The Fifth Day of Christmas In Five Hues

During our childhood years, my older brother and I were avid consumers of comic books that were known for making light of pop culture and parodies of popular songs. We were totally tickled by a particular Christmas season edition of a comic book that included a parody of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” While the title of the nursery rhyme had not changed, the lyrics in the parody version began as: “Mary had a little lamb, a little pork, a little jam; a little egg, a little toast; some pickles and a great big roast; …” After rolling on the floor laughing about the HUGE meal that “Mary had”, we decided to make a parody song of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The results were not good, since most of our parody lyrics fell flat on the floor. However, a few of our parody lyrics did gain us a rousing belly laugh. “A Partridge in a Pear Tree” became “A Pigeon in a Plum Tree” and (sometimes) “A Chicken in a Cherry Tree”. “Five Gold Rings” became ‘Five Silver Beans”. While we never understood why “My True Love Gave to Me” so many birds on each of the first seven days of Christmas, we loved how the melody changed when we sang the “Five Gold Rings” (also birds) lyric during the countdown to the “And a Partridge in a Pear Tree” lyric.

The number five has many significant and popular uses. It is the atomic number of the chemical element Boron (sorry about the science), and the third prime number (sorry about the math). It is used in many popular movies, songs, phrases, and names: The Furious Five, The Jackson Five, Working Nine to Five, the five senses; The five-second rule, Give me five, Five-card Stud, A five-star hotel, and so on. In the Old Testament the number five represents the perfection of the natural order. So, with the number five in mind, I decided to create the abstract painting “Shapes in Five Hues” (oil on canvas) based upon “the Five-Color Theorem,” (I will explain the meaning of that theorem later).

Shapes in Five Hues Abstract Art Product Image

When “Shapes in Five Hues” was almost complete, I unveiled it to my wife for her feedback. She replied, “I like it.” So, while that oil-based painting was drying, I decided to create a companion abstract painting (also based upon “the Five-Color Theorem”) that was 78% larger in size and featured five other colors. For the time being, I will refer to that oil on canvas companion painting as “More Shapes in Five Hues.”

When I eventually showed my wife the “More Shapes in Five Hues” painting (just before finishing it) for her feedback, she stated that the bright colors reminded her of the art she had seen at Gallery Serengeti. “I think your painting would be better if you added an African female in a bright colorful outfit,” she said. While I immediately realized I would soon be making MAJOR changes to that painting, I could not stop myself from replying “But that would violate the Five-Color Theorem that the painting is based upon!” “Huh?” She replied.

Paraphrasing the Wikipedia definition, the Five-Color Theorem is a result (from a mathematical theory) where a flat surface (such as a canvas) is separated into regions (or shapes), and each shape is colored using only one of five colors in such a way that no two adjacent shapes receive the same color. As for the “Shapes in Five Hues” painting, each shape in that painting is colored using either Brown, Green, Maroon, Purple, or Violet and no two adjacent shapes receive the same color. When the “More Shapes in Five Hues” painting was almost finished, each shape within that painting was colored using either Blue, Orange, Red, Yellow, or Ultramarine Violet and no two adjacent shapes receive the same color. To further distinguish that painting from “Shapes in Five Hues”, “More Shapes in Five Hues” also contained a python-shaped region that began in the upper left corner of the painting that extended across the painting (as a slithering python) to the bottom right corner of the painting. The interior shapes of the python had implemented the Four-Color Theorem, where Blue is removed from the list of colors and no two adjacent shapes receive the same color. That python-shaped region also maintained the integrity of the exterior (Five-Color Theorem) shapes. So, when I unveiled that (work in progress) painting to my wife for her feedback, I was wondering if she could make out that cleverly hidden slithering python shape within the abstract painting. And the reason that I seek her feedback before finalizing a painting is because she has a keen eye for aesthetics when it comes to colorful abstract paintings that would appeal to the public. Therefore, given her response, I knew that I needed to abandon my Five-Color (and hidden Four-Color) Theorem goals and include an African female character as the centerpiece of that painting. And, because all characters in my recent paintings were of family members, she suggested the new central character be a portrait of her youngest daughter, Erica.

Five weeks later, I unveiled the oil on canvas painting “Bride in Five Hues” to my wife for her feedback. And her reply was “I love it!”