Exploration #7

Exploration #7

World of Color

"Collect paint chips from a paint or hardware store. Find colors you respond to in the world. Attempt to match them using the chips. (You can also match the colors using a portable paint set.) Make notes of where you saw the colors. Alternate: document colors from your favorite books, your dreams, your memories."

Since I wasn't able to make it to a hardware store, I gathered up colour swatches from a Google image search that struck a note with me.

Swatch 1

This first swatch reminds me of my sister, Courtney. It's close to the same shade on the wall in her room, where we spent many nights chatting about whatever came to mind. It's a bit darker, though, which I think is reminiscent of the demons she's been battling lately.

Swatch 2

This second swatch reminds me of the lipstick my mother used to wear when I was younger. I never quite understood why she picked that colour, because the lipstick I saw in movies was such a bright red. Nevertheless, she persisted with it and I always thought it looked good on her anyway.

Swatch 3

Swatch 4

The third swatch makes me think of the lilac trees that lived in the backyard of the house I grew up in. Nothing in the world can compare with the beautiful smell they gave off when they bloomed. They bridged the gap between our house and the house of our neighbour-who babysat my siblings and I when we were young. I remember the children that attended that daycare with us. One of them asked me to marry him when we were five years old. I'm glad I didn't say yes, though he grew into a nice gentleman! Another is in prison right now. The others are blurs in my mind's eye. I really don't remember much from my childhood.

Swatch four is the same colour as the secret box I have in my room. I inherited this box from my 90-something-year-old great aunt Freda. I hid little things of value inside of it that I didn't want anyone else to see or find. It's been a long time since I've looked through it, but I know what it contains. It still holds the smell of Freda's house, too. She was a very unique individual. I also inherited her collection of rubber-bands and a bag of strings labelled "Too Short to Use, Too Long to Throw Away". People kept everything back in her day!

Swatch 5

Swatch five is a little ribbon in the bonnet of a blank faced doll that my grandmother made when I was very young. It was fragile and beautiful, so my mother never let me play with it. I always admired my grandma's ability to sew. She was such a quiet lady and so kind to me--but not afraid to be stern when the situation called for it. I was so curious about this doll. Since I couldn't touch it, I wasn't able to breathe life into it like I normally did with my toys. Like its featureless face suggested, it forever remained a blank slate. It was a curious mystery to me. I wonder where it is now!

Swatch 6

Swatch six is the colour on the cover of my Crime and Punishment book by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. This novel endured a lot in the hands of High School Mary. She loved it dearly and read it thoroughly-more times than one. She even loaned it to her mother for a little while... Until Mom made the mistake of dropping it into the snow! I was so scandalized by this that I took it from her and refused to let her finish reading it. It wasn't very kind of me.

These colours sparked some unexpected memories. I think I have even more exploring to do now! It's time to locate that old doll, reopen that secret box, and possibly find something lilac scented. On top of that, I may have offer my mom another go at Crime and Punishment. The suspense has to be getting to her by now.