The Chromologist

In this special episode to mark World Mental Health Day, Patrick O’Donnell talks to colour therapist and writer Momtaz Begum-Hossain about the way colour has transformed her life and the way she uses it to support and empower others. She describes the joy of the beautiful droplets of pistachio green food colouring she used to make peppermint creams at school and the balm of re-discovering citron yellow during the pandemic. And she gives Patrick a few colour tips for bringing greater well-being into daily life too. She says, ‘Colour is an instant mood-booster. It can guide decision making and inspire our creativity. If you really welcome it in you can experience it’s full sensory potential.’ Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Momtaz's life hereFollow Momtaz on Instagram hereFollow us on Instagram hereYou can find the transcript to this episode here : https://www.farrow-ball.com/the-chromologist/episode-thirteen-momtaz-begum-hossain Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alyssa Nitchun, Director of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of art in New York, talks to Patrick O’Donnell about the colours of her life from her New York apartment. She shares tales of her candyfloss pink childhood passion for dressing up, her pitch black youth as a goth and she describes the bright red of her defining decade as a queer DJ and advocate for queer art and expression. She says, ‘I chose red for my defining decade because I think I was hungry for everything. But right now my colour is arsenic green because I’m in a time where I’m kind of harnessing that energy.’Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Alyssa's life hereFollow Alyssa on Instagram hereFollow us on Instagram here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Textile designer Christine Van Der Hurd invites Patrick O’Donnell into her home in London’s Notting Hill Gate. For more than three decades Christine has been designing for textile collections with Cappellini, Liberty London and Louis Vuitton among others as well as museums including the V &A in London. She describes the deep aubergine of her early childhood growing up surrounded by her father’s antique collections and the bright zingy yellow of her lofty New York years and she unpicks why she’s developed a love for the many shades of white.Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Christine's life hereFollow Christine on Instagram hereFollow us on Instagram here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gardener and landscape designer Sean Anthony Pritchard takes Patrick O’Donnell through his garden gate and into his Somerset cottage in the Mendip Hills. From the crimson red of his grandfather’s sweet peas, to the green of his years travelling the London underground on the district line, he shares colours that connect the different chapters of his life. And he takes Paddy into his glorious rose garden to show him the blush apricot rose petals he makes potpourri with. Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Sean's life hereFollow Sean on Instagram hereFollow us on Instagram here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michelle Dockery, acclaimed English actress and singer known for Lady Mary Crawley in Downton Abbey, joins from her London home. She traces colours through her life: childhood slipper satin pink, indie studio green, the red of her defining decade, and her calming Inchyra blue now. They also tour her kitchen and swap a playful paint gift.

Glyn Fussell, activist and creative who describes himself as ‘the party starter who changed the scene forever’ invites Patrick O’Donnell into his newly painted Essex home deep in Epping forest. Glyn is the wild mind behind the trailblazing queer party Sink the Pink and the co-creator of one of the UK’s biggest pop music festivals, Mighty Hoopla. This special conversation marks PRIDE month and Farrow & Ball have been lucky enough to collaborate with Glyn on their ‘Paint with PRIDE’ project which celebrates the positive power of colour and light. Together with Patrick, Glyn shares the colours of his life from the deep velvet brown of his childhood growing up in Bristol to the sky blue of his coming out in Perth, Australia and the bright pink of the decade that followed. ‘I’ve always been a dreamer’, he says ‘and my dreams have always been bright and multicoloured.’Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Glyn's life hereFollow Glyn on Instagram hereFollow us on Instagram here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 Lucinda Chambers is one of fashion’s most influential figures. She’s former director for Vogue and the founder of boutique online retail outlets Collagerie and Colville. In this episode, she invites Patrick into her West London home to share her life in colour – from the coral of her mother’s creativity and her childhood homes to the traditional deep blue of French workwear, which for her symbolises summer, freedom and play. ‘I think a lot of people are terrified of colour. But I always say start with creeping colour. A pop of lipstick, or green eye shadow, or some amazing lilac earrings.’Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Lucinda's life hereFollow Lucinda on Instagram hereSign up to our weekly newsletter for inspirationFollow us on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Former Royal Ballet dancer and model, Eric Underwood, welcomes Patrick into the rambling Chiltern farmhouse he’s recently moved to. In the cosiness of Eric’s library snug they talk about his deep bond with his mother which he likens to the expansive blue of the colour Borrowed Light, about his childhood growing up in Washington D.C as a gifted dancer and about his experiences as one of the few professional black ballet dancers. Eric also tells the story of how he came to create ballet shoes for people of colour. ‘The colour of "ballet white" I’ve always seen as quite challenging if you aren’t white. I wanted to change that.’Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Eric's life hereFollow Eric on Instagram hereSign up to our weekly newsletter for inspirationFollow us on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australian, Michelin-starred chef and former food editor for Vogue, Skye Gyngell, invites Patrick into her beautiful restaurant, Spring, at Somerset House in London. Together they savour the story of Skye’s upbringing through her choice of deep, dark greens and bright, bold yellows. She says: ‘If you’ve grown up in a country like Australia, the majesty of nature is so huge, the skies are so vast, the seas are so strong, the earth is so red, it gets into your DNA.’ Skye also describes her passion for soft pink, which is the colour of Spring restaurant and of where she feels her life is now. ‘A lot of my life has been about trying to define who I am. I really wanted Spring to feel female, delicate and soft and to celebrate that it’s a restaurant headed up by a woman.’Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Skye's life hereFollow Skye on Instagram hereSign up to our weekly newsletter for inspiration Follow us on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

American fashion designer and luminary Christopher John Rogers talks to Patrick about the colours of his life, from his studio in Manhattan. Christopher recently collaborated with Farrow & Ball on the Carte Blanche collection - a capsule collection of paint and paper inspired by childhood memories of food and family. In this conversation he shares four colours from that collection. From the rich shallot pink of his early childhood in Louisiana, which makes him think of his mother’s wedding day, to the colour of his life right now which he sees as the rich brown of Cardamom. ‘For me this earth colour is enveloping and sexy and sophisticated and I feel it’s about me being more centred and more grounded in my life.’Learn about the colours featured in each episode hereSee the colours of Christopher's life hereFollow Christopher on Instagram hereSign up to our weekly newsletter for inspirationFollow us on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.