In lieu of the popular idiom "April showers bring May flowers", I'd like to pay homage to this ring-in for spring with a bit more cloudy, but no-less bright perception. This one is drenched deep in American pop-culture advertising from early last century. Currently propped on my desk is a ceramic tile (trivet) that my mother gifted to me on my recent trip home. Actually, I noticed it shoved away in some forgotten "miscellaneous" drawer, and rescued it with permission. It is a trivet of the 1968 Morton Salt Umbrella Girl with the slogan "when it rains it pours". Something about the truth in the message without being over-the-top pessimistic combined with the brilliant color combination, and classic nostalgia, just brings a smile to my face.
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| "When it rains it pours". 1968 Morton Salt Umbrella Girl is the top right trivet. Available at Morton memorabilia |
FOR YOU:
When it rains in life, after a spectacularly heavy storm, we are sometimes blessed with a trajectory of color. Merriam-Webster defines the rainbow as :
an arc or circle that exhibits in concentric bands the colors of the spectrum and that is formed opposite the sun by the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays in raindrops, spray, or mist.
In artistic and scientific circles the rainbow has been a highly focused phenomenon for centuries, in both color theory and optics. For centuries philosophers such as Aristotle, Leonardo DiVinci, Goethe, and Newton each conjectured and corroborated the mystery of the rainbow.
In religious and mythological histories the rainbow holds cultural significance and its stories and legends vary worldwide by region. Although, one correlation that is widely consistent in myth and religion seems to be the origination of the rainbow with either a holy or demonic association. An image of ethereal ephemeral significance.
Artists in historical and modern times, have used the rainbow to depict peace and brilliancy, dreams and wishes, faithfulness and covenant, and a divine path. I'm sure we can all list off the top of our heads, pop-culture references, lyrics, and the like that utilize the rainbow thematically.
In my own life, the double rainbow, is an image that holds a special significance in my marriage. This personal application draws on more than just the widespread evocation of the rainbows promise, commitment, and covenant. During a double rainbow there is the dark or unlit area between the two bows.This unlit area that separates the two bows is called Alexanders Band. Other factors that occur during a double rainbow include the secondary rainbows color sequence being a reverse from the primary bow. Dependent on the angles it is likely that the sky outside the bow will be brightened.
This is figuratively a simile for marital dynamics. Dark unlit areas between the two reversed spectrum's? YES. Only when the angles are aligned in exactness then the space outside the two entities can be brightened and illuminated? YES. But, that is the hope of marriage, that despite the darkness that exists in both of you, together, you can create a space outside yourselves which is enlightened. The probability of observing a rainbow is determined by the bunching of light rays at the minimum deviation that is close to the rainbow angle.
With these sentiments in mind, I share a 2 piece work of mine *creatively* entitled: DOUBLE RAINBOW
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| "Double Rainbow: primary", Janelle Jensen Fritz, 2010 Colored Charcoal Pastels |
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| "Double Rainbow: secondary", Janelle Jensen Fritz, 2010 Colored Charcoal Pastels |
