The colours of my life – PART 5/7 – GREEN

This 7-part series on my blog covers the colours of my life, or more precisely of my childhood memories, a great source of inspiration for my art. You’ll find more posts from that series on this page.

Nature’s wonders

I’m an absolute nature lover and am in awe of nature’s creativity and the infinite nuances of green that she offers. Every spring, the new shoots of green showing up at the end of branches like these ones, fluffy, soft to the touch and tender:

Ferns, grass, plants all over call for our attention with bright greens, silvery ones, soft and strong tones. I can’t get enough of them!

And then, there’s the tender green of wheat fields in spring, small green clovers, grass, trees all over, the blue-green of cypruses, the yellow green of cedar trees, the deep festive green of Christmas trees, the rainforests that I was lucky to fly over in South America and that I saw from close in Gabon and walked through on Vancouver Island, the lungs of our planet, and all the trees that I see everyday through my windows, in the tree-lined streets of hamburg or the city’s parks. So grateful for every single one of them!

Exotic animal greens: blue green of peacock feathers, the electric green of chameleons and the coat of crocodiles

Local animal greens: frogs, grasshoppers and lizards that the cat was chasing after on the old dry stone walls at my Pépé’s house

Marine greens: rich greens of the sea lettuce under the surface of the sea, knee-deep at low tide, the Atlantic ocean under a certain light, the insides of an oyster, a milky grey-green bordered with black

Lake greens: I have a vivid memory of the greens I saw during my holiday in Bavaria in May of last year, particularly in the Berchtesgadener Land, the deep greens of the Königsee and the amazing natural circus at the end of it with all the greenery reflecting in the Hochsee as shown here:

Edible green, so much of it!

– Green peas, green beans and broad beans, flavours from my childhood, either raw from my grandfather Pépé’s neighbour’s garden or boiled with a dash of melting butter on them in the plate
– Small green grapes (chasselas) from my grandfather vine leaning against the house, warm from the sun on the southern-facing wall, just below the bedroom window on the first floor
– Avocados, soft green velvety yumminess with a dash of lemon, spooned out straight out of its skin or on a mountain of tacos as guacamole with melting cheese on top in that little café in Edinburgh during my student years
– Tender lettuce leaves, almost yellow, pale green of a fresh cucumber, pure crunchiness
– Vinegary, sour cornichons, the smaller so delicious together with rillettes on bread
– Apples! Granny Smith apples from the greengrocer, perfect, and then the little ones from our apple tree, yellow green, tangy when not ripe enough and deliciously juicy at harvest time
– Fresh mint, parsley and chive from the garden, in the shade, such fresh, distinct flavours, which I loved to try on their own

Green as a drink

– Of course, there are the green glass bottles of wine, champagne, cider or beer… but my childhood memories of a green drink are of a “menthe à l’eau” (mint syrup in plain water) or “diabolo menthe” (mint syrup in fizzy water or even lemonade), a real delicacy as a kid, with ice cubes on a warm summer day, home made or in a provincial french café
– And then, there’s the green of the bottles of Perrier or Badoit on special occasions, with a slice of lemon preferably, in the shade of a big tree which protects you from the heat in the summer

Fantastic green

– What would my childhood have been without the green Walt Disney characters… from the outfits of Robin Hood, Peter Pan and Dopey the dwarf to the ticking crocodile in Peter Pan, to Elliott the dragon (my favourite puzzle and audio book for when I was sick) and Ka the snake from the Jungle Book
– The incredible Hulk!

What’s your most memorable green?

Finally, here are below some of my paintings featuring green prominently.