Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Naming Colors

The nuances of natural color never cease to amaze us.  And so I created this video where Dan meditates on finding precise words — 
and I mix precise combinations of paint — to match the color of a simple berry. 
                                                                                                                                                 —Suzanne 

 Naming Colors
 


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Naming Colors

Soapy purple  no, deep soft
   pink  those berries . . .

All my conscious life
I’ve striven, blind to other
earthly orderings, to get
them “right”: without
clear gainful 
purpose? 

        You’d
swear I was a painter,
potter, or at least some
dyer of fine cloth,
seeking ideas . . .
        But no such
chance, with unclear
goals & gently
trembling
hand. 
       Just inner need
to pierce small moments
of the day: this ritual
that from my youth
I’ve naturally
adopted.

      Now older
& so often foggy-minded
when I rise, can tell my
morning clarity of mind, my
cast of eye, by how quickly
I cease groping.  How
quickly I’m satisfied with
my first “mental
match” —
                 sometimes
shared with my artist wife,
when trimming growth
       around the yard, or on
       our “viewing” walks down
rural paths.  
                 Companion
I trust the most, more
       skilled & industrious,
       in many ways,
than I . . .
                And so I wait
       on tenterhooks, while 
       feigning nonchalance
       (another of our
       games) for her
       response:

 I believe they’re more a cloudy
      rose, those berries . . . "

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Suzanne Stryk   Naming Colors    30" x 22"    mixed media  on paper     
The Naming Colors painting appeared in "Love," an exhibit at Second Street Gallery 
(Charlottesville, VA  2006) curated by Leah Stoddard. The show featured collaborations 
between writers and artists. The images in the video are details from the painting, including
Dan's handwritten poem.