Sophie Ashdown

Today I was very lucky to be given a pre-Christmas present from someone very dear to me. A wonderful Advent Calendar from Hotel Chocolat of vegan chocolates. I am so excited to start opening this on December 1st!

This person knows me very well so knows that I’m vegan and love chocolate, and that I particularly love it from Hotel Chocolat. And that could have been the end of this post, but he took it to another level with the wrapping paper…

He also knows that my favourite colour is black, I wear only black, my house is all black and white (apart from the piano), my cat is black, my car is black, etc, So he did great getting me vegan chocolate in a black box. He did REALLY well in wrapping the box with some wonderful black and white wrapping paper. Not only that but it is a PATTERN and I found it so intriguing!

It might not seem that remarkable to most, but look closer. The designer/artist must originally have created an image of different shapes and lines using chunky marker or big paintbrush, then cut it up into squares and rearranged them to make the new pattern. And then someone else who makes wrapping paper decided that the result was good enough to use for one of their designs.

This may seem like a small insignificant thing, and in the grand scheme of the world it is. But in my newly inspired and awakened creative mind, I am constantly seeing things that catch my attention and give me ideas.

So what else could I do but have a go at creating my own version?!? I got out a fat black marker and some decent paper and started creating the base pattern. It was so enjoyable to have freedom in where I created the shapes and blocks, colouring them in and fitting them in together. I almost wished I had used a larger piece of paper so I could have kept on going for longer.

Here is the base pattern:

On its own, the base pattern is not too exciting. As this is just an experiment, I didn’t worry too much about having perfectly straight lines or round circles. I just went with what I felt like which was quite freeing because normally I am all about the straight lines!

I cut it up into (roughly) even squares by measuring on the back and cutting with scissors. I had to discard a strip at the end that didn’t quite fit into squares. If I was going to do this a lot more, then I might invest in a proper paper cutter to get better straight lines.

I absolutely loved the resulting squares. Each one is unique and fascinating on its own. They are so much more interesting as individual squares. Some remind me of giraffe markings, and others of maps, and others of sixties dress patterns. I feel like each square has its own little story to tell. Here they are just scattered together:

It took me a while to put them back together into one shape because I wanted to ensure that pieces were not too alike next to each other and they could still be seen as distinct squares as part of the whole:

I did not stick them together at this point, so they are not perfectly aligned, but still I like the result. I think if I were to do this again I would have more white space between the shapes to give more definition and variety in the individual squares.

The squares are so captivating to me on their own, that I decided to make a second composition of them but with space in between. I feel like this gives the squares more of their own identity, and as a viewer you can recognise their individuality much better:

I’m going to spend some more time thinking about this piece, and playing with it. I think I’m going to mount them on a larger high density paper with space in between, where I can measure and get the squares straight and even. Or maybe I will keep them being a bit wonky? I haven’t decided yet but I’m going to enjoy experimenting with this idea.

Who am I kidding. I know I’m going to spend hours lining those things up in neat rows. I’m already planning it in the patterns in my head!