Thinking of green

Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.

     ~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca

He had that curious love of green, which in individuals is always the sign of a subtle artistic temperament, and in nations is said to denote a laxity, if not a decadence of morals.

     ~ Oscar Wilde

Absolute green is the most restful color, lacking any undertone of joy, grief, or passion. On exhausted men this restfulness has a beneficial effect, but after a time it becomes tedious.

     ~ Wassily Kandinsky

I thought those quotes offered some intriguing thoughts on the color 'green', this month's theme for the photo challenge inspired by artists Jennifer Coyne Qudeen & Julie Booth. Upon doing a bit of research, I was interested to discover that our eyes are able to perceive a wider range of greens than other colors, and it's certainly true that green contains a whole palette of its own. 

Just as my photos for 'Orange' and 'Yellow' included rather muted/non-primary shades of those colors, so does the selection for 'GREEN'. The quartet of images at the top of the page were taken on an early morning walk along the Arno earlier this month. Toward the west of the city, outside of the boulevards that mark the outline of the last set of city walls, the river is bordered by trees and green space. This makes for some lovely reflections in the Arno. I'm not sure what kind of purple flowers those are in the lower left corner, but they made a nice splash of contrast.

The first of the next set of images features 'Regina Claudia' plums, which are back in season again. I love their dusky green, and how they are sweet and melt in your mouth (devoured in just a bite or two).

Following the plums are three quartets of images of Venice taken on past visits. The city provided plenty of inspiration for 'ORANGE' and 'YELLOW', and green is no exception. These range from mossy greens to verdigris to more usual greens—though nothing is very 'usual' about Venice. I am actually thrilled to be heading there tomorrow with my daughter for a beach holiday on the island of Lido. Considering that Florence is expecting an even more intense heat wave this weekend, the timing couldn't be better. I'm looking forward to sitting at the edge of the water and listening to the ocean....it should be the perfect place to 'arzigogolare'—to truly experience summer before it slips away.

When I return I have something else green to post (I'm out of time now). Happy weekend!

{Please see the guidelines here if you'd like to participate in the color-themed photo challenge in future. September's color will be 'BLUE'.}