I have been working on this pot for a few weeks now, although we are looking here at Day 5 of painting. There has been a lot of preparation for this one and working out the colours and sizes of lipsticks has been painstaking. I had originally wanted add the names of the colours, this still may happen, but I am not sure where, there are going to be 53 lipsticks!
The numbers are important. On average, we are given 123 different pieces of advice every week, from sensible government guidelines, like what to eat or the most idyllic places to visit and so on. Actually, that’s probably not strictly true: I found that statistic on the Internet, but it rather proves the point that you can assign a number to just about anything. Numbers work because they get our attention.
Lipstick always has a number, but when you buy it is the name is usually asked for, because there is nothing more empowering than going up to the makeup counter and asking boldly for “Magnet Red”.
There is more to come on this subject, in words and pigment.
A very strong image below, Frida Kahlo’s lipstick imprint on her letter to Bertram Wolfe, March 24, 1936.
