Spick Libra Verdigris

Old Norse spik-spakr, spike-new — sharing root with spic-and-span. As a color modifier, spick implies a clear-and-newly-cleaned quality where the hue carries the just-polished visual register of fresh-painted-and-fresh-cleaned surfaces. Sits at the crisp-and-clean end of the grid, parallel to spotless and pristine in usage.

Latin libra, scales-of-the-zodiac. As a color modifier, libra implies a scales-and-air-sign-and-Venus-ruled-cardinal-air quality, the visual register of Roman-Libra-and-scales-of-justice hand-scales-and-air-sign-and-Venus-ruled-cardinal-air Roman-Libra-and-scales-of-justice-and-Themis-Astraea libra-and-scales-and-air-sign surfaces under Roman-Libra-and-scales-of-justice-and-Themis-Astraea autumn-equinox-and-September-and-October cardinal-air-sign-light. Sits at the modifier-and-zodiac end of the grid, parallel to virgo and scorpio 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.