The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
A TARTAN FOR A MUM
Tartan designer Steve Sim has created a beautiful weave to remember his mum by. Nora McElhone spoke to him about the heartfelt tribute
Tucked away in his studio in Arbroath, Steve Sim has been designing striking modern tartans for more than 10 years. With a strong focus on his local and Scottish heritage, he loves to incorporate symbols and motifs into his work. In his most personal project to date, the designer, 52, has used his skill to come up with a design to commemorate his much-loved mother, the well-known local artist Sheena Christie, who died on May 23, aged 77.
The beautiful new weave, which features purple, lilac and yellow, has been designed, licensed and produced in time to feature in Sheena’s funeral service.
Born in 1945 the daughter of a farm labourer and domestic worker, Sheena and her family had moved where the work took her father before settling at March of Lunan Cottages near Arbroath.
Sheena’s mum had always remarked that her daughter “was born with a paintbrush in her hand.” Despite coming from a very humble background and with no obvious artistic influence in the family, she became a talented painter of portraits, landscapes and pet portraits.
Steve believes that her art teacher Russell Black was a hugely positive influence on Sheena’s development of her talent, and years later on his own artistic journey, when he taught Steve to draw and paint.
ART IN THE GENES
After school, circumstances didn’t allow Sheena to follow her dream of going on to art college so she took a job in Woolworths in Arbroath as a clerkess before leaving to become a full-time mum.
All the while, she was painting.
“She was prolific,” says Steve, “she was painting and giving work away to family and friends.”
She also loved to explore religious subjects and imagery, a strong reflection of her own faith, and was well-known for her detailed depictions of local landscapes, seascapes and historical scenes.
“More and more people came to her to ask her to paint portraits and pet portraits and she decided to take on a studio in The Cellars in Arbroath before opening her own shop.”
Although Steve recalls Sheena was quite entrepreneurial he says: “What was special about my mum was although she didn’t become a really big well-known name, she was a humble artist for the people. She painted special paintings, whether that was a pet, a family home or she would paint a family member who had passed away.”
The shop, Christie’s, along with Sheena’s art became something of an institution in Arbroath until she retired in February 2020. Her paintings now hang on walls all over Scotland and around the world. One of the artist’s proudest moments was getting permission from Clarence House to paint a portrait of the Queen Mother for Arbroath Infirmary after an original work signed by the royal was stolen in 1999. Sheena’s work still hangs in the hospital today.
Sheena had two sons, Paul, who sadly died several years ago and Steve, who has inherited his mother’s flair for art and design. Steve excelled at art at school under the tutelage of Russell Black and went on to paint pet portraits and work in graphic design.
ORIGINAL TARTANS
He became inspired to try his hand at tartan design when he first became aware that it was possible to create original tartans and have them ratified by the Scottish Register of Tartans.
His first designs were focused on his love for his local town and for Scotland, with Arbroath’s red lichtie the symbol he integrated into his first tartan.
Steve says: “I thought maybe I could create a tartan for my home town.”
He decided to investigate the story behind the famous Arbroath lichtie symbol. “It was a wee red lamp that hung in a harbour chapel – where the fishermen used to pray before they went to sea,” he explains.
“I used that visual imagery of a red, glowing light and created the tartan. It went live on social media and everybody wanted it! The community council officially adopted it as their tartan.”
Other designs soon followed, with the Bell Rock Lighthouse 200th anniversary weave incorporating red and white to represent the flashing lights of the original lighthouse, blues and blacks of the North Sea and solid black to commemorate the lives lost at sea and during the construction of the lighthouse.
“I was so pleased when this tartan was approved by the Northern Lighthouse Board – they adopted it as their official tartan in 2012,” he says.
More recently, Steve and his father Bill supported Sheena as her health started to decline and she battled with a heart problem and dementia. Steve knew that he wanted to do something special as a tribute to his mum and that something would be creating a tartan especially for her.
He started out by looking at important dates and numbers in his and his mum’s
lives, which he would incorporate into the threadcount of the fabric. “So I included the age that she became a mother, 24, the year I was born, 1969 and my age now, 52,” he says.
When it came to the colours he would choose, Sheena’s favourite purples and lilacs had to feature.
“When I knew my mum was leaving me it dawned on me I needed to do a tartan for her – it was a kind of therapy for me. I went to visit her that day and I took my notepad and some colour swatches.”
THE HUMBLE DAFFODIL
Steve told her that he was going to design a tartan for her and asked what colours she would like included in it. “She pointed to a humble bunch of daffodils,” recalls the designer, “I immediately thought there’s meant to be yellow in it.”
His design began to come together with the colour and shape of the daffodil incorporated along with purple and lilac, where these colours blend, shades of green also revealed themselves.
“When I got the colours right I could see a daffodil – where the yellow crosses the purple you get the khaki of the withered flowers.”
The flower took on even more significance for Steve and his father when they looked back at photographs taken 50 years ago of the family among a glade of daffodils opposite Arbroath Infirmary.
When he went to find some daffodils, the season was coming to an end and he only
found one still in bloom – in that same spot opposite the hospital where they had been captured on camera 50 years on.
“It is the fastest tartan I have ever done,” says Steve, who was able to get his design
signed off by the most important person, “I printed it out on my fine art printer and took it in to show her and she approved it!” he says proudly.
A lot of hard work goes into the registration of each new tartan, with the design sent for approval by the keeper of tartans – “It has to meet the requirements of the committee and there are quite strict rules about what you can name the tartans.”
Steve sees this newest tartan as a tribute not just to his own dear mum but to mothers everywhere, and he refers to it as The Mother’s Tartan. The official registered name will be the Sheena Christie Commemorative tartan but he hopes it will be enjoyed by everyone, and inspire people to reflect and remember their own mothers.
“I decided this tartan would be a way to remember her and cherish my own mum but also to remind people to cherish the time they have with their own mums and dads. All
humans go through grief and loss.”
IT IS TO CHERISH MY MUM BUT ALSO TO REMIND PEOPLE TO CHERISH THE TIME THEY HAVE WITH THEIR OWN MUMS AND DADS
CHARITY BOOST
Another positive outcome will be that the tartan will support some of the UK charities who research heart conditions and help to develop therapies and treatments for patients suffering from conditions similar to Sheena’s. The tartan can be used commercially under license with donations to a UK heart charity, there are no restrictions for non-commercial use. Please contact Steve regarding use at: steve@ theTartanArtisan.com
Find out more about Steve’s designs at thetartanartisan.com.
Find out more about tartan designs at tartanregister.gov.uk