart reflects how colour impacts our lives on a personal level.

What colour do you have an association with?

Our intention is to build this chart of colour, people and stories as a live research project to see the real connections people have with colour today.  The contributions will be used to inform future artwork and projects

PARTICIPATE | Scroll down to submit your colour, and view our growing Living Colour Chart.
WORK WITH US | To contact the Margo Selby Studio to discuss art commissions or design projects email: info@margoselby.com

Margo | Colour: Black + White | It is the contrasting light and dark tones which make all the other colours pop and shine.
Theo | Colour: Beetle Black | A little bit of colour adds depth and richness to black. Where most colours shine in the company of others, this one truly stands on its own.
Nadia | Colour: Henna Brown | I have always been fond of enjoying the South Asian traditional art of henna application both as a cultural practise and a fashion statement. The joy of Henna for me goes beyond its physical beauty; it’s a sensory experience. The earthy aroma of henna, the cooling sensation as it dries on your skin, and the anticipation of the final result all contribute to the enchantment of the process. For many, getting henna applied is not just an art form but a therapeutic and meditative experience. I love the final henna colour stain - dark brown.
Louise | Colour: Chocolate Brown | It was the colour of the 1980s kitchen counter I sat at every morning where my father would make us hot chocolate and my mother a cup of tea. It was my favourite time of the day.
Ailsa | Colour: Dark Red | My favourite colour and the one which suits me best. Also the colour of my bridesmaids dresses when I got married.
Helen | Colour: Murun Red | Bought a red brocade in Murun market, rural Outer Mongolia. People there ride motorbikes through bogs and on dusty tracks wearing clothes made from this sort of fabric. Terry Macey made my brocade into this magnificent shirt which I often wear to play concerts or when I play my gongs.
Aiden | Colour: Blood Orange | People say this isn't a real colour and that I need to stop being so pretentious and just call it red. But to those people I say no my favourite colour is blood orange.
Sue | Colour: Vivid Red | I met my husband in 1984 and I was wearing a red dress. He vividly remembers my red dress and I love that ❤️ On the 24th August 2024, we will have been together for 40 years but it feels like we met just yesterday.
Linda | Colour: Lipstick Orange Danger 883 Maybelline | Lipstick gives me confidence - the colour is my mask bold and bright.
Sue | Colour: Scarlet Tomatoe | What to choose? I have several favourites but I’m going with the red of Scarlet: ripe tomatoes, red lipstick, red letter day and favourite red shoes. These have taken me a few miles, both on solitary pensive walks and walks with loved ones, and always cheer me up when I put them on.
Gus | Colour: True Red | Red has been my favourite colour for at least 10 years now - it’s believed to be the first colour of every rainbow or light spectrum, and I put myself first when essential to make it through challenging times.
Laura | Colour: Vivid Coral Orange | I have lots of favourite colours.... impossible to choose just one! But for now, I've gone with my first instinct, and chosen a colour I love to wear as it lifts my spirits. I adore the zing of this bright coral orange - it commands attention, its optimistic, joyful and full of warmth.
Julie | Colour: Ruby Red | The name of my daughter who is pure, vibrant and strong.
Verena | Colour: Mulberry Pink | I have always loved pink because the colour gives me energy, strength and optimism! When I started my jewellery business, I even decided to have my jewellery label in pink (and white).
Jenny | Colour: Rich Raspberry Pink | I was a shy & awkward teenager who had been bullied. Age 17 I bought a large raspberry-coloured cardigan and found on the days that I wore it to school it gave me a boldness that I hadn’t known before. It is the colour of joy and liveliness to me.
Trace | Colour: French Fuchsia | Because it’s such a beautiful colour which is warm and happy.
Joanne | Colour: Cerise Pink | This is the felt tip pen that ALWAYS ran out first!. And my Grandma's favourite colour :)
Justine | Colour: Raspberry Pink | After living in black as a student and then living in Paris in the monochrome uniform of the early 1990s, my sister bought me a beautiful pink scarf that I love and still treasure. This started a love of all things pink and I subconsciously chose a sofa in the exact same shade and then consciously a kitchen!
Christine | Colour: Sweet Pea Pink | The colour reminds me of picking sweet peas to put in my Nana's vase as the smell was intoxicating.
Susan | Colour: Sugar Pink | A bright sugary pink reminds me of my Shania Twain cowboy hat. Let's go!
