Fantasia on Color Theory

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digitally doctored acrylic on canvas painting

Color Infusions

Velour of the lawn is deep, deep green,

sun breaking sideways grey

or silvery-white, like the moon of night

pulled over the edge of day–

The mirroring water Caribbean blue

on the patio table and chair

to reflect the sky or the azure eye

of a hoverer in the air–

So winter to spring is giving ground

by violet margins and rose,

to erase from sight the black and white

of the season’s reticent clothes.digitally doctored acrylic on canvas painting

Flying Colors

On the horizon I spotted a kite

That swung in the wind to the left and the right

And splashed all its colors, exuberant paint

To swirl in the sky with a dip and a feint

Toward the grass, toward the sun, to a hill, to a tree,

A brilliant kaleidoscope there just for me

And the child whose hand guided the string of the kite

As it painted our world with new colors and light

29 thoughts on “Fantasia on Color Theory”

  2. The last four lines of Color Infusions were beautiful. It is a very vivid poem, and really portrays the moment so clearly, the reader can feel in the moment with the writer. Marie Davids

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    • I was actually brought back to that imagery (a poem written some time ago) by a little afternoon road trip the other day when we were returning from errands and I saw the trees absolutely exploding with tiny leaves and buds and overriding all of the monochrome of the winter. A view, and a sensation, of which I never tire! I’m so delighted you enjoyed it, my friend!

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  3. Both pieces offer such strong imagery, Kathryn, but the child flying the kite brought an immediate smile. Watching a child finally master the art of getting a kite up into the air was always a favorite pastime when I lived on the edge of Lincoln Park. I don’t know who’s heart soared higher, that of the parent or the child.

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    • Beautiful Lincoln Park! Mom and Dad took us there a time or two during our Mount Prospect years, of course, and in R’s and my last couple of convention-time visits to Chicago I have been reminded how marvelous are the Chicago parks, the Lake, the fabulous city, and even the fabled wind that would take charge of any sweet little kid with a kite! Closest I remember coming to kite flying there is when we sisters would make sure on outings to sandwich our teeniest sister between us so when the wind buffeted her feet right off the ground she wouldn’t just up and blow away! (Really!) 🙂

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  4. Both are so beautifully written and delightful, Kathryn: To swirl in the sky with a dip and a feint~

    And this verse is just so vibrant, I can visualize the colors:

    The mirroring water Caribbean blue
    on the patio table and chair
    to reflect the sky or the azure eye
    of a hoverer in the air–
    xx

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  9. I particularly liked the first one with its quick rhyme in the 3rd line of each “stanza” of four. The “season’s reticent clothes” was the most striking metaphor to my mind. Enjoyed!

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  11. What a metaphor thinking of a kite painting the sky at the hand of a child! Beautiful.. and how glorious to see black and white give way to color once again! Your painting are absolutely stunning and I love their vibrant shades and flowing lines:) Dreamy! xoxo

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    • One of the things that’s been fun about ‘going digital’ is that I can do as I have with these details from the same painting, playing around with the textures and colors to vary them for effect. Yet another new paintbrush!
      xoxo

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    • Yes–my two sisters who work in admin at Adobe keep me supplied with great Photoshop toys! I, being the low-tech person I am, have barely scratched the surface of learning what the package can do (even what individual tools and techniques within it can do!), but what little I know how to use or accidentally fall upon is great fun. 🙂

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