It’s not exactly a secret that I have a thing for bright colors.  Take a quick peek at my office at Carthage (I recommend wearing sunglasses when you do) and you’ll know what I mean.  And that’s why I got so excited a few weeks ago when I saw a brightly spangled flyer for something called “Got Crayons, Kenosha – A Coloring Contest for Adults.”   And yesterday,  five days before the the contest ends,  I ran down to the Pollard Gallery in downtown Kenosha, plunked down ten dollars, and entered the contest!   (As if I have all kinds of free time on my hands and no idea what to do with it.)

The contest was created at least in part to honor the impressive career of Nan Pollard,  who during her long professional career created some of the most popular coloring books and paper doll books ever published in this country.   (The Pollard Gallery, besides featuring lovely works by various local artists,  also includes a substantial display of Nan’s work – as well as that of her late husband George, a highly regarded portrait artist.)  For ten dollars, you get to select one of Nan’s coloring books,  and your entry ends up being one page from the book, colored as you choose.   I chose “Toys and Objects” because of the great potential of coloring things like gum ball machines,  multi- scoop ice cream cones,  kites, and the like. . . and I think the hardest part will be choosing one page for my entry!

I should also mention that this contest is only open to people who are fifty years of age and older. . . and when was the last time you heard of a contest designed with that age bracket in mind?  How about never,  unless it’s the shuffle board tournament on a senior citizen cruise.   The contest’s organizers decided that they really wanted to earmark this competition for mature adults to underscore how coloring is a pleasant diversion that should not be limited to children – and they eventually decided that wild 20, 30 and 40-year-

olds were not what they wanted.  (Too rowdy.)  So let’s hear it for the Half Century And Up Club!

By the way, the only children who will participate are those children who are going to serve on the panel of judges . . . which is a wonderful twist on how things are typically done . . .  and of the 150-plus entries they are expecting to receive,  the best are going to be published in a commemorative calendar.   I am not getting my hopes up, but it sure would be fun to be a part of the Triumphant Twelve.   And I plan to give this my best effort – and towards that end,  my wife bought me a box of 64 crayolas.  (With your entry fee, you receive a free box of 24,  but for a color fiend like me,  that’s like riding a Harley with training wheels.)

As I took out the coloring book and crayons tonight for the first time,  I was suddenly transported back to the Ben Franklin store in downtown Kenosha, and to the far left aisle of the store where one found the school supplies. . . including the crayola crayons which came in various boxes of 8, 16, 24, 48, and the mother lode of 64. . . . complete with a built-in crayon sharpener on the front of the box.  I thought that was the Crayon Holy Grail until I came across another brand of crayons which were sold in a round container of 120 – – –  and of course,  I had to have it!  But it was a bust, because the colors were pale and lifeless-  and worse,  many of them were duplicates.  In other words, there were 120 crayons but not 120 different colors.   (If I’d been older,  I would have written a letter to the Better Business Bureau!)   So I’ve been a Crayola guy ever since,  although I can’t think of the last time I had crayons in my hand for any reason – which makes me all the more grateful for this contest.

And as I took out Nan Pollard’s wonderful coloring book and really looked through it,  imagining what I would do with each page,  it made me realize that coloring books offer such a neat artistic opportunity for those of us with very limited skills in this area.   Someone else (in this case, Nan Pollard) has done the hard work of creating the picture’s intricate outlines – and it’s left to you to add the colors however you see fit.   If you’re a certain age,  you have no interest in the lines –  but at another age,  you become painstakingly observant of coloring within them.   And one can choose to be fairly realistic,  coloring the trees green and the ocean blue. . . or throw realism out the window and create purple trees and yellow oceans for no other reason than Just Because.   The coloring book meets you wherever you are- and for a lot of people it’s probably the first time you might feel like a real artist.

So wish me luck . . . and all of the other 50, 60, 70 and 80 year olds who are breaking out the crayons this week in order to get their entries in before Thursday’s deadine. . . and may we all find ourselves once again enamored with the simple pleasure of coloring!