I have a lifetime experience of getting the colours wrong, my trouble is tonal opposites, where the colours that have the same intensity clash. This leads to confusion over orange/yellow green, pink/grey, purple/dark blue and the more common red/green. Now this doesn't bother me when I am painting, but it does upset me when shopping. Once again I bought something due to a confusion over a companies colour coding and skimmed milk tastes foul.

Its not like I am asking people to change their lifestyle, become vegetarian, adopt another religion or questioning their sexual preferences but as colour confusion is a constant and recognised problem, why don't companies simply adopt a combination which is easy to detect by the visually challenged.

For most of you these eight colours will be obvious but to the rare few who only see four it can be a problem, especially when you go shopping. Painting strangely enough never really posed that much of a problem, I know where the colours are on my pallette and have a good idea about how to mix and match. Once you have painted a scene who is going to know whether the house was red or green or if the car was purple or blue.

Cats can be funny and I have always marvelled at green ginger tomcats and felt that the group "Deep Purple" should be called Dark Blue but it doesn't have the same ring does it. At least when everyone else is moaning about "those ominous dark grey clouds" I see a gorgeous pink sky. Always see the positive I guess.

Deserted Hilltop farmhouse, with tabacco fields and surrounded by trees.

                                                                  The same abandoned farm buildings but from 

                                                                  another position.

Such a lovely day that it seemed a waste to spend it couped up in the house, so with the van broken down I resorted to a cycle picnic, with the idea of doing some drawing along the way. Our area of Italy is notorious for its tobacco fields and although these farm buildings are now out of use crops are still grown around this decaying, crumbling farmstead. Such a tranquil, quiet valley, where I was happily left to my own devices, did a few sketches, had my picnic and stopped for a coffee in the local village on the way home. Perfect way to relax and unwind.