PAINT BY NUMBERS

 

WAS A FASHIONABLE WAY TO FILL A CHILD'S IDLE HOURS.
CONFORMING TO A PRESET DESIGN, FIXED COLORATION AND
THE 50'S CONFORMISM......STAY WITHIN THE LINES.....
CAREFULLY!....AND USED THE COLORS, DESIGNATED BY
NUMBERS PRINTED ON THE CANVAS! I DID SEVERAL OF
THESE, PLEASING MY PARENTS WITH THIS QUIET, INTRO-
SPECTIVE ACTIVITY.......HOW DID I GET TO THIS PLACE?
MY "WORK" BEFORE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS FREE AND
ABANDONED, CREATIVE AND UNIQUE......THEN SCHOOL!
MAKE LETTERS AND NUMBERS JUST LIKE THE ONES MRS.
LAYMAN DRAWS BETWEEN THE LINES ON THE BLACKBOARD..
ON THE LINED TABLET ON MY DESK.....WITH THE DESIGNATED
PENCIL HARDNESS.......I ALWAYS PREFERRED THE MOTTLED
GREEN EBERHARDT PENCILS, KEPT VERY SHARP FOR THEIR
HARDNESS OF "2"......WHICH MADE FOR MESSY ERASURES,
BRINGING DOWN CENSURE.......I "WAS" TRYING TO CONFORM
AND FELT EXTREMELY UNEASY, SINCE MY WRITING WAS VERY
ODD.....LIKE I HAD LEARNED AT A KLINGON SCHOOL AND
MUST BE RESTRUCTURED TO FIT INTO AN EISENHOWER SOCIETY.
WELL......IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE I WENT OUTSIDE THE LINES,
USED WHATEVER COLOR PAINTS WERE AVAILABLE, BEGAN MIXING COLORS
ON MY NEW MAPLE PALETTE AND EVENTUALLY JUST USED THE CANVASSES
IN WHATEVER WAY PLEASED ME........SO, EARLY IN MY DEVELOPMENT
I BECAME A BOHEMIAN NON-CONFORMIST.......I FOUND THIS ELEPHANT
PAINTING WITH SOME OTHERS THAT WERE STORED IN A CLOSET AT MY
MOTHER'S HOUSE......I SUPPOSE THAT "PAINT BY NUMBERS" ACTIVITIES
ACTUALLY LIBERATED ME, IN THE LONG RUN......ON THE WAY TO THE CABIN
IN NORTH GEORGIA, I ALWAYS STOP BY A REALLY JUNKY THRIFT STORE,
WHEREIN THE STORE MANAGER SPENDS HIS SPARE TIME COPYING, IN ACRYLICS,
SOME RATHER DULL AND UNINSPIRED PHOTOGRAPHS....HIS PAINTINGS ARE
NOT TOO FAR FROM THE PAINT BY NUMBERS......LAST WEEK, I ASKED HIM
(WE ARE THE SAME AGE) IF HE HAD EVER DONE "PBN"'S......AND HE REPLIED,
"I LOVED TO DO THEM, AND PAINTED HUNDREDS OF THEM".......FIGURES!