When I just moved back to Russia I faced a problem of scarce storage space for some of my everyday junk. For everything, really, but the tiny desk I got for myself absolutely positively could not afford to have a pile of make-up products, hair accessories and sunglasses simply resting on it collecting dust. The simplest solution was soon found in IKEA (yes, again), with this lovely mini-chest of drawers made of untreated wood. Not only it takes up relatively little space on my desk, but it also fits all the small junk just fine. Another good thing about it is that you can re-arrange the six drawers whenever and however you like or need.
There was only one problem: how on Earth was I going to give it a custom design?
Not because I couldn't, no. But there were simply too many options. Should I make random doodles with a sharpie hoping they would make a nice pattern? Should I imprint newspapers on them? Should I cite something? Colour-block? Draw something to show what's inside? And many other creative things one can think of doing with six facings of untreated wood. It all was getting a bit too overwhelming, so I shelved the whole idea of doing anything with them at all.
That was until a few days back, when my post-New-Year's-Eve-celebration brain had a sudden epiphany – Islamic geometry!
Having visited the North of India a few months back, where one can see a strong influence of the muslim Mughal Empire, particularly in architecture (including such wonder as Taj Mahal), I finally saw first-hand the fascinating Islamic art with its lacy masonry, architectural grandeur and simple yet at the same time very elaborate geometric patterns. The latter probably had the strongest effect on me. My eyes would find it hard to rest, following the narrow lines around the tiling only to find that those lines are infinite. It was somewhat of a unifying dance of simplest geometric shapes, skilfully combined together to form something much grander. Breathtaking.
So I thought, what could possibly stop me from making six little replicas of Islamic tiling like those of Taj Mahal, Alhambra, and many others, on the facings of the drawers? The fact that I have never made one pattern like that maybe? No problem at all – with a little help from Pinterest, arming myself with a pair of compasses, a triangular ruler and enough pencils, I began 'drafting' the patterns on paper.
My idea is to draw a different style on each of the six facings, plus have the top surface as well as the sides covered in a more simplistic design (possibly including the arabesque border, which is the name for a floral ornament). I am still not sure what I want to do with it in terms of colours, but I'm sure some ideas will come along the way.
Not to leave you empty-handed in terms of pictures, here are some snaps of my current progress on the design of the first (medium-sized) drawer:
This project is a massive amount of work, so I probably won't be able to maintain a certain frequency with which I'll be putting up the following Parts. However, I can promise you that I won't drop this project since I got way too into it already :) Anyway, in Part 2 I was planning to talk a little bit more about the designs and their meanings, and show you the complete six facings pre-colour, so stay tuned for more!
There was only one problem: how on Earth was I going to give it a custom design?
Not because I couldn't, no. But there were simply too many options. Should I make random doodles with a sharpie hoping they would make a nice pattern? Should I imprint newspapers on them? Should I cite something? Colour-block? Draw something to show what's inside? And many other creative things one can think of doing with six facings of untreated wood. It all was getting a bit too overwhelming, so I shelved the whole idea of doing anything with them at all.
That was until a few days back, when my post-New-Year's-Eve-celebration brain had a sudden epiphany – Islamic geometry!
Having visited the North of India a few months back, where one can see a strong influence of the muslim Mughal Empire, particularly in architecture (including such wonder as Taj Mahal), I finally saw first-hand the fascinating Islamic art with its lacy masonry, architectural grandeur and simple yet at the same time very elaborate geometric patterns. The latter probably had the strongest effect on me. My eyes would find it hard to rest, following the narrow lines around the tiling only to find that those lines are infinite. It was somewhat of a unifying dance of simplest geometric shapes, skilfully combined together to form something much grander. Breathtaking.
So I thought, what could possibly stop me from making six little replicas of Islamic tiling like those of Taj Mahal, Alhambra, and many others, on the facings of the drawers? The fact that I have never made one pattern like that maybe? No problem at all – with a little help from Pinterest, arming myself with a pair of compasses, a triangular ruler and enough pencils, I began 'drafting' the patterns on paper.
My idea is to draw a different style on each of the six facings, plus have the top surface as well as the sides covered in a more simplistic design (possibly including the arabesque border, which is the name for a floral ornament). I am still not sure what I want to do with it in terms of colours, but I'm sure some ideas will come along the way.
Not to leave you empty-handed in terms of pictures, here are some snaps of my current progress on the design of the first (medium-sized) drawer:
 |
| 12-point circular pattern |
 |
| Beginning to transfer the outline on the drawer facing. Same pattern in the background |
 |
| Finished outline |
This project is a massive amount of work, so I probably won't be able to maintain a certain frequency with which I'll be putting up the following Parts. However, I can promise you that I won't drop this project since I got way too into it already :) Anyway, in Part 2 I was planning to talk a little bit more about the designs and their meanings, and show you the complete six facings pre-colour, so stay tuned for more!
E.V.
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