Wednesday 11 June 2008

ABC WEDNESDAY

U is for...................

ULTRAMARINE


Ultramarine is the blue colour pigment obtained from ground-down lapis lazuli and has been a valued rock and pigment for thousands of years. Traditionally, lapis comes from Afganistan, but it is also found in Egypt and Chile, and, in smaller quantities, in parts of the former USSR & Asia. Its primary metaphysical property is as a bringer of peace.

Genuine lapis is very expensive, and as I only have lapis chips, my photo below is not wonderful. However, it gives you an idea of the ultramarine pigment, which is classified as a 'warm blue'. In painting, it is often used to symbolise royalty.


We're getting to the tricky end of the alphabet...what a challenging time for me to have joined! If you're wondering what else in our world starts with U, please go to Mrs Nesbitt's and you'll find a whole list of blogs featuring U!

12 comments:

Juliana RW said...

great of ultramarine...

Mine in here Thanks

Anonymous said...

Appearantly, you can always learn something new each day, because before this day I had never heard about ultramarine.
Thanks for nice summary about topic.

Bear Naked said...

Very informative.
Thanks for visiting my blog.

Can't wait for X on ABC Wednesday.
I alrwady have mine chosen.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Good choice and a beatiful colour and welcome.

Miss_Yves said...

A beautiful shade of blue...
Bleu outremer in French ...
miss Yves

AphotoAday said...

Yes, "U" -- it's starting to get difficult, but you pulled it off... --I haven't got any ideas for "V" yet, but it has got to be easier than "U"...

Great blog -- very interesting...

Marvin said...

Great choice for a difficult letter -- and I learned something.

It's interesting how international turmoil and political instability can effect the price of color in the world. Cobalt in the primary ingredient in blue pottery glazes and the largest supplier used to be Zaire. The price of cobalt has increased dramatically right along with all the conflict in that country.

Sorry about heading off on a tangent.

Reader Wil said...

beautiful colour! Isn't lapis lazuli not the kind of stone worn by the Egyptian Pharaohs?

Leslie: said...

Excellent post! Haven't run into anything like this yet. Great that you've joined us and yes, it is getting more difficult now, isn't it? lol Come on over to my place for a visit to a place beginning with U.

Neva said...

Still some lovely pieces in that necklace.....can't wait until X how about you?
Mine is here.

mrsnesbitt said...

Challenging part of the alphabet????
LOL! This is where the fun begins!
Great choice.
Blue is my colour apparantly!

Barbara said...

That's an unusual one for the letter U, its a colour I like.