In Detroit we have a wealth of abandoned buildings and I love them. They give me so much inspiration - an incredible structure that is still filled with so much possibility. It’s a blank canvas of opportunity.
I moved to Detroit in 2008 and the city blew me away. The media all said “stay away!”, most of suburban Detroit was scared to cross 8 Mile (a road made famous by Eminem that divides Detroit from the suburbs) and we had this giant city to ourselves to do whatever we wanted with. People would rent out the entire floor of a high rise in downtown Detroit for three months for less than $1000 and have an art show. It’d be 11pm on a Saturday night in downtown Detroit and it’d be so dead there would be tumble weaves gently rolling through the empty thoroughfares and not a soul in sight. Then you’d walk into an sketchy apartment building, walk up 4 flights of stairs and there’d be thousands of people at a techno party.
Detroit is such a special place. And it is still special - because of use who remember the blank canvas.
The Packard Plant was home to many raves in the 90’s after it was abandoned. I find color inspiration more in these old abandoned buildings than anywhere else because of the odd textures from the weather and new life from oxidization and the shapes from looters. The layers of life have quite the story to tell and it all shows through aesthetically. If I’m ever stuck on a color palette, I turn to these files of images that I have and find the link I need.
I share a lot of my color hunting adventures on Instagram.
XOX!
- Linda