Petal

Hello readers :)

As it's going to take some time for me to remember (and afford) to order the necessary parts needed to get my images off my old hard drive, I couldn't sit and not blog. So today, I'd like to talk about Petal.

During the night, probably when I should have been sleeping, I kept thinking about Hank and Petal. Well, mainly Petal to be honest. I’ve been scouring catalogues and images of adorable stuffed owls, kids toys and some gift boutiques looking for ideas. At last, I found one I could adapt to create my own personal Petal.

After a trip to Lincraft to purchase some plain, white cotton fabric yesterday, today I plan to start drawing up a pattern and hopefully, putting my vision into reality. Using plain cotton is a safe choice as it will allow me to make several owls cheaply until I come to one that I feel really works. From there, I can decide on the colours that will best suit my new creation. And there lies the challenge.

You see, Petal is a delicate creature. Her personality at times has components of Eeyore, the donkey from Winnie the Pooh, in that she often looks sad and forlorn. And she certainly can be a little timid too. But her reckless, crazy friend Hank, has a wonderful way of sparking life and joy in her expression. He can even rouse a soft giggle from Petal at times too! But sometimes, Hank does cause her concern, when her countenance droops again, and she displays those worried eyes.

Petal enjoys nothing more than sitting in her tree, keeping herself to herself, watching all the busyness of life below from the safety of her perch. But Hank, who spotted Petal one day when he was on one of his many adventures, took it upon himself to befriend this lonely tree dweller and amaze her with his antics. Secretly, Petal adores her new-found friend, and really couldn't imagine life without him.

Choosing colours for Petal must reflect her personality. The original purple used was on one hand a quick choice used to create balance and extra colour needed for my mural project, and it did seem to suit her worried expression. Sometimes, a big commotion can cause concern for Petal, and she views the scene with her shy, observant eyes. Even though my mural project was a joyous, colourful and happy scene, Petal instantly had a personality for me, and I had to convey this through colour and expression.

Once I have made my new prototypes, I will take the next step of experimenting with colours. I see softer shades needed for Petal; greens, purples, perhaps even pinks and possibly greys? She needs to be coloured to reflect who she really is. Patterns aren't out of the question either, because after all, Petal is feminine. But nothing too garish- it's just not her.

I hope you have enjoyed this little post, and like me, look forward to seeing Petal take shape from the original idea below. Until next time, thanks for reading!