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It's Friday! Definitely time to reveal our latest Color of the Week. Hmm, it's the middle of August in the desert, with a daily average of around 100 degrees. What color should I feature? This week's color, aptly named Caliente for its hot red-orange color, was created by mixing 7 color packs of Sanibel Sunset with one 50-lb bag of Loma. I love this shade. It's definitely a warm tone, and it has a complexity that keeps it interesting. It isn't quite red, not quite orange, a little on the peachy side. So, what does this color really look like? My poor camera does its best, but for a true sense of the color, take a look at Sherwin Williams SW 6340 Baked Clay, which is shown in the room below. Our color of the week is very similar.

Feel free to contact me with questions about color - I'm happy to help! Hope you all have a great weekend!

After a wonderfully restful weekend, I came into the office this Monday only to be greeted by an unhappy client-of-a-client whose story I felt was worth sharing here. My very specialized job here at American Clay involves working with a lot of plasterers, dealers, and distributors, with the occasional architect, designer, or builder thrown in for good measure. Often times, my clients are acting as a middle-man for someone else, which can often result in problems and unnecessary work for everyone involved. There are instances where it's helpful, but in this blog entry, I'll address why I like to work directly with the client in need of a color match rather than a middle-man.

My most recent example is one that I encountered this morning: A well-trained American Clay applicator has been working with me to obtain plaster matches for several paint colors. He's representing the needs of an interior designer. I received word from the applicator that a sample I'd mailed out was "too brown", and needs to be recreated. Knowing that the sample contained a blend of 4 brown pigments, I followed up with a series of questions to help me understand exactly what was wrong with the color to eliminate the possibility of error in the next sample. The applicator, acting as an intermediary for the designer, didn't have the answer to my questions. We both agreed that it would be best for me to work with the designer directly to help expedite the color-matching process as best we could.

To my surprise, this designer was less-than-happy to hear from me, and did not want to discuss the details of how the sample differed from what she needed other than to repeat that the color was "too brown". She very much just wants me to get it right. Period. End of story. I shouldn't need any other details. The whole conversation was uncomfortable (not to mention surprising). I'm a huge supporter of open communication throughout the color-matching process, which helps minimize the opportunities for error. Now the applicator and I are left guessing, and the process may take that much longer. I certainly don't want to be an inconvenience. I'd like very much to help.

Consider connecting the color decision-maker with me if:

1. You know your client is highly selective.
2. Your client is in a hurry.
3. Your client has a hard time making up their mind.
4. You are busy and you don't want to be stuck on the phone repeatedly between the two of us.
5. You want the minimize your liability and put the responsibility of a mistake on my shoulders.

To be clear, I'm probably posting this example because it caught me so much by surprise, and this scenario has never happened before. Most frequently, the person in charge of choosing a color is grateful to be able to work directly with me (and I with them). American Clay is a company that wants to be accessible to its clients, and to offer support when needed.

Okay, so Jerry Maguire might just be a TAD bit more dramatic about this than I am, but he certainly helps keep things in perspective and makes me laugh.

I don't often hear complaints from customers, but this is a valuable reminder that, no matter how many years of experience I may have, there's always someone with a poor opinion of my abilities. It's my goal to give clients what they want the first time, every time, but sadly, that doesn't always happen. I'm headed back to re-match this color, and I'm crossing my fingers that this designer will be happy with my next attempt.

I hope you all have a good week!

As I was deciding what color to feature this week, I opted to choose a hue that's fairly popular as a custom color request. People often call seeking a creamy, light yellow, so I think this could be a valuable addition to your array of color options.

I give you Lemon Cream, which was created using one color pack of Acacia and one color pack of Sugarloaf White per 50-lb batch of Loma, Porcelina, or Marittimo. The awful lighting created by my poor camera (as always) has distorted the color enough that you can't appreciate it what it really looks like. Compare it against Benjamin Moore's Palace White or Papaya - It's more in that ballpark.

I'll be working on a blog post about whites, shortly, that I think will be really helpful. This is just one of many colors that can be created using Sugarloaf White as a starting point.

Happy mixing!

This week's color was requested by a designer in Montana. It combines one color pack of Amber Grain and one color pack of Sulphur Spring into one 50-lb bucket of Loma, Porcelina, or Marittimo. I'm building up quite an arsenal of color combinations, but I opted to feature this one for an important reason. This color combination includes one of our Natural Depths colors, Amber Grain.

Most of the Natural Depths tones are already fairly large color packs, which can't often be combined with other color packs due to the potential for overloading clay with pigment. Amber Grain is the smallest color pack of this group (which also includes Bryce Canyon, Chesapeake Bay, Georgia Clay, Mauna Loa, Painted Desert, Palomino Valley, and Sugarloaf White), and it can be combined with many of the other colors in our standard line.

When I was thinking of what to call this color, I couldn't help but picture a monk's robe - That deep, rich, yellow-orange sometimes seen in the far east. This color would easily warm a space, whether used as an accent wall or throughout an entire room.

To give you a sense of what this color looks like in person, compare it Benjamine Moore's Gingerbread Man 1111. My sample tile is slightly more vivid than this paint color, but it's fairly close.

If there's a color combination you'd like to see featured as a Color of the Week, please drop me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Hope everyone has a great weekend!