I was in this color class once. The teacher, Dick Nelson, was knowledgeable and kind. He taught Albers color theory and he, and many of the participants, were purists. As in: You Should Only Use This Color And These Colors And Thats It and Oh-those-artists-who-use-a-million-colors-out-of-the-tube + eyeroll. And, ok. I can hang with those people. That knowledge is important and it’s my job to get good at everything I can in my field, so I do. I use their rules and I make paintings out of magenta and cadmium lemon and pthalo blue and white and that’s it and I can do it and I enjoy it and I keep my mouth shut. Sometimes.

And now when I pull out some random tube of color I haven't used before, I think of them. Because what I didn't say then but say in my head when I do it now, is: ‘You guys! The thing is, you’re just missing out on so much fun.’

They are right. It is important to know how to do what they do. But it’s also important - in art and in everything - to be able to throw the rules out the window and play around. Do whatever you can to make it fun. I have been painting for 20 years, and many days I love it, but not every day. And sometimes shaking it up and finding a new color that does some cool thing is what I need to jumpstart a painting. It makes me feel like a discoverer again, an explorer. And, thanks to Dick Nelson and the Watercolor Purists, a rebel. Which is exactly the kind of company I like to keep.