Keisha | Colour: Love Heart Pink + Green | Pink - love pale pink - represents unconditional love (husband missing LBT Global Response long time)! Love for my daughters/grand daughters - brother etc. Green - many surgeries and chronic illness, it's a healing colour - combine the two colours.
Harry | Colour: Baby Pink | Because it is the boldest and strongest colour of them all.
Amy | Colour: Sky Blue-Pink | My Papa would say 'the sky is blue-pink....to make the boys wink'.
Lesley | Colour: Blue Moon Lilac | My favourite rose - Blue Moon.
Jessica | Colour: Lilac | My Gran always wore lilac nail varnish.
Elsa | Colour: Cool Lilac | It speaks to me and its peaceful.
Calamity | Colour: 8E8AC6 | It was the colour of one of my childhood toys.
Issy | Colour: Fresh Lavender | I used to make lavender bags with my grandpa.
Torill | Colour: Sometimes Blue + Sometimes Gold | It is the contrast or the spaces in between that are sometimes the most lovely. The deepest blue is softer because of the brightness of the colours surrounding it. The palest blue catches the attention when surrounded by orange and red of the setting sun.
Gail | Colour: Wisteria Lilac | Staying in a holiday home in Millport when I was about 8 or 9 which I enjoyed tremendously the colour of the decor made me feel so glad. Lilac has deep memories for me.
Clare | Colour: Vivid Violet | Violet was one of the colours on a dress my father bought for me when I was four. He died a year later, so this colour is a beautiful reminder of him.
Felicity | Colour: Electric Violet | Just perfect, it goes with everything and is memory invoking and dreamy.
Lucy | Colour: Purple Amethyst | The colour of my first trouser suit, as a child, which my Auntie bought me. It had white, contrasting piping. I loved it! Purple is the colour of my birth stone, Amethyst.
Lauri | Colour: Wedding Dress Lilac | This has always been a favourite colour of mine. It's the colour I chose for my wedding dress 34 years ago! I didn't realise how controversial this would be! And now many of the plants in our garden are versions of lilac, purple or blue. Like this beautiful Bellflower which self-seeds very easily.
Hanne | Colour: Purple/Blue | I always feel good wearing purple/blue.
Katharine | Colour: All Shades Purple | Has been my favourite colour, all shades of purple, since I was a child - anything purple is somehow always more attractive to me!
Maggie | Colour: Plum | Someone called me a plum today, but I'm wearing lilac! I like to match my tights and my top.
Maureen | Colour: Aubergine | I just love the sound of this word, and think of the deep purple of the aubergine vegetable. (“Eggplant” just doesn’t have the same sizzle).
Belen | Colour: Vivid Burgundy | It’s great by itself and with bright golden ones, all kind of oranges, yellows, roses, …. And it’s so sophisticated!!!
Byeongheon | Colour: Early Night Navy | Before the dark night comes, it is time to prepare for astronomical observations. A brief moment of excitement in expectation of today’s observations.
James | Colour: Midnight Blue | If you use colour, make it have an impact.
Helen | Colour: Indigo Wash | I have pieces of indigo-dyed fabric from a number of places particularly Ghana, Cameroon and Niger. The smell of the indigo well is very particular - never forgotten. This is a sample I dyed myself in a shibori workshop in Canterbury. The vat had the same smell as the wells in Daboya.
Mel | Colour: Navy Blue | It just goes with all my favourite colours.
Hilary | Colour: Pacific Ocean | This colour reminds me of the power of the deep ocean, its vastness & beauty
Mary | Colour: Trafalgar Blue | Always wanted blue clothes as a child. Everyone groaned, “ Not blue again!.” Trafalgar blue dining room in the first house we owned. Love Yves Klein museum in Nice with his special blue. Now in old age look out at blue sea.
Imogen | Colour: Indigo Blue | It’s always been my favourite colour, a rich and gorgeous pigment, full of depth. My son’s name is also Indigo.
Ellen | Colour: Merlin's Robe Purple | The colour we painted our living room in our first flat together. My partner likes it so much he requested it for our new house.
Gwen | Colour: Evening Sky Blue | I love the colour of the sky as the light is fading. Once in a while there is the gift of a bright moon in the midst of this dark tealy blue.
Alison | Colour: Patchwork Blue | I have a very early memory of this fabric in a dress which was my sister's when was maybe five, more than fifty years ago. The fabric is now part of a patchwork quilt on my bed, the colour is as vivid as ever and I could look at it for hours, losing myself in the blue.
