Everybody - The earth we share - Maya Angelou - Tea Towel

Everybody is my first, and it certainly won’t be my last, attempt to express the extraordinary words of Maya Angelou. A great woman. ‘We need joy as we need air. We need love as we need water. We need each other as we need the earth we share’.

My interpretation of these words is very much about the shared experience of absolutes. what is humanity without joy, love and each other. This is represented by the white dove, traditionally across many cultures an icon of peace, the ring is completed by two other doves for all inclusivity.

A world of nature, a world of colour and a world for everybody. In this work there are the flowers and ornament from the Arts and Crafts of William Morris, the hay meadow flowers and wildlife of the Peak District and the UK’s National Parks enveloped in the eternal knot of timelessness.

Outside the protection of this ring lie the vulnerable and brave elements of ourselves and of nature. Headlined by the Lion for strength and courage and the Unicorn for purity, strength and power. It uses the full colours of all our lives, something I call the ‘colours of experience’ and illustrates our homes with a castle.

Central to the art is a small shield of kindness, quietly understated.