Color Me Purple

Think about the color purple for a moment.

Not the movie, although that is worth thinking about too, but for now let’s stick with the actual color, purple.

Purple has a rich, healthy, vibrant quality to it. It’s not overly common in nature, so it certainly can be attention-grabbing when you come across it. Plus, purple is said to get your creativity going. (Mental note: need to douse myself in purple before composing a blog post.)

Now ponder this little nugget of history about how purple was processed hundreds of years ago:

Tyrian Purple came to signify power and wealth and was used by both the Greeks and the Romans. It was complicated to make, cost a fortune and involved using the mucus from thousands of Murex snails.

Ah yes. “The mucus from thousands of Murex snails.” There’s a mental image for you, alright.

Or how about the creation of the color white:

The Greeks also manufactured white lead, the first fully opaque white – namely Flake White and Cremnitz White – which involved stacking lead strips in a confined space amongst vinegar and animal dung. Nice pigment, not so nice smell.

Lead + vinegar + animal dung, huh?

Delightful.

On that note, I’m waving the white flag on this blog post, before I have a technicolor yawn.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy coloring…