The Color of Love

Color + Love.... Hmmmm, I wonder what I can do with this?

It sure has been fun working on this series of poems inspired by COLOR. I honestly cannot wait to sit down each morning and work on them. Sometimes I wake up at 5:30 am staring at the ceiling, my mind swirling with colors and ideas.

With  Valentine's Day on the calendar this week, I looked over my spreadsheet of color names and wondered which crayons would inspire me and which might go together on the theme of LOVE.

Here are the Crayola Crayon colors I chose for this week:

• Carnation Pink

• Sepia

• Vermillion

• Carnation Pink

This first poem was inspired by the time my daughter and I handed out 50 red roses to random strangers in front of Shaw's to honor my brother's 50th birthday. It is my first stab at a Pantoum. I love how the pantoum's repetition drives home the poem's emotion. For you Pantoum pros- would love your feedback so I can learn.

The pantoum is a poem of any length, composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The last line of a pantoum is often the same as the first. - Poets.org

This is the format I used:

(FYI- Nǎi Nǎi means grandmother in Mandarin Chinese)

• Sepia

  
  

My next poem was inspired by my Nana, Gertrude, whom I adored. She was a very talented artist in her own right (watercolor, pastels, photography), never had a wrinkle on her face, and always smelled of Sweetheart brand soap. While researching on Ancestry.com, I came across a photo of the home in Illinois where she grew up. Looking at the house, I tried to imagine her there. Her watercolor painting of yellow roses hangs in my home.

• Vermillion 

This final poem was inspired by an image I found on the Library of Congress—a great resource for unique photos and public-domain art. Look at that hair up in a French twist... You can almost feel how soft it is. Lovely!

I started off loving the sound of "million vermilion" and decided to give myself the challenge of using words that rhymed with "million" as internal rhyme, and then ending the lines with words that sounded like "roses." Quite a puzzle! It's not perfect, but still fun to read.

Finally,

Wishing my husband of 45 years a very Happy Valentine's Day. I am so blessed to be his wife. xo

One of my favorite pics of us.

Thank you to Robyn Black at her blog "Life on the Deckle Edge" for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Be sure to stop by and see the other great poems linked on her blog. If you'd like to know more about Poetry Friday, this is a great resource from Renee LaTulippe.

Looking Up

I have always been fascinated by the sky- its deep blues on cool fall days,

Lake Winthrop, Holliston, MA ©Cathy Stenquist

the incredible colors that sunrise and sunset can bring,

Yarmouth, MA. ©Cathy Stenquist

and the mystery of a moon-lit evening sky.

©Cathy Stenquist

I'm not too keen on flying, but what makes air travel so appealing to me is being above the clouds and seeing them from a new perspective. I am filled with gratitude for this life and the beauty God has created.

©Cathy Stenquist

This week, the three crayon colors that caught my eye all had to do with the sky:

• Sky Blue

• Outer Space

• Silver

Hope you enjoy them!

Thank you to Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Be sure to stop in to read her lovely poems inspired by Wendell Berry's "Like Snow." It's amazing how you can take a poem and substitute a few words and come up with something so lovely. Going to have to try that!

What's in a Name?

"The thing with an artistic license is, you have to be artistic if you want to use the license."

Anonymous

Check out these literal, artistic licenses!

See more of Greg Constantine's amazing art here.

I decided to take some artistic license on my COLOR project this week, to make it more interesting for y'all.

Originally, I wanted to write poetry using for inspiration, the actual 64 Crayola colors that would have been in the box I received at 9 years old (around 1968). I checked out the lists from the whole history of Crayola crayons (yes, there are Crayola fanatics and even a site with lists of colors). But yesterday, when I was shuffling color names around and planning, I noticed something funny.

Check out these 1968 color names paired with each other:

• Yellow Orange / Orange Yellow

• Blue Green / Green Blue

• Yellow Green / Green Yellow

• Orange Red / Red Orange

Not only did this poet find these names uninspiring, but I also discovered that, over the years, Crayola seemed to get more creative with its names.

I mean... who wouldn't be more inspired by names like these:

• Cerulean

• Blizzard Blue

• Granny Smith Apple

• Macaroni And Cheese

• Purple Mountain Majesty

• Razzmatazz

• Wild Strawberry

• Timber Wolf

• Unmellow Yellow

• Robin’s Egg Blue

So, without further ado....

Drum roll, please....

The Crayola color I chose for this week is...

Isn't this an awesome word? Say it again and again. Razmatazz... RAZZMATAZZ! Doesn't it make you happy?

The original creators of the word, Razzmatazz, may have been inspired by the jazz music of the day. Check out this old-time song, Ragtime Razzmatazz. It is sure to get your feet stomping and a smile on your face!

Interestingly, Razzmatazz was introduced in 1993, as one of the colors chosen in the 90th Crayola Crayon anniversary "Name the New Colors Contest." Winner, Laura Bartolomei-Hill of College Park, Maryland, chose a great name for this vibrant pinkish-red color.

So without further ado...

Here is my poetic take on Razzamatazz!

Thank you to Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm for hosting this week. Be sure to stop by to read her lovely triolet poem about being good here. I really need to try this poetic form soon!

Hope you can turn up some music this week, and enjoy your own Razzmatazz! Happy dancing!

FYI- I welcome any comments. Click on the title when you arrive here at the blog. Then scroll to the end of this post, past the links to my older posts, and the comments will appear. Look forward to hearing from you.