Shades of Green

When I was teaching at Lycoming College, I had an art major in one of my literature courses which she was taking for a general humanities requirement.

When we were chatting after class near the end of the semester, she told me about a take-home exam that she had in her painting class.

For part of the exam, she was given a chart of one hundred shades of various colors, which she had to reproduce by mixing the primary colors in the proper amounts.

I thought it was an intriguing test.

But, as my husband and I drive on country roads this summer, I realize that Nature’s God puts this test to shame.

Yes, the trees are almost all green, but nature manages to create a large spectrum for that color: forest green, jade, chartreuse, lime green, Kelly green, silvery green, olive green, blue green, mint green . . . and I could go on and on.

And the autumn foliage will be similarly spectacular.

I’ve often thought that a woman’s dress designer could do nothing better than to use the colors of autumn leaves for female attire.

There is a reason why the Renaissance saw God as the great Artist, whom we mortals simply imitate.

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