Live Colorfully
“live colorfully, whatever that means – go outside and happen to life, or let life happen to you – soak up the greens in the grass and the trees, the leaves on the flowers, and the weeds in the cracks – take note of the blue and gray in the sky, and how sometimes, even when you don’t want to admit it, the purple and pink of the sunset is just as lovely as the light as it rises at the start of the day – pay attention to the shades of brown that seem so commonplace, but that make up the wood of your breakfast table, the shelf that holds your favorite books, and the sleeve that keeps your coffee or tea warm, and your hand cool – live colorfully, whatever that means – wear the dress that is possibly too bright, and the scarf that brings out the blue in someone else’s eyes so that when you stand near them their face lights up – enjoy the apples that are not as red as they seem in the movies, and the pears that were never green to begin with – learn to love the petals of the tulip on the ground as much as on the stem – take the time to notice that the smell of toasted bread is almost the same color as your favorite pair of shoes, and that spring arriving just on time smells like laundry tumbling in the dryer – live colorfully, whatever that means – somewhere in between the black & white, find the beauty in colors we both see and feel, and keep them close, in memory and in practice. ”
This little book started as a project to doodle more, but then I couldn't get away from how much I like to have photos in these books, and just like that I realized I couldn't get away from my beloved words, either, so in the end, in its small pages, this book holds eleven stories told in three ways each. Some of these parts are made colorful by watercolor paint brush as carefully as possible in within thin black lines, some of the the color comes from the angle of the camera capture one small moment with one bigger story, and at least a little both of the color comes from language, and the small pieces of journaling captured on the back of the bright tags.
What I found, as I painted the last pages and clipped them in last night, is that I love all forms of these stories, and all forms of the telling, and even though there were moments when it all felt like too much fuss for a spread about having toast and jam for dinner, I realized that this is my life, this toast and jam.
And so, in its entirety, Live Colorfully:
If you like the colorful tags (a favorite of mine in almost all I make, you can get them here: Studio Calico.
*Note: If you requested a doodle in the comment, will you please go to the Contact Me tab above and send me an email with your mailing address (and please include the username from your comment if it wasn't your full name so that I know it's you). Thank you!