Fade to Black

I have always been fascinated by the color black.

As a mural artist, I learned over the years that my art was not complete until I added touches of black and white — black to define, give depth and shadow, and white to highlight and call attention to areas.

If I had to choose between a color photo and a black-and-white one, there was always a clear answer for me- black-and-white. With the color stripped away, I am invited to look deeper at the image; all distraction is gone. I see things I didn't notice before. Emotion becomes more apparent.

Scott and I during our "courting days."

Today's color is black, but I added two other names that Crayola has given its black crayon. Aren't these names fun?

• Black

• Abe Lincoln's Hat

• New Sneakers

Black

Sorting through some old memorabilia in my basement, I found several pieces of poetry written by my children buried in boxes. What a treat that was! Here is a poem titled "Black," that my young daughter Erica Leigh wrote in grade school.

Black is hair and a bad nightmare.

A zebra's stripes and iron pipes.

Black is a newspaper you can read,

chocolate chips and watermelon seeds.

Black is a hole that's dark as a cole (coal)

A sky at night with stars so bright.

Black is trees and piano keys,

dark rich soil and moldy cheese.

Black is paint on a teacher's smock,

dominoes and dirty socks.

Black is dots on a soccer ball.

Black's not really bad at all.

by Erica Stenquist

Lincoln's Hat

I love American history and was fascinated to read more about Lincoln's hat and its interesting and sad history. They say Abe Lincoln's hat is the number-one iconic image for children, who immediately recognize it as his. You can read more about the hat here

New Sneakers

What kid doesn't like to break in their new sneakers... much to the parents' dismay.

Happy Poetry Friday, Everyone!

Thank you to Buffy Silverman for hosting this week. Grab a cool lemonade and a comfy chair outside and enjoy this week's poetry roundup. She has a delightful poem about a little Queen of the Prairie frog that adults and children will both enjoy!

Till next week!