Art Explorer #7: Grocery Shopping with a Twist!

Art Word of the Week: Colour

The first area of a grocery store that I go to is the fruits and vegetables section. Partly because that area of the store is always near the front and normally is where people head first and that is always where I’ve headed first when I’ve gone grocery shopping. But I also partly head to that section of the store because it just seems so peaceful and natural and very much full of colour.

There is an endless list of vegetables, which of course than can be broken down even further. But here are the ones that I immediately thought of:

    1. Carrots

    2. Potatoes

    3. Broccoli

    4. Peas

    5. Corn

    6. Mushrooms

    7. Peppers

    8. Spinach

    9. Celery

    10. Beans

    11. Cauliflower

    12. Onions

    13. Squash

    14. Radish

    15. Cabbage

When I was young, probably like most children, I didn’t really eat my vegetables much and hid them at dinner to pretend that I had eaten them already. But as I grew up, I became more open to trying new things and now I absolutely love vegetables and can’t see a meal without them!

What stands out to me the most about vegetables is, of course, the shape but also all of the different colours that can be found when looking at all of the vegetables out there in the world. Colour is "the visual sensation of light caused by stimulating the cones of the retina" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, pg. 364). But with that literal definition there are various numbers of characteristics that fall under the colour category when looking and analyzing different objects of all kinds. Some personalities of colour that stand out to me when looking at vegetables are how light or dark they are, if they are warm (red, orange) or cool (blue, green), if they are bright or dull and if the colours of the vegetables are primary and secondary or mixed colours (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, pg. 138). Many colours, however, do repeat themselves on many vegetables that can be found in the grocery store. Some colours are orange, green, red and yellow. 

Vegetable Sketch - Carrot, Mushroom & Peas in a Pod

As oppose to colour, there are many other aspects that can be discovered when looking at vegetables such as the many different shapes that they come in and the different sizes. The shape and size can kind of go together in one category and colour on it's own, as that literally speaks about the aesthetics of it. The shape and size are definitely important characteristics of vegetables and any object really but even though those aspects are interesting, the different colours of all the vegetables without doubt stand out to me when I first walk into a grocery store. Colour is something I notice immediately and the world would be dull without them! 

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J. E. (2009). Art & Creative Development for Young        Children. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning.