Edith Young is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and writer from New York City. In 2021, Princeton Architectural Press published her first book, Color Scheme: An Irreverent History of Art and Pop Culture in Color Palettes. She writes and devises a monthly newsletter of visual essays called "Powers of Observation," and makes prints of her palettes.

Below is a week with Rodebjer from the pages of her color diary, a swirl of orange wines, pink lettuces, hyperlink blue skies, and creamy desserts.

Saturday: I take the subway to Brooklyn. As I exit the subway car, I see a flash of yellow before my eyes. After a moment, I register it: an airborne banana peel that a passenger has tossed through the doors onto the platform. For dinner, I head to the Fly for the first time with some friends—it’s a self-proclaimed “chicken bar,” not to be confused with a chicken barn, by a beloved New York restaurant group. The dining room glows orange. Is this what being a chicken egg in an incubator feels like? Adapting to our surroundings, we order wine that’s the same color.

Sunday: My significant other and I place an order for a small breakfast feast from Win Son Bakery, which arrives in mostly delicious shades of beige, other than the fermented red rice donut. Later on a walk, I end up behind a little dog who deftly color-blocks with a hot pink vest and an orange sweater underneath. I’m not even a dog person, but it’s the best outfit I see all day.

Monday: My winter exercise routine is to Citibike down the West Side Greenway path to the Pilates studio I like. I’ve done it in freezing temperatures, through slush and puddles — all thanks to the sleeping bag-like enclosure of the Sandler coat which wards off the elements. Downtown, I park the bike and weave through Greenwich Village. The days are getting longer. Standing at a crosswalk, I see a patch of hyperlink blue sky between apartment buildings. I pass by the Washington Mews, and my eyes linger on NYU’s “Deutsches Haus” with its windows painted the color of cabbage.

Tuesday: I turn another year older! In the spirit of playing some birthday hooky, I walk to the skating rink in the morning. It’s the emptiest I’ve ever seen, so I can go as fast as I want. A graceful skater with gold blades piques my envy. At night, I meet one of my oldest friends at my favorite bar where a pink clock presides over the scene. It completes the New York trifecta: I’ve seen two other clocks like it in New York, at the Odeon and impressed into the façade of Luhring Augustine’s Bushwick gallery.

Wednesday: I’m en route to the library to get some work done, and a heavyset pug saunters by in a sky blue sweater. Wonder if he knows the colorblocking terrier. Strike an errand off my to-do list by immersing in a white cylinder to get my passport photos taken. In the evening, I go to my parents’ for dinner. Chromatic highlights include a salad with pink radicchio lettuces, and my mom made me a surprise fané, which is like winter’s pavlova: a frozen dome of coffee ice cream plastered with meringue and whipped cream. A perfect Pantone match with my coat.

#womeninrodebjer is our virtual home to all the voices that inspire us and that would like to share their story, any story, with us. Thank you Edith for telling us your story!

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