It's bluebell season here in Sussex, and the moment to introduce our
new print in honour of this beautiful wildflower.
A woodland swim in their heady scent is a vanishingly fleet treat at this time of the year - a couple of weeks at most when they are in full force, as Spring hits its zenith, and the pleasures of Summer are not so far away.
These words by author Graham Joyce in Some Kind of Fairytale capture the experience of being in a bluebell wood beautifully:
The bluebells made such a pool that the earth had become like water, and all the trees and bushes seemed to have grown out of the water. And the sky above seemed to have fallen down on to the earth floor; and I didn’t know if the sky was the earth or the earth was water. I had been turned upside down.
Bluebells are one of Nature's everyday miracles, one moment only damp leaves and moss, the next, an ocean of sweet blue. Perhaps that's why Paul McCartney chose to conjure them for his wife Linda in her last moments:
Finally I said to her: "You're up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion; it's a fine spring day, we're riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear blue." I had barely got to the end of the sentence when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away.
In the language of flowers, the bluebell is a symbol of humility, constancy, gratitude and everlasting love. Apparently, if you can turn a bluebell flower inside-out without tearing it, you will win the one you love, and if you wear a wreath of them around your neck, you can only speak the truth.
Countless folk tales feature this flower, many invoking dark fairy magic. Bluebell woods are believed to be intricately woven with fairy enchantments, used by these mischievous creatures to trap humans. Some believe that if you pick a wild bluebell, you'll be led astray by the fairies, wandering lost forevermore.
Find a place for this hand-painted print in your home and enjoy them all year!
Bluebells is the latest in our collection of hand-coloured art prints, created in an edition of 100, each one letterpress printed from an original dip pen and ink drawing, individually hand-painted and signed in pencil.
Something Blue
A few covetable things in one of our favourite hues...
Yves Klein blue for your eyes.
There are some perks of this job, and one of them was a recent project with Net-a-Porter. Part of my fee was in credit, and I found these incredible trousers in their sale. It felt pretty extravagant, but they are the Platonic ideal of trouser perfection and I'll wear them forever (once I've taken them up 5 inches!)
No one feels blue if you say thank you...
If you're seeking out bluebells, here's a list of good places to find them in the UK, and wherever you are, I hope the sun shines, and you get a moment to yourself this week to sit and write a note to someone you love.
Explore our collection of hand-coloured art prints here.