Julie | Colour: Colbalt Blue | This colour makes me feel confident and that I can overcome all things. It is a championing of good winning through after some very hard and dark times.
Mira | Colour: Sea Blue | I love the colour of the sea.
Sandra | Colour: Denim Blue | I love all shades of denim.
Gina | Colour: Provencal Blue | Memories of the best summer holidays that seemed to last for ever.
David | Colour: Beach House Blue | Our beach house is painted in a colour called Romantik. Always brings out the best in people.
Lo | Colour: Pale dusky blue | I own multiple shirts in this shade of blue - it’s become a signature of mine and whenever I feel a bit lost or unsure, wearing this shade reminds me who I am.
Jacqueline | Colour: Suzuki Teal | I love all shades of green and teal is my favourite. My trusty old Suzuki car is teal.
Christine | Colour: Cornish Blue | Very Unexpectedly I became pregnant in 1998 (after 10 years trying) at the age of 38 with a man who lived in Penzance, Cornwall. So I moved 7 month pregnant from industrial Germany to the Seaside town Penzance. And even after 26 years, the Blue of the sea and the sky never fail to lift my spirit.
Sasha | Colour: Azure Blue | This color ‘sings’ when used with Bone China. Azure Blue and It’s luminosity has been present in my work one way and another for 40 years now!
Deborah | Colour: Ever Changing Blue | I have always loved blue since I was a small girl and learned my colours. I love it from the palest blue through to the darkest purple and through all the bluey greens.
Misbah | Colour: Summer Blue | My grandma's favourite colour. I would always choose her blue fabric when I wanted to gift her clothes and she would have them made always in the same style. Blue was the colour of her eyes too which always shone with love. I miss my Grandma but pray she is sleeping soundly under the blue sky.
Michelle | Colour: Water Blue | I love water and feel very relaxed and at one with it when I swim. There is nothing better than standing beside a brilliant blue expanse of water with a cloudless sky above it - all that blue!
Donna | Colour: Clear Skies Blue | I have always loved blue. It’s the color of a clear sky or the sea. Moody or calm.
Simon | Colour: Sky Blue / #6CABDD | For Douglas. 'Manchester City' sky blue, a colour that I will forever connect with my late uncle, Douglas Charnley. Uncle Doug was a referee, and later a referee assessor for the Football Association. And most of all, a die-hard fan of Manchester City FC. The role came with some perks, which included access to the directors box at Maine Road. This was when I was a young child in the 90s, so the match day experience watching City was a long way away from Hollywood glamour of today. I have vivid memories of sausage rolls on paper plates and cans of pop laid out on tables at half time - and this was in the posh seats - and getting to meet the players sometimes after the match. Doug was like a second dad to me, and sadly passed away too young, before he got to see his beloved football club reach the dizzying heights they have today. I think of him every time I go to the match, and every time I see this most majestic shade of blue.
Laura | Colour: Living Lilac | Living Lilac is the colour of the pigment produced by the bacterial species J. lividum, which I have worked with to colour textiles. It is a unique non-industrial natural colour, ranging from blue to purple, which has had a great influence on the development of my design practice.
A | Colour: Zircon Blue | The colour of my Irish grandmother's eyes, the colour of the stones, blue zircon and aquamarine, sent to her when newly married, living in South Africa while husband was away in WW2. The colour her daughter was always drawn to while ever moving across the world, the colour I am wearing now, to match my eyes, finally stationary in Lancashire, UK and the colour my daughter, a Lancashire lass, is wearing in her holiday photos. 4 generations of women linked by a pale blue thread.
Holly | Colour: Hydrangea Blue | The perfect summer colour.
Talia | Colour: Royal Azure Blue | It brings back cherished memories of my mum and Safta, who introduced me to the world of textiles.
Christine | Colour: Calm Blue | I have always loved blue and still love blue. For me it is a very calm and safe colour that relaxes me. I wear it a lot, decorate with it and enjoy it (with pops of other colours too!)
Alice | Colour: Gemstone Turquoise | Turquoise is my birthstone and is a colour that appears to suit everyone and is also my favourite colour.
Fred | Colour: Arctic Turquoise | It's the middle of my favourite range of colours.
Tessa | Colour: Summer Sky Blue | Vibrant blue for summer sky & sea. I love blending it with yellow, of the sun of course, to create green. Mixed with red to create purple/violet. Think of Vermeer's & Vangogh's blue, that's where some of my inspiration hails. It complements my own colouring. I love indigo & ultramarine.
