When we speak of something having ‘all the colors of the rainbow’ I am certain we don’t quite understand the enormity of such a thing. My sisters and I used to criticize badly designed or tasteless clothing, interiors and the like as being so artificial and clumsy because they were of a ‘color not found in nature’–but then, too, our thinking was far too constrained. For nature, that queen of design, has more colors than can be perceived, let alone understood, by mere human eyes and minds.
She’s a trickster and a lavishly opulent over-doer, is Nature. We are much too small to comprehend the fulness of her range and beauty. What seems like one rather simple thing at first often morphs, as we look and imagine further, into something far different and most likely far more subtle and complex.
I was reminded of this last night when I sat down with a new set of children’s marking pens–the cheap permeable-tip markers that last for about five drawings but cost a tenth of what the ‘professional’ pens do–and began to sketch something leafy. As soon as I began I knew that one kind of green would not make a leaf; no, I knew that all four kinds of green supplied by the manufacturer of this little bag-of-pens couldn’t begin to be sufficient to convey the character of the simplest, plainest sort of leaf-like thing, let alone give a hint of the way light might play across it in different climes, at different times of day. Or how much its appearance must be affected by my own vision, my mood, my expectations.
Our abilities to envision, physical and metaphorical both, are fluid but can never quite keep up with the mysteries around us. And that, my friends, is a fine excuse for forging ahead into the puzzling and problematic and pearlescent thing that is the future . . . .
How It Works
In Haiku,
Reality takes
Sudden swerves
Art-Colored Glasses 
Sometimes the tools at hand are incapable of capturing the picture in our mind, especially when the picture in our mind is a memory of something so elusive as the handiwork of God, which can contain so many shades of brilliance, as well as the subtle colors that shine from within. Still, between your Haiku and your words and the sketch, it is enough to remind us of the beauty that is available to us, in every color under the rainbow. And then some.
One of the things that pleases me so about the creative process is that even a pretty restricted palette of materials, processes or colors can still produce such a wide range of outcomes. No wonder the ultimate Creator, with the infinite palette, can manage to constantly surprise us.
A great post, Kathryn. While reading your description of the subtleties of the colors in a leaf, I remembered a phrase I heard somewhere about “hearing a rainbow” (go with me on this!). Color, like music, has nuances that no single instrument can capture or convey. Even a full symphony is inadequate to voice the sounds of Creation. And, like music, the images we see (not with our eyes, but with our heart) are subject to our moods and situations. 🙂
Whatever is beautiful to the heart is decidedly more likely to be beautiful to ear and eye indeed.
‘Every color of the rainbow’ differs greatly from ‘Looks like the color wheel puked on it’…in fashion, interior design, or gardening. I’d give anything if, just for an hour, I could perceive the spectrum the way a honey bee does, in all its infra- and ultra- glory…
There’s nothing more enticing than a brand-new set of markers or box of crayons, is there? And I’m the furthest thing from an Artist 🙂
You *are* an artist, dear Marie. With words, with images, and with the food, projects, garden and all of those other lovely things you create so beautifully and lovingly for your marvelous family. Not that I would deny you the thrills of a good box of crayons, no sirree!
Perfect illustration for my chard- and kale- filled rainbow garden!
Delicious! Now you have me hungry for salad rolls again!!
I’m really quite interested in how many people this week have posted about color, in one way or another. One woman is photographing her neighborhood “by color”. Another posted songs about color. One photographed foods in color groupings.
I have a feeling that when the world around us is presented more and more often in black-and-white only, we begin to hunger for color, and search for ways to use it to enrich our lives. As a matter of fact, just this week I changed the theme of my gmail page from their classic “tree” to a solid yellow-green called “Wasabi”. It makes me happy every time I look at it. And the last time I counted, I think there were about 381 shades of green!
Only 381??? 🙂 I think you’re right about all of the craving we have for coloring up our lives. I’m pretty obsessed with color, myself, and I constantly see a whole lot of other people around me who seem rather driven to add lively and bright touches to their existence as well.
I love how certain forms of art work like that. From afar it appears to be one solid color, but up close one can see every mark and minute detail. Nice.
The Impressionists were certainly good at bringing that kind of view to our attention, but I like how many other methods and forms of art (before and since) have also enabled us to break down, recreate and rebuild the visible world in similar ways.