Silk Waistcoat and Tie, Arabesque pattern, 2025.

This art work was done in connection with the Hoole Baptist Church Creative Lite group, regarding the theme of the names of God.

The name of God that I chose for this theme was Elohim, which approximately translated means, ‘Strong Creator God’, ‘God Mighty Creator’, ‘God Strong One’, from the Genesis account of Creation as written in the Bible. Here ‘El’ is translated God and ‘im’ is the plural suffix, God is one yet at the same time is plural, a reference to the Trinity.

Overall this Arabesque pattern is made up of two stylised flowers, each with three leaves, three thorns and seven flower heads. The two flowers and a seed form three parts. The two blue ribbons are split into two with three dashes each, forming three parts. This arrangement is to show God and His creation, that this is the third day of creation when He creates the vegetation, in this case flowers and also to reveal the triune nature of God with His seven characteristics reflected in His creation.

The flowers are celebrating that they have just been made, there is movement reflecting joyous dancing, the two flowers are Waltzing with the 1-2-3 beat of the Waltz shown by the yellow seeds. The ribbon is a symbol for dancing and celebration and has three parts with three dashes, again showing the third day of creation and the Trinity. The three primary colours also reflect the above. I also wanted to show the unseen underlying biological structure and the unseen underlying spiritual nature which is illustrated by the patterns formed by the blank spaces in the overall design.

I also wanted to show my interest and training in ceramics which is shown by the three dashes. The dashes are on a white background and are a reference to British seventeen and eighteen century Chargers, a Charger being a large earthenware ceramic plate with the rim decorated with blue dashes.

As I am interested in trains and railways, I also wanted to show that interest. Therefore the shape of the yellow seeds is a lozenge shape and is a reference to British Railways 1948 design of railway station name boards, called Totems.

The silk fabric was supplied by and printed on by Contrado and the waistcoat and tie were made by Harris & Howard Bespoke Tailors.