water towers

walking

 to the Farmer's Market two Sundays ago

 I walked across West 78th Street

 it is in my opinion

 one of the prettiest streets

 on the UWS

see

 that water tower?

 see

 that sky?

 its green

 because of the 'film' and 'lens' combo of the Hipstamatic app

 I was using

 but 

waaaay

 back

 when

 I attended the High School of Art and Design

 I had a teacher

 who assigned us the task of painting a cityscape

 we could paint from memory

 or 

we could look out the window and paint what we saw

  I opted for memory

 I gesso'd/primed

 the canvas 

with a color green

 not unlike the color of the sky

 in this photo

 and

 then 

painted in

 the stark greys

 of the urban landscape

 the high rises

 the office towers

 but

 in my mind

 in the world of my painting

 there was a rainy feel

 to me the sky needed to be green

my teacher 

stopped at my desk to see how my painting was progressing 

when, he asked, did you ever see a green sky?

  I tried to explain

 about

 how the sky looks to me 

when

 the color of light

 takes on 

that just rained look

 he said

 there's no such thing as a green sky

 repaint it 

 I refused

he told me 

he would be speaking to the dean

  he did

 and

 the dean called my mother

 when my dad came home that evening 

she told him 

he was going in to speak to the dean

 she had gone to school every year up to that point

 but she wasn't going again

 she expected him to handle it

  yes

 I was a troublesome student

 I am sure you are all surprised

not

   anyway

 dad met with the dean

 they agreed

 while there are not green skies

 the teacher was wrong 

to impose his views on a student

 after all

 aren't we supposed to be artists 

learning 

expressing

 our visions?

  I was also told

 that I wasn't to talk back

 I am not sure how long that lasted 

but 

I can tell you

 neither of my parents 

were ever called into school after that 

I am still able to see the color of light differently 

 now you can see it too