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Lucy on Black

I have always been confused by the definition of “black”.  White is supposed to be the presence of all colors — but black absorbs light and is a total absence of color, or so say the scientists.  In hexidecimal values, black is 000000.

I think they have it backwards.

Scientists have obviously never seen the fur of a black cat in the sunlight!  You could not begin to count the rainbow of colors that are visible.  The coat of a black cat fairly glitters with color in sunlight.

Loved you, Milly

There is a whole culture of associations with black.  The cloth of mourning.  Black magic. The elegant little black dress.  Ethnic black power.   The printed word is described as “in black and white”.  Cartoon art is trapped in black.

Henri Matisse reportedly said that when he did not know what color to paint, he chose black — because it was a ‘force’.

There’s a great chemistry with the pigments for making black — lamp black (soot from an oil lamp), ivory black (ivory or bone material burned and mixed with oil), and mars black (made from synthetic iron oxides).

Love: India Ink, black velvet jackets,  jet beads, black suede shoes, Maria pottery, moonlit black nights, noisy crows … and black cats.  Mostly, black cats.