Colour Collaborative: October







 Memories

I had a long dormant memory awoken for me quite recently.

It was the memory of one of my favourite books of my childhood.  That's it above, 'The Great Blueness' by Arnold Lobel.  I didn't remember the 'and Other Predicaments' bit but I did remember reading this book again and again, looking forward to, and being so satisfied by, the the outcome of the tale.  I shall tell you (briefly) the story in a moment and I think you'll see why I liked it.

This memory ties in so very well with my very first colour post back in June.  The child that dreamt of owning a stationery shop for the pure joy of having paper, envelopes, pens, pencils, pastels and paints in every conceivable shade and hue.  The child that treasured her pack of 100 felt tips, colouring books and rainbow shoelaces is the same child that loved this book.  The reason why the epiphany I spoke of having in that post was so striking was because the thought, once I had it, was so obvious.
Having colour in my life makes me happy.

But on with the tale...




Our story is set long, long ago, in a time before colour.
This time, before colour had been invented, was called 'The Great Greyness'.

Our hero is a wizard who finds this monochrome world to be a dull and dreary state of affairs so he goes off to his laboratory to experiment with spells and potions.  After some time he comes up with something he is pleased with and he calls it 'blue'.

He shows this 'blue' to the people of the world.  They love it and paint everything blue and, for a while, all is well.  But, it doesn't last, having a blue world starts to make everyone feel sad.

So the wizard sets to work again and invents 'yellow'.
He shows the 'yellow' to the world and they are thrilled.  Everything is painted yellow and, for a while, all is well.  But that doesn't last, a yellow world gives everyone a headache.

The wizard mixes more potions and comes up with 'red'.
The people are delighted with 'red' and paint the world again.  For a while, all is well but once again it does not last.  A world of red makes everyone angry and argumentative.

In desperation the wizard goes to his laboratory again, mixing potion after potion and using spell upon spell, trying to find a solution to the problem.



He works for many days and many nights without success until finally the pots and potions are piled high around him and start to overflow.  The potions start to spill and mix together and the wizard, noticing what is happening exclaims ' That is the answer!'

He mixes up all the potions in different ways until he has pots and pots full of wonderful things.  He takes them into the world and tells the people they must use them all.

So the people take the new 'colours' and find the perfect place to put each one and at last everyone is happy.  This world, full of colour, is now so beautiful it won't need to be changed again.


The End.

I think you can probably see why it appealed to me then and still does now.

...

Don't forget to check out the other great 'Colour Collaborative' blogs
for more of today's great posts...




What is The Colour Collaborative? 
All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff.
Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of them work together?
Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too.
We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination 
our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.

S x  





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Comments

  1. What a fabulous book! I have to admit never hearing of it before though, but I know I would love it - and so would my kids. I'm off to search it out.


    Happy October,


    Nina x

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  2. I have never heard of this book and authro but I can tell you I am definitely going to check around for this book. I love children's books and started collecting them when I was pregnant with my first child. She grew up to be an elementary school teacher and has continued the collection. And now I also hunt for special books for my grandchildren and our play room. Hope you are recovering nicely. Looking forward to more posts.

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  3. I loved reading about your lovely memory with colour and all of those shades are so gorgeous I wish I had yarn in all of them!!!


    - J, cozyontheprairies.blogspot.com

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  4. what a lovely story and blog post - well done Sandra - I think you encapsulated your "memories" of colour brilliantly. Thanks for posting

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  5. Not one I'd come across before, but what a fabulous book! And yes, the perfect start for a colour lover :)

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  6. Your story is so lovely and gorgeous images.

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  7. What a wonderful book! I can totally understand why it appealed to you so much, it's delightful. That "picture lions" logo took me right back a few of my favourite childhood picture books. x

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  8. Gosh, I'd totally forgot about this book! Seeing those illustrations again reminds me of pigtail and pinafore wearing days! Thank you

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  9. I've never heard of the book but I love the storyline

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