Have you been told that something is not what it appears to your eyes?
Since I was a girl, in spite of Marisol, my first grade teacher, I have had a passion for color, art and creativity. One day Marisol asked the class to paint any thing we wanted. I painted some mountains and colored them blue.
“Mountains are NOT blue” She remarked in an irritated tone when she saw my painting. “They are green!” She then asked me to change my painting.
I couldn’t believe my ears and my eyes flickered in doubt. I did not dare tell her to take a look. The surrounding mountains of Bogotá looked blue from the window of our classroom!
I proceeded to change paper and painted green mountains as Marisol commanded. After all, when I walked on them, I saw that they were covered with grass and vegetation, which were green indeed.
It took me a long time to overcome such a remark from my teacher, and to let my eyes believe that which I knew at heart. So many years later, my heart continues to know that color, artistic expression and creativity are my passions. I feel fortunate I can pursue these passions from a studio with a southern view of the Green Mountains of Vermont.
From my window I see how the mountains dress themselves in many tones of blue, purple, orange,
gray, brown, white and even green, depending on the time of the day and the season of the year. I wish I could invite Marisol over for tea and conversation.
The moral of the story: Question the authority of your teachers and elders. Trust your eyes. Trust your child self. Paint what you want, how you see it, and how you feel it!
«Have you been told that something is not what it appears to your eyes?»
Oooh yes, I have :).
Let’s trust our eyes and brain, for they make us unique.
BTW, your teacher is the one who probably couldn’t see colors like most of us do…
Because forest mountains, seen from afar, do tend to have a blue tinge.
The trees often release stuff in the atmosphere. And the incoming light with shorter wavelengths (blue) is preferentially scattered by those particles within the atmosphere.
Similar process gives blue-greyish colour to any distant objects that contain dust, pollen, smoke, microscopic water droplets, etc. 🙂
Anyway… Nice painting !
Thank you Catherine!
I agree with the moral of the story. Thank you for sharing such relatable and inspiring words 🙂
And thank you, Kristina for your visit and taking the time to write back!