Pigment

On our trip to California this summer, Marcus and I spent a lot to time in my dad's art studio.

We were making jewelry.

But my dad does lots of other things in that studio.  During our visit, he was painting.  And then because he can tune into my "Mother Frustration", one day he took the kids on a day trip and Marcus and I didn't have to go.

While he was away...I snooped around his studio.

He knows I do things like this.  I have been doing it since I was a little kid.  I stayed out of the rest of my parents stuff, but the art stuff drew me in every time.  I probably should have grown out of it by now, but not yet...I find too many fun things!

These are pigments...paint pigments to be specific.

I hauled these guys out for their boxes, lined and stacked them up and then sat back and just looked at them.  I think that they are too beautiful to keep hidden away in boxes.

There are soooo many of them in all different shades and hues.

Now this one...Rinman's Green...

It causes cancer...but only in California.  Good thing I live in Oregon.

If you have ever spent much time in the State of California...you would find out that many things cause cancer in that state.  

Again...glad I live in Oregon.

What really struck me as amazing as I was contemplating these pigments was that there were just so darn many of them.  We tend to think of the rainbow colors and then black, white, maybe brown.  But in reality, the world very rarely is made up of just the rainbow colors and black and white.  There are infinite shades, hues and combinations of colors.  It is a whole science.  There are theories about it, books, courses, schools, workshops, just about color.  

Color isn't something that is contemplated in the daily life of the average person.  But for an artist, it is all about color.  As an artist, colors convey meaning, emotion in our work.  I think that in everyday average life they do the same thing,  we just take it for granted, like so many other things.

The world offers us a bounty of beauty,everyday, every moment of our lives if we could just stop take a moment to really SEE it.  And not just red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and black and white.  If we did take a good look, we might see colors that are something like this.

Let color abound in your home, your life, your environment.  

We can't all be artist, but we can learn from them.  

Next time you see something colorful that makes you take a second look...take some time to really look at it.  You might see some colors there you didn't see at first...or even know existed.

Color...it's miraculous.