This month much of my time has been focused on creating ‘bespoke’ work for my clients. The dictionary definition of ‘bespoke’ is when something is made for a particular customer fulfilling a brief that they have requested. Hence it can be a bespoke scarf, bag, cushion or lantern. I am in essence producing something that is unique, made to measure and hand crafted. Of course it has to be beautiful, an individual item and very special.

You may well ask, why would you ask me to make a bespoke scarf when you can simply pick a scarf ‘off the shelf’ from many retail outlets? There are a variety of reasons that my clients give me for why they want something ‘bespoke’ rather than a ‘mass produced’ item that everyone else can buy too.

What I am grateful for?

This month my thoughts have centered on gratitude. As many of you might know I spent many years working as an accountant and then teaching accountancy, but I am extremely grateful and feel very fortunate to now be spending my days pursuing a creative career.

I am especially grateful to my clients who I am able to help, and I appreciate how much support they have given me over the last two and half years since I started my business.

More than anything, I love to help my clients find a perfect gift to present to their loved ones. It demonstrates that they have taken care in finding something unique and bespoke just for them. The fact that my scarves are not mass-produced and many are one-off designs is important to them and they can be re- assured that the silk is sourced from UK mills and that all of my designs are digitally printed locally in Nottingham.

This month I was able to help several clients with unique but affordable gifts. For instance, I helped a young lady called Arpita to solve a wedding gift quandary as she was uncertain about what to give. We came up with an original set of silk pocket squares for the men and corresponding neck scarves for their partners. She was so pleased to be able to take them with her back to her home-town in India and give something beautiful and British to her family.

This seems like a bit of a strange question to ask but it was precisely what someone asked at my last Open Studio.

To be honest, I am naturally drawn to them and take a lot of inspiration from them as do a lot of other artists and designers

Purely from a scientific view the bright colours and sweet fragrance of flowers also serve an essential purpose. They can feed insects, birds, animals and humans: provide natural medicines for humans and some animals. They help in a plant’s reproduction by enticing outside pollinators such as bees.

In fact, without flowers, plants would merely be green and the world would be a much duller place! They also play a significant role in our lives. Romantically they have been a symbol of love for centuries. We give them to those important to us, on birthdays, weddings and in celebrating births. Even at funerals they give us solace at a time of grief.

Throughout our lives flowers have a continual presence. Flowers are of course the subject matter for a lot of my textile designs as they are a dominant feature in much of surface patterns for women’s attire.

As students we were told that we might as well learn to love and design with flowers especially if we are going to specialise in designing for women’s clothing.

For budding textile designers there seemed no escape from the dreaded floral!

As many of you know, I adore creating beautiful designs using my own photography, drawing and paintings. When I am designing, I think very deeply about why I do what I do and especially why you would want to buy one of MY scarves rather than anyone else’s. Whilst thinking about possible answers to this, I wondered if it is to do with my BRAND and then thought “what is actually meant by a BRAND anyway” and is it really that important?

This month in particular, my thoughts have centred around my brand and I have taken part in The Brand Stylist (aka Fiona Humberston’s) challenge on Instagram,  #mybrilliantbrand.

I managed to complete the ten-day challenge, which started on day one by asking what I do and what I am most passionate about?  This is, of course, very easy to answer for me! I paint, I draw and take photographs, then I use my artistic skills to combine these to create a design. My designs are printed on silk here in Nottingham, where I live, and my printer ensures that the silk has been sourced from UK mills. I feel very strongly about sourcing products locally and try and buy whatever I use as locally as possible.

All of my life I had wanted to do something creative and I am finally allowed to pursue that dream and passion. I feel very grateful and extremely lucky to be doing what I love.

What do you consider to be beautiful? Throughout history, the definition of beauty has changed but there have always been constants too – just think of a Greek statue, Roman Gods and Goddesses or the statue of David.  These are all still considered to be beautiful to this day.

As William Morris said “have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. He was instrumental in changing attitudes towards beauty by saying you cannot just say that’s a lovely thing, it has to be used for something too.  He once caused major controversy by describing a cow barn as beautiful and as important as a cathedral, because it celebrated how a building worked rather than just how it looked.

This resonates deeply with me and the scarves that I design as they are both functional – keeping your neck warm – but also are ‘beautiful objects’ in their own right, whether used to accessorise other clothing or worn as a statement piece.

 The dictionary definition of beauty is a combination of all the qualities of a person or thing that delights the senses and mind. It gives us intense pleasure or deep satisfaction and this sensory experience could be from a combination of the shape, colour or sound, or touch but most importantly from a personal perspective, from a meaningful pattern or design.

In my final blog of 2018, I wanted to look back on the year and say a heartfelt “thank you” to all of those who have supported me.

The year began with Top Drawer at Kensington Olympia with Design Nation, which was my first time showcasing at this event. Thank you to everyone who visited me especially Carl Rodrigues. It proved to be a successful show for me as I received an order for my new Harry Wheatcroft scarves from The Guinness Gallery in Dublin as well as other scarf sales.

I then started preparing for my spring Open Studio in March, but this was stifled a little by the ‘Beast from the East’.  Despite this, we carried on and the event was a success.  I also had my first photo shoot with Sam Appa in March, showcasing my new collections for my website with her brilliant photography.

I held my second Open Studio in June (this time we had a heat wave!) and over 50 people attended this.  My first blog was written in July and it really took me out of my comfort zone as I’m not a natural blogger but I think I am getting better with practice!