Just call me Mr. November.
I have just made my calendar debut, although I hasten to add (as if such clarification were necessary) that it’s certainly not one of those beefcake calendars with a succession of shirtless New York City firefighters or anything of the sort. (A Greg Berg beefcake calendar would prompt some spectacular bonfires and/or a local nausea epidemic, and little else.)
Nope, we’re actually talking about the second annual Got Crayons? Calendar – a fundraiser for the Pollard Gallery in downtown Kenosha. The gallery is named for George & Nan Pollard, two of Kenosha’s shining lights. George was an extremely popular portrait artist, for whom U.S. presidents, world famous athletes, and all manner of celebrities sat. But this coloring contest is really more a tribute to George’s talented wife Nan, who achieved her own notable success for her paper doll books and coloring books. In her honor, the Pollary Gallery decided last year to sponsor a coloring contest that would be limited to adults over 50. They were stunned and delighted when well over a hundred entries – mine included – came pouring in, and the finest entries were published in the first coloring calendar. I was an also-ran and pretty disappointed until I saw the beautiful work of the winning colorers, which made what I’d done look pretty pedestrian- and which made me all the more determined to give it another shot. And this time, I made the cut!
By the way, because the contest is meant to honor Nan Pollard, all entries have to consist of pages taken from one of a prescribed list of her coloring books. I ended up coloring several pages that featured a cute teddy bear in striped pajamas, seeing the potential for a wide range of colors. And once I was done, it was Kathy who said that the picture of the bear with the push toy had to be the one. And she was right! So if there had been a cash prize, she would deserve half. Alas, in this particular contest, all you get is the glory. 🙂
It’s been fun to enter- and very fun to be one of the winners this time around – but the best moment actually came just this afternoon, when I stopped by the gallery to buy two more calendars. (They sent me one for free.) There behind the front desk, in frames, were all of the winning entries- and they were separated into 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s for the various ages of the colorers. I looked at that and suddenly found myself imagining an 80-year-old man or woman sitting at their dining room table, painstakingly coloring. Just the thought of that made me beam.
When is the last time you held a crayola crayon in your hand? Chances are it’s been a long long long time – and if it’s been fairly recent, it’s almost certainly because you were playing with a child. In which case, the question should read: when is the last time that you colored with crayons just for you, for the sheer pleasure of it?
There is a particular pleasure to coloring in a coloring book. Someone else has done the relatively tricky work of drawing the image- and it’s left to you to color it in as you see fit. I just love that sense of quasi-collaboration. . . to say nothing of the sense of stepping back in time and experiencing an old pleasure all over again. And in these troubled and troubling times in which we’re living right now, with so many reasons for worry, I am really grateful for anything that makes the world seem not quite so scary. And that’s why when we go to Polly and Mark’s tomorrow for Thanksgiving, I will have along with me my trusty box of 64 crayola crayons and a copy of Nan Pollard’s Thanksgiving-themed coloring book. And when I’m busy coloring with whoever else feels like joining me, it will be a nice reminder that Simple Pleasures are among the most precious blessings fort which we should be giving thanks.
pictured above: the 2012 coloring calendar- and another calendar turned to November, so you can see my entry.