In a memorable scene written by Lewis Carrol (January 27, 1832-January 14, 1898) in Alice In Wonderland, Alice comes to a mushroom bigger than herself, and sitting on it is a wise caterpillar smoking a hookah. The Caterpillar questions Alice and she admits to her current identity crisis…
Here is that excerpt from the book:
Who are you?
At last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed Alice in a languid, sleepy voice.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, `I–I hardly know, sir, just at present– at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.’
`What do you mean by that?’ said the Caterpillar sternly. `Explain yourself!’
`I can’t explain MYSELF, I’m afraid, sir’ said Alice, `because I’m not myself, you see.’
`I don’t see,’ said the Caterpillar.
`I’m afraid I can’t put it more clearly,’ Alice replied very politely, `for I can’t understand it myself to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.’
`It isn’t,’ said the Caterpillar.
`Well, perhaps you haven’t found it so yet,’ said Alice; `but when you have to turn into a chrysalis–you will some day, you know–and then after that into a butterfly, I should think you’ll feel it a little queer, won’t you?’
`Not a bit,’ said the Caterpillar.
`Well, perhaps your feelings may be different,’ said Alice; `all I know is, it would feel very queer to ME.’
`You!’ said the Caterpillar contemptuously. `Who are YOU?’
Illustration by Sir John Tenniel | Source: Wikimedia Commons
Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar’s making such VERY short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, `I think, you ought to tell me who YOU are, first.’
`Why?’ said the Caterpillar.
Here was another puzzling question; and as Alice could not think of any good reason, and as the Caterpillar seemed to be in a VERY unpleasant state of mind, she turned away.
`Come back!’ the Caterpillar called after her. `I’ve something important to say!’
This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again.
`Keep your temper,’ said the Caterpillar.
With that wise advice and the uplifting visuals of mushrooms sprouted around in mind, I decided to design this stylish, graphical calendar wallpaper for May 2017.
I wanted the wallpaper to look contemporary with a strong graphical vibe to it. So, I kept the design more abstract than naturalistic. My color choices for the wavy shapes indicate different elements of nature that Mushrooms interact with during their lifetime…Air, Sky, Trees, Leaves, Soil etc.
Here is how my original sketch for the wallpaper looked before I digitized it…
let your May 2017 be taken over by the mysterious elegance of Mushrooms…Have a great month! :)
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