Dear DeepDeepLight family and friends, 

There are days when our hearts are filled with deep gratitude and this is now. The moment when you stop in the middle of this beautiful world and realize - this is the reason I live. This time we would like to tell you how you make our dreams come true. And this special moment is a pure co-creation with you. It's not just us and then you choose. This is us. Together. People who didn't know each other a few years ago. And that is something very special. Today we are shipping our first soul color made together with our dear artist friend Ariane (@bujoart).

Co-creating colors for artists was our dream since the beginning of DeepDeepLight - just like alchemy era and Renaissance paintmakers did for their great artists. VanDyke, and Paynes are the most popular artists with their own mixes that have survived over centuries, but most of the wealthy artists had their own paintmakers who did magic for them. We believe that finding your own color that makes your soul sing adds something special to the artwork. And the process of painting becomes close to sacred. 

Before we started playing with pigments in DeepDeepLight we had a very vague understanding of how colors in the half pans differentiate. It was just about the tone - warmer, cooler, lighter, darker. Some years ago we knew just blue, red, green, and yellow. That was our verbal catalog of colors. And of course, nobody is born knowing the ultramarine, indigo, or ochre meaning. We had to learn. And we learn while we play with them. We mull, we mix, we paint. We research their histories, we get to know their personalities. And yes, each pigment has its own very special character. Some are heavier, they love to settle where applied on paper. Some are lighter - they love to float where the water brings them. Some are fluid - they are dancing and taking over the space. Some are dominating, some are extremely well-adapting and mixing and some are grey cardinals and non-dominant to sight but become a beautiful and powerful background. And we are still learning how they interact with each other. It is like arranging your guests around table in bigger party. You know them well, but it might be a surprise when they start to talk to each other. What topics they would bring up is always a pure mystery. 

When designing a new color we start with a visual appearance. It will always be the first personality trait in the paint world. Ariane wanted to have a color that later got name "lagoon" - greenish bluish turquoise of sunny Mediterranea lagoon. When we have a tone, we can think about brightness or muteness, transparency, fluidity, granulation, and staining. Ariane wanted transparency and granulation and the surprise of splitting into pigments. We have around 40 different pigments to choose from. It is the same as having a lot of spices in the kitchen cupboard. It takes time to select the right ones to create a masterpiece. Adding "little Ann" (we have a spice mix here locally that most of our grandma's add to everything) will make everything taste the same. 

It takes some time to find the right combination. Just because they play together differently in different companies. And when it is done, then we adjust just the color tone. Greener. More yellow. brighter, more muted, lighter, darker. 

We had a mulling session together. Since we are on different sides of the globe, we had an online tea party. We had our pigments ready, we had some tasty snacks, and improvised color birth ritual. Once we were happy, the paint was curing. It takes at least four layers and weeks, and sometimes might take months. But today Ariane's lagoon is ready and we are shipping it home. We have recipe and swatches and we can recreate it whenever there will be a need. And we are sure that it's the only one color in the world. We use pigments from different suppliers and probability that anybody has the same pigments is close to impossible. The tone is unique and it's characteristics even more. This is color that was created for her soul. Like a ring, like a special dress, like a song composed just for her. 

Thank you so much for giving this special moment to us, Ariane!

And we are ready for several more soul color creations this summer. Just let us know!

With love,

your personal paintmakers

Agnese and Daina