Had to do some research yesterday so I went swimming. Ah hem! Okay, it wasn’t all research, it’s just that I had to take the kid swimming. Perhaps I wanted to go as well. But even beside the beautiful blue of the swimming pool, I could not let go of my koi. In our beach bag of supplies, besides the sun block and the snacks, I took colored pencils and my big tough notebook. My pencils were pre-sharpened (though I have a handy portable sharpener like kids take to school) and I drew blue patches and fish silhouettes.
Was thinking about how people learn to draw, and I decided that this would be a pretty good first foray into art for those so inclined: to take simple materials like colored pencils (for the pool I use the cheap dime store brands!) and make color patches. You put colors beside other colors and teach your eye to marvel at how certain color combinations make your perception dance.
I think of it as proto-art — that first impulse to mark, to color, to decorate, seeking and discovering delight. For me these pool side drawings are experiments with different patterns. But for someone else they might also provide simply a beginning.
I swam a lot too. In between swimmings, I swam in the pond of thought. Being in the pond, I learn the role, find my inner fish, work to get inside the Koi mind. And outside the pond, I play like a child with my artist’s tools.
Aletha Kuschan's Weblog 
Wow, what a coincidence that I sent you that colour video link before I even read this post, which is similar. Your day sounds lovely. It’s winter here in Australa and 22 degrees celcius (unusually warm).
This blue and yellow koi is ready to jump outside the picture!
It is also a coincidence for me, my next workshop at the hospital will be on colour and I thought of beginning it with the same idea, no theory, no explanation, just choosing and applying colour for the pleasure of the eye. Like a child in a candy store!
Belle journée à la piscine. Ah! l’été…