Bold Pallas Brick

Old English beald, brave, courageous — a quality word that crossed over to color in the late seventeenth century. Bold describes a color that asserts itself: high saturation combined with mid lightness, where the hue presents itself without compromise. Sits at the center of the bold-bucket grid, near strong and rich. Closer to a presence word than a pigment word.

Greek Παλλάς, epithet-of-Athena. As a color modifier, pallas implies an asteroid-and-Athena-warrior-maiden quality, the visual register of Pallas-asteroid-and-Athena-warrior hand-asteroid-and-Athena-warrior-maiden Pallas-asteroid-and-Athena-warrior-and-Olbers-discovery pallas-and-asteroid-and-Athena-warrior-maiden surfaces under Pallas-asteroid-and-Athena-warrior-and-Olbers-discovery asteroid-belt-and-Athenian-Acropolis warrior-goddess-light. Sits at the modifier-and-cosmic end of the grid, parallel to ceres and vesta in usage.

Fired clay, mineral red. The color refers to common building brick — iron-rich earthenware kilned to the specific dusky red-orange of a Victorian terrace, a Roman aqueduct, an adobe wall in New Mexico. Less saturated than ruby, warmer than burgundy, with a chalky cast that reads as architectural rather than decorative.