Friede Witzenhausen - Grey

For me grey symbolizes space. Grey contains all colours within it just like black and like white but then in a subtler way. It's a colour that can't easily be put into words, it retracts itself from the world of words. In order to draw a distinction between different shades of grey various names of materials are used such as metals, plants, animals and stone:
Leadgrey silvergrey aluminiumgrey titaniumgrey platinumgrey olivegrey
mossgrey mousegrey dustgrey ashgrey graphitegrey basaltgrey
slategrey anthracitegrey cementgrey granitegrey agategrey and quartzgrey.
As well as in my graphic work as in my paintings and drawings I use a lot of grey in many different gradations and tints. Often in many transparent layers with a trace of blue (ultramarine or cyan) or sometimes with a trace of red. Grey makes bright colours more earthy, in a subtle way it gives them depth and transparency.
It's no surprise that in the colour-plan of our house I started with grey. The front door and the shutters on the ground floor are painted with a shiny lacquer in paynes grey (ultramarine with Sienna). This door also gives access to my studio, that's why I've chosen paynes grey as the background for my photo.