Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee 2022
Spring arrived - with Summer treading on its heels. Only a few weeks ago it was bitingly cold, grey, and the hedges were barely greening up. Now they are exuberant with fresh green leaves in myriad shades. Even the oaks have broken into leaf - a distinctive yellow-green with a hint of pink. In what seems like merely days, verges are swathed in frothy cow parsley and the scent of wild garlic wafts through open windows. The tulips have flowered and faded in a brief homage to the warmth of May like clusters of jewelled lanterns set on fire by the sun. I’ve failed to appreciate them in the past, defining them by the unready and uniform offerings that droop in sadness when bought from a florist’s stall. These tapestried beauties in proud straight-stemmed ranks are so very different. Some are shaped like goblets of ruby glass, others feathered and frilled or with gracefully out-curving petals forming a perfect mathematical arc.
Later in the year the hedgerows grow dark and dusty, painting a deep-coloured border around fields that are themselves still emerald green. The view on descending some of our roads from the high hills can resemble the view from a plane - the glint of light reflecting from a distant vehicle flashes out briefly like a beacon. This patchwork of farms and woodland hides ancient landscapes fought over and farmed for countless generations.
Spring is my favourite time of year, with all the hope-filled anticipation of Summer. I look forward to the longer warmer evenings and the scents of a sun-drenched garden.
It’s just days now until the Platinum Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June. It will be here before we know it, with celebrations planned all over the country. The Queen’s seventy years serving her country deserve a celebration - no other British monarch has reigned so long.
I thought for a long time about creating a scarf to commemorate the occasion - its seemed so fitting, as the Queen almost always wears a square silk scarf in public whenever she is not seen in a fantastic millinery creation.
The design process for me began with that long internal process of considering possibilities and combinations long before I engaged with designing in earnest. For this Jubilee scarf, I used the official Platinum Jubilee logo as the central motif to act as an anchor around which the design revolves. I chose a soft grey as the base colour, with the royal purple as a generous border. The soft grey on fine silk satin has such a shimmer that it gives the appearance of a metallic platinum sheen. Because it was intended as a souvenir scarf, I wanted to make the dates a significant design element - creating a memento or keepsake to be treasured for generations to come. I have framed one of my scarves for display at The Corsham Gallery.
The roses were drawn in a group of three, using the same royal purple, then arranged to form an octagonal wreath. The roses were coloured in white and pink, shaded with a deeper red - none exactly alike. As with all my work, there are elements of symmetry or reflection. The human eye excels at identifying a repeating pattern, so the subtle differences keep the eye engaged, searching for what is alike and what is different, which I believe adds complexity and interest to art.
My long silk scarf ‘Mauve Iris on Dark Blue’ also looks quite regal with the royal purple tones of the iris on a shade of blue that is towards the purple end of the spectrum. If wearing red, white and blue appeals, but being decked out in the Union Jack does not, there’s always the ‘Red and White Tulip on Blue’ which was designed to tone well with denim to dress up a casual look.
All of my scarves are available at The Corsham Gallery for those who prefer to shop in person.
Wishing you a happy and truly memorable Platinum Jubilee weekend.