mushroom beige

detail of Symphony in Flesh color and Pink: Portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland by James McNeil Whistler

When I was 11 years old, my parents painted the living room of our old house Mushroom Beige. I still remember it today. The color of the walls changed with the daylight and the mood of the house. Some days it looked like lavender and others it was yellowy taupe with a hint of pink. In the evening it was soft grey and on warm summer nights it had a seafoam green cast. I wondered then and still do now, how one color could be so many colors and I marvel at the vividness of the memory that it holds. A whole world in a color.