I toyed with a lot of ideas before deciding on this April's set of words. They are all about colour.
I have always loved paint chips and the names that paint manufacturers give to the shades are often poetic but we do struggle to name colours. Anything beyond the basic elements of a colourwheel or spectrum is subject to a lot of personal interpretation. Think about Avocado - do you think of the flesh? the skin? the pit? The digital world has given us RBG and Hex codes, providing a certain amount of standardization but for most of us a word or two is far more likely to stir an emotional response, a memory, an idea of the colour or a sensation than a string of numbers and letters.
Think about that box of crayons, or, if you grew up in Canada, your Laurentien coloured pencils (Poppy Red and Peacock Blue!) or that nice tray of watercolours. Almost everyone I know has a special association with a colour from those boxes, some word that was magical or mysterious.
But now it's springtime and those of us in these Northern parts get a fresh influx of colours to our palettes as the buds start to open and the leaves and blossoms appear...what colour ARE they?
Meadow Verdant Grass
Beryl Apple Leaf
Emerald Celadon Chartreuse
Mint Sisken Olive
Viridian Sage Pea Verdigris
Olivander Citron Leek
Terre Verte Bottle
Harlequin Brunswick Butter
Malachite Sap Sea
Fern Forest Jungle
Gamboge Foxglove Nettle
Asparagus Artichoke Avocado
Absinthe Mass Pine
Teal Willow Peach Blossom
Vernal Tones Primrose Ivory
Jonquil Glaucous Amber
Orpiment Snow Saffron
Xanthous Lemon Cream
Buff Lily Lilac
Tulip Robin's Egg Amethyst
Hyacinth Lavender Violet
Pansy Plum Orchil
Mauve Heliotrope Kelly
Minium Banana Straw
Champagne Corn Husk Honeysuckle
Eau-de-Nil Mushroom
