From 19th Century Prints to Modern Light: The Story of the Thistle Lantern.

There’s an old joke that asks: What do you get when you cross a French person with a Scottish person? The answer is a Canadian.

My family is true to form with a bit of Irish thrown i.  Growing up, there was never a time when my sister and I didn’t own kilts—we were even given a custom one for Christmas ( I was around 17).  my birth-name is Waugh but Ive never been fond of that tartan so I chose my school colors. Janice chose the MacKenzie, and she did, in fact, amrry a MacKenzie a good ten years later. 

As Robbie Burns Day approached during a cold January, I found myself wanting something special for the table. I may not know how to make a traditional haggis (a good stew and boozy dessert is fine by me), but I wanted to create something beautiful to for the table.

The Inspiration: Arts & Crafts Meets the Highlands

Who knew, there's a world of thistles. I’ve always been drawn to the Arts and Crafts movement—the symmetry, the stylized interpretation of nature, and that very specific era of design. William Morris, the pre-raphaelites.....

Long after the thistle I drew on this era  again for with my Kelmscott lantern, thats another story - did we talk about my fireplace surround? Ok, two stories.  For this lantern, I wanted the head of the thistle to have that "arts and crafts" feeling but for the leaves I wanted something that felt strong and authentically Scottish. That drove the inspiration for the head of the thistle and those iconic, symmetrical, spiky leaves.

Click to zoom

The Challenge: "Weaving" Tartan from Light

Once I was happy with the thistle I needed to get more light out.  Its a lantern, and I wanted it to burn brightly.  I decided to flank the thistle with tartan but that turned into a real "head-scratcher" . Most tartans rely on a rich palette of colors. In my work, I don’t have color—I only have light, or no light..... that's it.

Creating a repeating pattern that truly "read" as tartan using only wood and light took forever. Initially, I wrapped the entire lantern in it, but the effect was a bit overwhelming behind the glow of the main thistle. By "easing off" the pattern and adding some smaller thistle motifs at the back, the design finally began to sing.

I wasn't thinking about a large version

What started as a Small and Medium design turned out to be quite popular. The Large lantern actually features three thistles; the scale of the glass can really handle the broader design and the intricate tartan lattice.

The thistle desgn really works, whether it’s crafted in Oak, Walnut, or Maple.  I’m partial to the Oak and Walnut myself, but the choice really depends on where the lantern is going to be. Dark corner? Light wood.  Bright spot? dark wood.

A Look Ahead

This lantern may have had its origin  Robbie Burns Day..... and maybe we'll touch on his poetry another time, but i do hope you will enjoy your lantern year 'round.

You may have noticed the  blue and white velvet pillow in the top photo—the Cross of St. Andrews. That is part of the Alba Home Collection being developed by my friend, Louise. She’s working on her website now, I'll share the link with you soon.

A Look Ahead

This lantern is such a beautiful reminder of Robbie Burns and his poetry (perhaps I’ll dive more into his verses in a later post!).

You may have noticed the stunning blue velvet pillow in the photos—the Cross of St. Andrews. That is part of the Alba Home Collection being developed by my talented friend, Louise. She’s working on her website now, and I can’t wait to share the links with you soon.

In the meantime, I hope this lantern brings as much warmth to your home as it has to mine.

Explore the Full Thistle Lantern Collection