Christmas and New Year Greetings

For many people around the world, this is a very special time of year.  Perhaps for ecclesiastical reasons but for many, the simple pleasures of community gatherings, reconnecting with loved ones, festive lights and the comfort and joy of festive rituals.

I love this time of year.  I am often asked if attending so many Christmas events in the months ahead of the week itself somehow diminishes the festive spirit, but I can genuinely say that it doesn’t – I love the sense of anticipation, the myriad of traditions, and relish how garlands and lights successfully enhance the intense winter evenings.

St Francis of Assisi was the pioneer of the nativity scene, on Christmas Eve in 1223, an image recreated by Giotto (above) in 1304, and that is now so familiar to us all.   Set in a cave, St Francis envisioned that the performers, together with an ox and ass, could bring focus to the birth of Christ.   Could those participants, in that first live nativity scene, ever have foreseen or understood the scale of the legacy they were creating?  Generations of communities, families, schools and artists who would recreate the essence of what St Francis began?   Whilst nativity plays over the years have expanded beyond the original message – with lobsters and spiders alongside the ox and ass! – it remains a wonderful and clear example of how generations have come together for centuries to successfully provide positive visual offerings in a shared space for their community.  The chain of communication being reimagined and recreated.

Within etymology, the tantalising world of word derivatives, the word create derives from classical Latin, creāt, from creāre to procreate, to beget, to give birth, to bring into being, to bring about, to appoint.  Comparisons with other languages from 11th to early 14th centuries, sees the Anglo-Norman reference creer, crier, to create from nothing, to produce or make, to appoint or nominate someone to a role, the Spanish and Portuguese criar, to bring up, to raise, and the 13th century Italian creare.  It was a word often associated with the divine and natural agency.

As you celebrate and recreate your own much loved traditions in these festive midwinter days, I hope you have time to rest and refresh yourself as well.  In tribute to the early definition of create, perhaps nominate someone else in your household to a role!

During 2024, it has been fabulous to meet and reconnect with so many people around the country at fairs and shows, and I remain so grateful to each and every one of you for your support.  Working alongside a wonderful team at the Blue & White Company, who collectively have also shown so much creativity, passion, kindness and love, is something I also endlessly appreciate.  None of this would be possible without any of you, and your engagement and shared love of blue and white inspires me towards the new collections that I am already starting to create for 2025.

Happy holidays everyone, merry Christmas and my best wishes for a joyful and healthy New Year.

💙

Juliet

 

 

 

“Creativity is contagious, pass it on”

Albert Einstein