“For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
Since I spied the first lime-green acorn of the soon-to-be season on August 1st, I knew the color green would have to be my Bloom topic. Wikipedia describes the color green as “The color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It has 295-350 different shades.” Since this popular color has been associated with nature, life, health, and hope, it was selected as the color of the environmental movement. In other words, being green means you are into protecting the world from harmful practices.
The verdant color also came to mind as I pictured my son and daughter-in-law flying over northern Spain recently. Known as Green Spain, this wet area replete with fertile rolling hills, forests, and lovely valleys contrasts with the summer heat of inland Spain. As they winged their way back to the island of Tenerife, their home for dozens of years, I envisioned the semi-tropical island’s leafy green banana plantations. Thoughts of air flight evoke memories of myriad green tones resembling counterpane quilt squares and circles seen as we wing our way home over the Central Valley from European travels or memorable trips in the good ol’ US of A.
In the book “Green: The History of a Color” by Michel Pastoureau, the color green has taken on a variety of meanings over time, from symbolizing luck to evoking the color of money. Through a mix of culture, art, history, fashion, and media, the author explains that the color green has prevailed from prehistoric times to today. It is described as a symbol of life, for the planet’s obvious springtime renewal.
Green is most often the favorite color of pottery I sell, be it mugs, bowls, or vases. It’s also the go-to color I choose most often when I support a potter by purchasing a lovely piece for my own collection. I’m looking at a beautiful olive-green glazed vase in an honored spot on my bookshelf, which I selected from a potter when I visited Japan. The whole village was filled with working potters who live there and thrive on art! What a decision that was, to select pots to take home, with so many choices to make! I can also gaze upon Healdsburg potter Robert Weiss’ special green, crystalline-glazed porcelain vase on my shelf. I also rotate in a special green coffee mug thrown by Earth and Fire master potter Gregg Lindsley. Ahh, what a way to start the day! I could go on and on with my prized pots from Tenerife, Canada, the American Southwest, and more!
Speaking of the Southwest, when I used to visit my uncle in the Arizona desert town of Wilcox, near the Mexican border, the color green was more prevalent than I’d imagined, with its tomato farms and other surprising crops such as wine grapes, pistachios, and corn. Of course, there was spiky desert cactus in shades of jade. The regions of our vast country are eclectic and diverse, always surprising. The anthology of writing by contemporary and older environmental writers such as Rick Bass, Terry Tempest Williams, and Edward Abbey, called “Getting Over the Color Green,” describes pyrotechnic colors, along with green tones to perfectly portray the Southwest landscape, with its grace and beauty through the minds of wonderful writers who, “prove that green is only one of many colors on their palette.”
