When an idea sparks, one that delights, I call this “following the giggles.” This is an idea that serves no other purpose but to entertain one’s self. It also comes with lots of energy; the best thing to do is run with it. Such is the case of the OOH AWW Plant.
Lately, my process for learning and improving my surface pattern design practice is to start with a “hero” image. I begin with an 8 x 10 botanical drawing and use a Sharpie® pen to fill in the shapes. When I finish, I’ll scan the drawing at 300 dpi, import it into an Adobe Illustrator file, image trace it, and then play with colors. If the drawing can be broken up into other shapes, I can create a motif for a pattern.
The OOH AWW Plant © Kristin Maija Peterson 2024
Above is the finished drawing that I used as a greeting card. I wrote a humorous story about this made-up plant to include with the card.
The OOH AWW Plant with color applied as it was used on the greeting card’s front side.
Now for the story about the OHH AWW Plant
THE ECOLOGY OF THE GIANT OOH AWW PLANT
Far from the prying eyes of botanists, on a very remote island that only the Albatross knows, lives a giant succulent plant, the only one of its kind and species, the Giant Ooh Aww Plant.
Remarkable in its own right, the Giant Ooh Aww Plant has two remarkable traits. First, this plant’s eye-like spots begin to glow at dusk and appear as if a multi-optic monster by midnight. Needless to say, the Giant Ooh Aww Plant has a formidable presence and no one dares eat it, let alone go near it.
The second is that the Giant Ooh Aww Plant blooms only once every seven years. It is a spectacle to experience. Its flower is humongous as one would imagine, possessing every color known to man and beast. When the moment arrives for the Giant Ooh Aww Plant’s flower to unfold, it is said a thundering “Ta-Da!” is emanated, heard across many nautical miles by freaked-out sailors wondering nervously if storms or sirens are lurking.
By now you might be wondering how we know so much about a giant succulent plant living on a remote far-off island that only an Albatross knows.
Turns out, those glowing eye-like spots can be seen from space! It didn’t take long for Google Maps to take notice. Then the botanical world took notice. Garden centers and nurseries took notice. Even Martha Stewart took notice.
Actually, in the end, we have a bumbling sailor dude with poor directional sense and distant, twice-removed cousin of, you guessed it, Christopher Columbus, to thank. He was bound for the coastline of Cuba and instead drifted ashore on the island of the Giant Ooh Aww Plant.
Can you imagine our sailor dude’s reaction when he first lays eyes on the newly found ginormous botanical wonder? It was, you guessed it, “Oooh Awww!” And the rest is rooted in herbalis history.*
* In this story, we have learned the consequences of colonization, exploitation, and crazy hybridization. The Giant Ooh Aww Plant is free to live and propagate far and safe from over-zealous profiteers as well as Martha Stewart.
And there you have it. A silly romp that fuels my art practice. Last, but surely not least, is a sample of surface pattern design derived from the OOH AWW Plant. I hope you enjoyed this most ridiculous post and welcome your thoughts and comments.
