At last. At long last. It took nearly 72 years, but I finally got it!! I had to move to the North Beach for it to happen. Had I known, maybe I would have come here a lot sooner.

You know that gorgeous greenish/bluish color that covers the Statue of Liberty? And the roofs of certain iconic buildings? 

That’s what I’m talking about… there’s even a word for it:  verdigris. Verdigris is the common name for the natural surface color (also called patina) formed when copper, brass or bronze is weathered and exposed to air or seawater over time. It can take many years to develop under natural weathering. Buildings in damp coastal/marine environments will develop patina layers faster than ones in dry inland areas.

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I sincerely and wholeheartedly love it! It’s just…. YUM!

I was so taken with verdigris that I decided the outside of the clawfoot cast iron tub in my Portland craftsman home needed to acquire the patina. But of course I had no idea how to make that happen. But after a few mistakes, I finally figured out how to pick a great man. It really is nice when he has actual skills. And willingness to do things, like make dreams come true. So the handy husband who came into my life when I thought hope was lost actually managed to turn my tub into one Lady Liberty would be proud to bathe in. Check it out! Even the claws!

The bulk of my adult life was spent in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Lots of rain. Lots and lots of it. Lots and lots of rust, but not so much verdigris. I remember being so excited when Portland commissioned a copper statue of Portlandia. It was to be the second largest hammered sculpture in the U.S. after the Statue of Liberty. As Portlanders do, the whole city turned out when the Raymond Kaskey sculpture was brought up the Willamette River on a barge and then moved to the Michael Graves designed Portland Building. I was dreaming of the beautiful verdigris in our future. It began as a shiny copper that was stunning, but before long it turned brown. And year after year it remained a stubborn dark brown. So disappointing.

Finally curiosity got the better of me, so I found the person who could tell me what was going on. He explained that the Statue of Liberty is such a beautiful verdigris because it is in the middle of New York Harbor where it is bathed 24/7 in an environment with a high concentration of chloride salts.

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I also learned that originally Kaskey wanted Portlandia to be verdigris, but “upon consultation with art conservators it was suggested that she would never develop an even green patina across the entire surface in Portland’s environment. Some natural oxidation would probably cause her to only go green in places, but sections would remain brown permanently. So the decision to wax the sculpture’s surface as made.”

Le sigh. I guess that makes sense. But did the experts consider all options? What about having volunteers bath her 24/7 when it’s not raining? Could we install sprayers like the produce departments in supermarkets? Could we put a moat around the Portland building or turn downtown Portland streets into canals? I mean, did they really think of EVERYTHING? I don’t think so…

I was so disappointed. In hindsight, I wonder if this was one of the reasons I thought the unthinkable thought of moving away from Portland after being sure I would live out the rest of my years there? Maybe not, but it didn’t help, that’s for sure.

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So after moving here, where we don’t have a view of the ocean but we are close enough to hear it, I wondered if I could achieve verdigris at our new home? Mind you, we do not have the means to purchase hammered copper statues, but I found a small copper twisty thing you can hang on a porch and watch it wind in the wind. (See what I did there?)

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We did that two years ago. Not much happened the first year, but I saw what I thought was the faint suggestion of verdigris. Enough that I bought another copper sculptural thing that is actually big enough to see. And now guess what! We are on the path to full-blown frickin’ verdigris at our place !! I am serious. Take a good look:

And the bigger one has an actual spot of color on it! Can you see it? I’m counting that! Despite my repeated disappointments in life and verdigris, I remain an optimist. The day will come that our yard will look like pieces fell off the Statue of Liberty and got caught up in the jet stream and made it all the way around the planet and landed here to satisfy my lifelong longing. 

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That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!