I love the word and idea of violets. I don’t have any specific associations with the flower, but for some reason, the name evokes a very strong feeling in me. I can’t really explain it—there’s some mystical quality to it. Violets. Maybe I’m getting this association from literature, or movies, or something, but violets seem rare and precious, and yet, when I was looking at pictures of the flower for the most recent addition to my Natural Patterns Alphabet, these flowers seemed pretty common.
It is always amazing to me how a word can carry this entire other connotation. We have infused these seemingly random sounds with very specific meanings, both as a culture and personally. Violets connote to me a rare, delicate, unique, richness. I feel like this quality is almost inherent in the word, but I know that it’s my mind at work, and millions of minds before me.
And then again, perhaps you have a completely different association with violets—maybe your mean 2nd grade teacher (the one who made you stay after school again and again) loved violets, and so you hate them by default. The wonders of language! It’s very personal, and yet it has to be universal enough so we are actually able to communicate with each other.
Here’s my drawing:
“Violets,” 5 x 5 inches, pen and ink, available in my shop, or in my Natural Patterns Alphabet section
When I hear violet, I think of intensity, something seductive. Then I try to think of where this association comes from. Maybe from the word “ultraviolet” that frequently shows up in my work. I don’t know, but it is interesting to think about.