Most paint jobs cover other paint jobs, changing with the fashion of the time. What the world sees is rarely the whole story of what is there. But sooner or later the older layers are likely to show through. In moments of stress, or moments of quiet reflection, we might find a shade of ourselves that we had forgotten coming through the cracks.
If each major phase of your life had a different color, how many layers of color would you have by now?
Interesting to think about colors applied over time.
For anyone who has re-finished painted wooden furniture, you scrape and peel until you discover the original type of wood of which the item was made. it is then that this surface can be sanded and treated such that the grain and color, the true character of the item comes to light.
Over the years craftsmen have honored the naturalness of wood and, as you say, Warren, have allowed the true character to come out. Perhaps we can apply this the opportunity for us, as humans, to let our true character from within shine. Thanks you, Warren.
I choose to delineate my colors into stages in my life up to the current time. These are my fifteen sequential choices: Snowy white, Pale pink, Cerulean blue, Grassy green, Tan ochre, Really red, Ultramarine blue, Cadmium yellow, Sienna brown, Burnt sienna, Magenta, Cadmium scarlet, Hooker green, Charcoal black and Payne’s grey. Although I am a lover of all color, my list reflects the ups and downs as well as the electrifying moments. I once learned in art school that there are no ugly colors; I believe it. When used with the right adjacent color(s), each one can be beautiful and fit well into the scheme of things.
“Fordite” is a “gem” made of auto body paint that was baked and solidified. (Spray painting in the factories used to be messy and lots of paint would drip and accumulate in the oven.)
I think my experiences are now an integral part of me. I started as a little speck, and that speck still is at my core, but if you could cross-section me (spiritually) I think it would look like the multiple swirling strata of Fordite.
P.S. Speaking of stuff from Detroit, there’s a small jewelry company in Detroit called Rebel Nell that takes the paint that flakes off of graffiti and turns it into jewelry, meanwhile giving homeless women a “hand up” with jobs and training. I thought of them when I saw this post.
Maggie, what a creative activity. Not only reusing “stuff”, but giving needy women something gratifying to do is the most important aspect of this process. I believe that creativity lives everywhere. Thanks!