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So Un-Degas

August 24, 2006

ph_aug_yellow.jpg

Yellow ~ Canon 30d

What a horrible thing yellow is.
~ Degas

Interesting. Degas painted mostly in blue, which is the complementary color to yellow. Funny. Degas had nothing complementary to say about the in-your-face, sometimes obnoxious color yellow.

I used to hate yellow too. It was years and years ago. It reminded me of Mountain Dew, pee, and jaundice. The Portugese describe the mask of jealousy as a yellow smile. I just plain didn't like the color. It grated on me. But... then I stood in front of Van Gogh's sunflowers, and... well, I was a woman in love. My heart overflowed with a craving, a lust, for gold.

Yellow came to my rescue at one of the lowest points of my life. While living in a loft in Kansas City which received tiny afternoon slivers of midwest sunlight, I prescribed myself a wall painted with rich medicinal yellow ~ bumble bees knees saturated color ~ happy golden orb goodness holding daisies together in the glorious color of sunlight ~ the hue of rejoicing ~ the color of boisterously bouyant suns ~ glorious, life-giving yellow, yellow, YELLOW!

It took 2 trips to the downtown Home Depot to find the precisely right hue. Not too orange, with a tinge of green. A limey lemony sorbet-soaked wall, which I planted my gaze upon day after difficult day as I paced my way around, and finally into, one of the most difficult transitions in my life.

Tonight, I feel a tug at my heart ~ a desire for the redeeming power of yellow. Sunny side up! Everything's gonna be okay! I'm not crazy... it's not a matter of what's wrong with me, it's all about what's astonishingly healthy and good about me. I plunged myself into a pint of lemon sorbet ~ the tart-sour-sweetness echoing so much of what I've been feeling this week. Unpredictable lemony life goodness melting over my tongue dripping down the back of my throat ~ reminding me that nothing, nobody, no-how, nowhere, is ever completely grounded in this life ~ no, not even me. Tugging the lemony goodness from the highest branch of life's tree ~ squeeze, squeeze, SQUEEZING every drop ~ gnawing, biting, and chewing the yellow zest that somehow zapped me back into my senses ~ telling me to LIVE MY LIFE, DAMNIT! Take some RISKS! Wake up and smell the lemonade my dear, because TICK TOCK TIME'S a'wastin'!

Degas, why so blue? Don't you know what a mind-blowingly positive color yellow is!

Posted by vincent at August 24, 2006 11:40 PM

Comments

Although yellow is not one of my very favorite colors, I always have associated it with the sun, and so it's a very warm, welcoming presence. Like you said... it's all in the shade of yellow.

Posted by: samtzmom at August 25, 2006 06:09 AM

Yeah for Yellow!! I can't live without it!!

Posted by: jzrart at August 25, 2006 08:02 AM

Yellow is my daughters favorite color, especially the soft yellow color of a VW new beetle. She claps her hands with joy every time she sees one...."ellow car, ellow car"

Posted by: aola at August 26, 2006 02:50 PM

There’s always something deliciously indulgent about your writing. What a wonderful pick-me-up for a gloomy night, thank you for sharing it.

Posted by: Amy at August 26, 2006 11:45 PM

"A limey lemony sorbet-soaked wall..."

Sheer poetry, Susan.

Posted by: dan at August 27, 2006 02:00 AM

Three cheers for yellow. Think I'll try some.

Posted by: janet at August 28, 2006 01:49 PM

This yellow is pure gold!

Posted by: tongue in cheek at August 31, 2006 06:36 PM