Detta | Colour: Cinnamoroll | I'm obsessed!
Tracey | Colour: Pale Turquoise | It’s a colour that makes me feel cheerful and summery, and it always seems to make me look good, even without make-up.
Suzanne | Colour: Tiffany Turquoise | Posted posthumously- My mum loved loved tiffany Jewellery and perfume.
Liz | Colour: Sea Turquoise | I love this colour as it is the essence of our beautiful coast and the joy and relaxation to be found by the sea.
Abi | Colour: Seafoam | It's a favourite colour I share with a really special friend, it connects us.
Lindsay | Colour: Singapore Blue | Brightest of clear turquoise blue skies and ocean I remember of my childhood in Singapore.
Sarah | Colour: Coastal Turquoise | The colour reminds me of my long walk along the Viking Coastal Trail and how nice it was to look at fresh and clean looking water.
Susan | Colour: Clean Water Blue | Clean water in our seas lakes and rivers is so very important to us all.
Jean | Colour: Kingfisher Blue | A colour I can sink into with joy.
Julia | Colour: Kingfisher Teal | I love Kingfishers and their beautiful colours.
Rebecca | Colour: Deep Emerald Green | Deep emerald green evokes in me a warmth, a sense of awe and a deep love. It reminds me of many times spent immersed in nature: walking in a pine forest in France with my husband & children more than 20yrs ago, a particular day out at Bradgate Park about 10yrs ago with our neighbours (a family were very close to), many holidays, weekends away and family gatherings, plus countless visits to country parks, the gardens of stately homes and the peace I find in my own garden.
Tess | Colour: Wellington Green | Fond memories of nature and hiking across the fresh summer countryside.
Martin | Colour: Khaki Green | Reminds me of the outdoors where I'm happiest!
Amy | Colour: Forest Green | The colour of the natural world, with which we must strive to live symbiotically. It always brings me a sense of calm.
Hilary | Colour: Blue + Green | I know I've cheated with two colours but I have to have both together. I've loved blue since, as a child in the fifties, my grandmother always gave me blue gifts (my older sister always received pink). When I started buying my own clothes and then decorating my first home I chose blue with green items and that has followed me through life. I love nature and can't resist taking photos of green leaves against bright blue skies.
Tess | Colour: Sage Green | It’s kind of warming in a way.
Kate | Colour: Leaf Green | I create bold plant inspired homeware so leaves are a thing of beauty to me.
Lynne | Colour: Any Shade of Green | The green of leaves and the vibrant natural world. Restful, soul restoring, the colour of life. What’s not to love. (And my son’s favourite colour too).
Julianna | Colour: Peridot | In honour of our sweet Meme whose life was cut short because of cancer. My mother, my best friend’s birthstone.
Ruth | Colour: Fresh Yellow/Green | I love my greens. Mostly, the fresh, emergent leaf yellow-green, of my garden in spring but also olives and the dark, dark, blue nearly black greens of the New Zealand forests. To me they mean life, it’s visceral.
Rosie | Colour: Scandi Apple Green | It’s been my favourite since 1976 when I first visited Finland as an au pair and bought a gorgeous duvet cover. Vibrant, uplifting, Scandi Apple Green!
Olivia | Colour: Acid Green | It just speaks to me! and it goes with pink and orange, vibrant and happy.
Tina | Colour: Pistachio Green | The colour of my favourite ice-cream.
Preeti | Colour: Lilly White | Be pure as a lilly.... just blends with every colour elegantly.
Mia | Colour: Pale Yellow | As a child, my favourite top had pale blue and pale yellow flowers on it. It always reminded me of holidays with my parents and grandparents, which were my fondest memories.
Carol | CoIour: Blue and Sunshine Yellow | I chose the paint colours for every room in my house room by room. About 5 years later, I realised that for every room I had chosen some variation of blue and yellow, without realising that I was choosing blue and yellow every time.
Jilly | Colour: Rapeseed Yellow | As I travelled through the East Anglian countryside I was immersed in the intense yellow oil seed rape fields that shimmered & rippled as the train passed through.
Lindsay | Colour: Joyful Yellow | I have always been drawn to the colour yellow. It brings me joy. Unfortunately I had a toxic friend for many years who's favourite colour was yellow, she made it her identity, so much so that no one else was able to have yellow as their favourite. Bizarrely I didn't find this strange. As a grew up I began to recognise many toxic behaviours within this friendship and eventually we parted ways. Although sad the colour yellow shone through and brought not only it's joy but it's freedom. Yellow is the colour that reminds me to be authentically me, and not to hide or alter who I am.
