A Twist on a Fall Color Palette for SIA: Conjunction + DIY Bead Soup Earrings

Shelbee at Shelbee on the Edge is the curator for this round of Style Imitating Art (SIA), and she picked the 1979 lithograph Conjunction by American artist Romare Bearden. Shelbee discovered this artist when she saw an exhibit of his work at the Ashville Art Museum recently and was very emotionally moved by it. Shelbee notes that Bearden, who was a social worker in Harlem for 29 years, had a passion for connecting people, and that "Conjunction shows three happy humans coming together in a joyful social interaction."

Source: shelbeeontheedge.com

I was first struck by the figure on the right, who appears to be wearing traditional African Kente cloth (or something similar) with a vivid geometric print in yellow, black, green, and red/orange. Next I noticed the print mixing of the left-most figure with windowpane and various stripes in their outfit.

But it was when I considered the color palette more generally that I felt inspiration for my own outfit strike. I can always do a riff on yellow with my golden blonde hair, so I identified the remaining colors for inclusion in my outfit. The green and orange definitely gave me fall color vibes, but the neutrals of black and white were an interesting twist on the more common brown and cream of autumn. I was particularly intrigued by the inclusion of both orange (the background color) and a warm salmon pink (the pathway color) in the artowrk and wanted to include that combination if possible.

Then it was a simple matter of looking through my scarves to see what I had to match this color palette. I was quite happy to discover that the scarf I consider my go-to option for combining orange and green also has black, white, and pink in the print. This became the focal point for building my outfit. A floral print in November is definitely a second twist on the fall theme.

I considered a print mix outfit but I was feeling a colorblocked look instead, so I pulled out black jeans, a pink-coral long-sleeved T, and a dark green cardigan to create the backdrop for the floral scarf. The cardigan's cozy knit texture and hunter green color make it perfect for fall, so I'm always happy to bring it into outfits at this time of year. I really like how these colors go together, and these particular pieces combine quite nicely into a classic "long over lean" silhouette.

OOTD 11/20/23

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the pink-coral T and orange in the scarf right next to each other, but I think it works. For me, the key is that the scarf contains a range of orange and pink colors and the pink-coral is "in the span" of those colors. (If not for the scarf serving as a bridge piece, I would probably be happier combining orange with a bright pink rather than this warm muted version.) I found the scarf with this tie already in place from the last time I wore it, and I decided to go with it. I had tied it into a braid for about 5" (using Jodie's technique) then left the two ends hanging long.

Slim black pants/jeans + cap toe ballet flats feels like such a classic combination; I'm not sure whether Audrey Hepburn ever actually wore this combo but it has that vibe to me.

My all-DIY daily bracelet stack is a mix of the sandstone coral, dark green, and black from the palette plus gold and silver metals. I wanted to wear both of the sandstone coral bracelets, and since one has silver and the other gold, it made sense to include a (worn) gold and silver bracelet to make the metal mixing seem intentional. {Stretch bracelet tutorial here.}

My earrings are a pair of DIY bead soup earrings I made in the basic "3 beads on a stick" style. I was happy to have two of the light orange oval glass beads with the gold paint drizzled on them to be the star of the show. I then added gold bead caps and spacer beads to fill up my "stick" (headpin), rolled a simple loop, and attached it to an ear wire. The earrings don't match any particular color in the outfit, but I thought they coordinated well.

Now let's turn our attention to a very important part of the post: our Rabbit Imitating Art selection! I knew immediately upon seeing this artwork that only one breed of bunny would do: the black-and-orange striped Japanese Harlequin rabbit. The colors, the feel of a print mix with the stripes and the patchwork coloration of the face...it's a slam dunk.

I always love it when our rabbit addition solves a puzzle in the artwork; this time, the question I had was "What's the deal with that one strangely limp hand hanging down in the middle of the piece? Whose hand is it? What is it for? Why is dangling so awkwardly?" But once the bunny entered the scene, all became clear: somebody (still not sure who...the figure on the left?) is reaching down to pet the rabbit, who is settled into a loaf position at their feet. What's better than joyful human connection? Joyful human and pet connection! The rabbit seems to find this arrangement, including the pets, satisfactory at the moment, but her ears are on alert. I think of this common rabbit ear posture as "monitoring for signs of human intelligence; none found."

Conjunction "improved" with rabbit

Thanks for joining me today for this Style Imitating Art + Rabbit Imitating (and Improving) Art post!

To see other outfit interpretations of this artwork, check out the review on Shelbee on the Edge.

What did you think of this artwork's color palette? Do you like to add a twist to traditional seasonal color schemes like this tweaked fall color palette? Do you ever wear the "long over lean" outfit/silhouette formula? Are ballet flats part of your footwear line-up?

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