While pregnancy is considered a wonderful phase of a woman’s life, expecting mothers often face a lot of health issues with nausea, depression, hypertension and irritability, especially in the initial and advanced stages. To cope with these, our colour experts suggest adding effective colours to keep negativity at bay. A colour that is said to be uplifting is orange. Blue is also used widely since it is believed to have a calming effect. However, it is best to use the blues in living rooms and sleeping areas since it also tends to reduce the appetite, which isn’t healthy for to-be mothers who need a nutritious diet. If you need some painting ideas for a room for an expecting mother, now you know which colours to go for!

We are sure our readers have heard of Picasso! One of the greatest artists of the 20th century, he was known for his paintings and for the art movement known as Cubism. There is an interesting insight from his life that helps bring the relationship between colours and emotions to light. A period in his life between 1904 to 1906 is considered the Rose Period of Picasso. This period indicated an increased personal joy and romance for him wherein he used cheerful orange and pink colours in striking contrast to the cool, sombre tones of his previous Blue Period. During these few years, Picasso was happy in a relationship and this is believed to be one of the reasons he changed his style of painting to uplifting colours. Interestingly, even the dominating subjects of his art during this period were circus performers, clowns and harlequins.

Kyanite

This alluring blue gemstone is known as Kyanite, also spelt cyanite. An aluminosilicate mineral, this gem comes in different colours ranging from gray-green to black or blue. Kyanite aligns all chakras instantly, providing excellent balance of the yin-yang energy and getting rid of blockages across the physical body. This gem is popular among gemstone collectors for its high-quality blue jewellery. It is also used for industrial purposes such as high refractory strength porcelain. The gem is considered rare for many reasons, one of which is that it is pleochroic, meaning the colour tends to change depending on the direction from which the gemstone is viewed.

Bronzite

This beautiful brown gemstone that you are looking at is known as Bronzite. Belonging to the pyroxene group of minerals, it can occur in most mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks such as gabbros, serpentinites, peridotites and norites. It has a mesmerising chocolate brown colour with shimmering golden swirls, reminiscent of brown enamel paint with its glossy sheen. Bronzite is also known as the ‘stone of courtesy’, especially helpful to those who greet and help the public. This gem is believed to carry powerful healing energies beneficial to the body.

Crowned Wood Nymph

The bird you are looking at is the Crowned Wood Nymph. Truly a breath-taking beauty captured by the lens of a photographer! A member of the genus Thalurania composed of hummingbirds, the male bird has mesmerising colours, right from the stunning green neck, the blue abdomen to the forked blue-black tail! On the other hand, the female is paler in colour with a gray neck and a dark green to gray abdomen. You can use the colours of this bird as your room colour to pay an ode to this beautiful bird. You can catch a sight of this type of hummingbird in Eastern Panama up to Southern Ecuador.

Striped Cucumber Beetle

This pretty bug is the Striped Cucumber Beetle, native to North America. Though pleasing to the eye with its yellow and black combination, the species is considered a major agricultural pest, causing huge damage to crops in the larval and adult stages of its life cycle. The larvae feeds on the roots of the emerging plants while the adults cause damage by eating the stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of plants. The beetle can also spread diseases such as mosaic virus and bacterial wilt. Beautiful and devastating both!