“White Horses, White Light” is an illustration of the allegorical name for the cresting of waves in the moonlight, inspired by witnessing a violent night-time storm whilst visiting the outer Hebridean islands of Lewis and Harris.

With incredible thundering power that would rival any fleet of Ascot champions, the storm waves crashed against everything in their path; this was both awe inspiring and frightening, and yet simultaneously mesmerisingly beautiful. Counteracting the movement of the water, I used the image of an immovable lighthouse, to represent the indomitable spirit that often radiates from island dwellers, as both lighthouses and islanders have been withstanding the elements for centuries. Like a lighthouse, an island community stands strong no matter what life throws at it, whilst maintaining an unwavering beacon of love and welcome that celebrates its very existence. The resourcefulness and resilience bred by generations of sea bound isolation allows islanders to thrive, not just in spite of, but often because of, their watery surrounds.

I created the base of my hat from buckram, carefully designing and sculpting the ‘waves’ of the brim to flatter and frame the face, whilst capturing their dramatic upward movement and energy. I decided to insert the crown ‘chimney’ all the way through the base on one side, to give the wave extra height and enhance the idea of the lighthouse rock standing firm whilst the wave rose up all around it. Using a mixture of merino rovings, curly locks, and silk tops, I designed and wet felted the upper and lower brim seascapes, the lighthouse rock landscape, and the moonlit sky upper crown. These were blocked and needle felted directly onto the buckram base, with minimal strategic hand-stitching. The lining of merino felt was then blocked and hand-stitched in, with a matching Petersham band and hat elastic.

Note: Entries have been not been edited or proofread to protect the integrity of the maker's original meaning.