Kelly-Laila | Colour: Egg Yolk Yellow | I love all colours but Egg Yolk yellow is my favourite. It's vibrant, positive and rich. Perfect contrast to cloudy days!
Ryan | Colour: Mustard Yellow | Reminds me of a friend who is really into textiles and knitting, always think of her when I see this colour.
Linda | Colour: Nickel Mustard | I love the colour of mustard, where you can’t tell whether it’s yellow or green but it’s somewhere in between. This is one of my glazes made from nickel and titanium oxides.
Jen | Colour: Indian Yellow | The colour of my front door.
Cecile | Colour: Warm Coral | Coral is warm, it’s inviting, it brings out the best of my skin tones.
Peter | Colour: Ziegler Coral | It's the impossible to match coral colour of 1880s Ziegler Sultanabad rugs. Approximately Pantone Coral Rose but with the beautiful variations of the abrash.
Lesley | Colour: Seville Orange | Oranges and lemons. I have always had a very visual memory and as a small child I often thought in colours and objects. For example "Thursday" was a stack of pudding basins on an orange background. At age 5 I remember going with my father to visit some friends. The man was wearing a pale lemon pullover - I had never seen anything like it, It was an extraordinary colour in grey post-war England. My favourite errand as a child was to the local wool shop where my mother would have her current knitting yarn reserved in "lay by" so it could be bought as needed without risk of losing the dye lot but without having to buy it all at once. Whilst the shop owner found the right bag, I could gaze at the wall of coloured wools. Unfortunately, my primary school colours were grey and royal blue (Yuk!) but at age 11 the girls grammar school had purple and green which we later discovered were the suffragette colours though we mainly wore navy,
Sarah | Colour: Pumpkin Orange | I'm ginger and had a childhood of jokes about it but now (aged 40), I embrace orange. I particularly like pumpkin orange because they are plump, happy and unapologetic.
Fran | Colour: Saffron | In the early 1960's I left England at 5 and went to live in Singapore, it was like switching from black and white to colour, a kaleidoscope that instilled a life long love of colour. I find it hard to pick just one but it has to be saffron, the colour of the buddhist monk's robes - for me it represents light, simplicity and devotion.
Helen | Colour: Sunset Orange | I love all colours and particularly the colours in nature. My favourite has to be the beautiful colours of the sunset over the Norfolk coastline. Calming and soothing at the end of the day.
Lynne | Colour: Warm Red | Feels very warm and friendly and makes me feel the same.
Claire | Colour: Kent Orange | I make ceramic wall plaques made with local Kent clay, simply processed by hand. The material, mud, is fascinating at all stages - the firing transforms my tiles into a rich warm orange that sings in the sunlight.
Sue | Colour: Sunset Orange | I have always been drawn to oranges all my life. I suit orange clothes, I choose orange flowers. I chose an amazing wallpaper for my bedroom with huge orange flowers on. It was in the sixties! It is rather uncanny but I was told my aura is orange. So orange is definitely my colour. It's a happy, joyful, warm colour. Sunsets and moons can be orangey, so beautiful.
Sharon | Colour: Terracotta Orange | The colour of Ulruru, or Ayers Rock, in the Australian outback at sunset. Looks like it's on fire!!!
Becca | Colour: Sneaker Orange | Just love wearing orange - shirts, sweatshirts and sneakers.
Sarah | Colour: Warm Orange | I'm a printmaker and my colour palette always includes a tone of orange somewhere within the print. It warms everything up, provides a pop, and brings the print together.
Joni | Colour: Vivid Orange | Love the vibrancy of colour that vivid orange brings … makes one smile with joy , it’s the juxtaposition of combining with pink , bright green .. to make colours dance with joy.
Sophie | Colour: Dark Bruce Brown | I'm choosing this colour because my cat, Bruce, had to be put to sleep this week. He was a black and white 'tuxedo' cat...except he wasn't! It always intrigues me how fur which looks black on a cat is actually a luscious dark brown when you really look at it. I dedicate this choice of colour to my beautiful Bruce.
Christine | Colour: Calm Grey | This grey colour of my cat - he brings me a sense of calm and love that I have never felt in any other human or pet experience. It's comfort and feeling like home. It's softness and sweetness, loyalty and patience. He is a 19 year old cat that I brought from the US when I moved here. I can find him in the grey sky skies and my grey comforter, and grey of the sea.
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