Color

I have always been entranced by color.  I am, I believe the human equivalent of the Australian Bower Bird, who gathers and displays colorful items.

 When I was a child I received my first box of 64 count crayons.  As I opened that box my heart leapt with joy.  I had never seen so many different colors.  I didn’t use them right away.  I couldn’t destroy their pristine perfectness even though the box had a sharpener built right in. 

Eventually, though, I had to give in and use them to create something.  My choice was a unicorn.  I drew the outline in Burnt Sienna, added a Blue Green mane and a Carnation Pink tail.  After that I put lemon yellow and cornflower spots all over his body.  I made him trot through an Aquamarine and Blue Violet pond. His horn could be nothing less than gold and silver.  It was childish, it was kind of dumb but it had to be the most beautiful thing I ever created.

That was long ago and that drawing resides now only in the bowers of my mind, along with Orchid, Maize, Thistle, Cadet Blue, Mahogany…