Inscribed Copse Verdigris

Latin īnscrībere, to write upon — past-participle of inscribe. As a color modifier, inscribed implies a clear-and-text-or-pattern-cut quality, the crisp color of Roman-Imperial-period monumental-stone inscription-and-monumental-text incised-relief. Sits at the crisp-and-incised end of the grid, parallel to etched and engraved in usage.

Old French copeiz, cut wood. As a color modifier, copse implies a small-coppiced-wood quality, the visual register of English-hedgerow-and-pasture-margin small coppiced-hazel-and-hornbeam wood-fragment hand-cut surfaces under small-shaded English-hedgerow filtered light. Sits at the modifier-and-place end of the grid, parallel to wood and grove in usage.

The basic copper carbonate that forms on weathered copper and bronze — the pigment scraped from oxidized metal and used in Renaissance painting before being supplanted by more stable greens. The color refers to a thick verdigris on aged copper roofing or the Statue of Liberty's surface: a soft, slightly muted blue-green with the powdery finish of mineral oxide. Cooler than patina, warmer than seafoam, with the archaeological weight of a mineral made by time.