by Beth Alexander

Anyone who heard about the Nashville Color Palette project responded with, “Oh, yes, like Belle Meade green.” Well, yes, but thanks to designer and colorist Mark Woodson and Sherwin Williams, our palette is a bit more sophisticated than that. Mark has compiled palettes for the Mt. Vernon community, for Charleston, S.C. and for the Carolina Low Country.  And ours includes 66 colors that will be familiar to Nashvillians. “I’m not a color historian,” Mark protests, “although color is certainly one of my fortes.”

 A designer by trade, color is Mark’s specialty. Because his parents were in interior design, perhaps it was his destiny to respond to color. “I remember looking at art with my dad,” he says, “who loved finding the tiny bit of red in every piece—he said it added warmth.” Mark talks fast, packing a lot of information into his staccato sentences that sweep a listener along briskly. He’d be a terrific dinner partner.

Historian or not, Mark launched into his research of Nashville beginning with its founding on the Cumberland River. “It was settled by French fur traders,” he marveled, not having attended fourth grade here, “and really was named for General Nash!” One color, for example, fancifully taken from history is Fabric Loom, named for the unbleached fabrics that were created on looms at Fort Nashboro.  Another is a purple shade named for our state flower called Tennessee Iris.

Mark’s research brought him to Nashville on roughly a half dozen occasions, wandering around our city and meeting with notable locals, who were asked about significant events in the life of Nashville. “I’d park my car and just walk down Second Avenue—a great color source, especially in the brick that was used in historic buildings,” he says. One of our downtown icons, the Ryman Auditorium, has wonderful local brick; because of licensing issues, the color it inspired is simply called Auditorium Brick Work. “But anyone who looks at it will say, ‘oh, that’s the Ryman.’  You see a lot of red and orange colored brick on the Atlantic coast; Chicago gets a lot of brown because the soil is darker there.” Here we have both a yellowish mix of sand in our dirt and the red clay that is found across the South. Despite the cost of transportation, brick today is cross-pollinated, shipped all over the country, often with color added; original, native colors are found only in the older buildings.

Mark was particularly taken with brick used in the Cathedral on West End, which he describes as “a yellowish color that shows up in a lot of places all over the city—especially in single-family homes, both exteriors and interiors. It’s very natural to your region.” The color it inspired? Cathedral Masonry, which “changes throughout the day depending on the quality of the light.”

Mark was equally taken with our Parthenon and its story, dating from the centennial celebration of Nashville’s founding. “There’s a beautiful color in the background of the frieze, sort of a terra cotta color, that we call Parthenon Frieze,” he says. “And there’s a marvelous neutral in the ceiling called Coffered Ceiling.”

One of Mark’s favorite spots is Fido in Hillsboro Village. “I love to go there because you feel like you’re part of the community; it’s so friendly, it’s a great little coffee shop,” he says. “They have a wonderful brown coffee color that we call Woof!, complete with exclamation point.” Flapjacks—“plural because nobody ever has just one”—was inspired by a visit to the Pancake Pantry, not a block away.

Sherwin Williams’ launch of the palette took place in late April at the Krauss Gallery in the Vanderbilt Hotel—Krauss Hot Pink was taken from Harold’s colorful oeuvres.  A softer pink, reminiscent of cotton candy, is called State Fair.

As you might expect, Belle Meade Green is a “black influenced with green, mostly black,” Mark says.  There’s also a Steeplechase Green, described as a bright grass green, but toned a little differently—not as harsh as regular grass, but richer, like the event itself.  And a paler version of green has been named Iroquois.  The Music Row roundabout intrigued Mark, thus a color called Sculpture Bronze.

The rest of the color circle includes “plenty of light blues, some other wonderful yellows, reds and pinks,” he says, along with Tomato (from a visit to the Farmer’s Market), Centennial Red and Chaffin Red, after the dinner theater on Highway 100.

These hues with a Nashville accent are available for your next renovation at any Sherwin Williams store. 

Please see the print issue for the entire article and photo presentation.