My fascination with tessellations began when I saw the green mo'o (gecko) mural on McCully. At this point I was already making seamless textile patterns as a hobby. Each time I drove down McCully, I admired it (safely) while thinking how in the world did they create that gecko shape so it interlocks so seamlessly?

This question lead me down the rabbit hole of M.C. Escher's magnificent world of tessellating art. I learned that you have to first start with repeating shapes that fit together seamlessly such as regular triangles, squares, rectangles and hexagons. Then, if you add mass to one side, you have to take out the exact same shape from another side. 

It took me many tries to get the shape I wanted. After creating the shape, I interlocked them all together. It looked cool but also extremely busy. A lot of M.C. Escher's art also plays with negative space. So I decided to remove mo'os randomly to create that space, and was liking it...

Mo'os are called Yamori 家守 in Japanese. It literally translates to "house protector." Mo'os are believed to offer protection in both Japanese and Hawaiian cultures. In our household, we always greet our resident mo'os. Ther's a big black one (Samson) and a big green one (Gabriel) that we see all the time, along with what I think are their kids. But I digress...

I've also always loved the Ichimatsu pattern - the universal, checker board pattern loved by so many cultures around the world. In Japan, it was made popular by an Edo-period Kabuki actor named Sanogawa Ichimatsu. Ichimatsu pattern represents prosperity and enduring protection.  So, I added it in the background, because - why not? I think it adds kind of a cool street vibe. 

For the reverse, I chose a neutral sand colored palette. I thought it was a nice contrast to the stark black/sand side. 

I'm very happy with this towel design. I think it's super unique an also fun. It required a lot of trial & error, and technical steps to create the tessellating mo'o. I love it. Can't wait for my kids to use it at practice!