The British Art Medal Society, commissioned medal, Time Spent, no doubt has its roots in a childhood spent in the Derbyshire Peak District, with its wind-wuthered halls and hauntings, quarter days, harvest and Queens of the May.
One of my earlier memories recalls the decoration of mud pies with dandelion flowers.
So, what of the dandelion; it is a tenacious presence, an inhabitant of waysides, its bright yellow flowers track the sun during the day, and later fine filaments create an ethereal orb of seed parachutes, translucent, like the full moon in a blue-day sky; the shepherd’s clock.
The obverse side of the medal shows the seed-head once the seeds have gone, the surface impressed with the patterning of the Fibonacci sequence of the growth spiral; the reverse side has a concave hemi-sphere, positioned slightly off-centre to acknowledge the growth towards the direction of light, (phototropism).
Within the golden sun-bowl bowl the time-shadow of the sun passes, while the irregular edge reaches out into dark space, we can ask again, what time is it Mr Wolf, and recall our games of childhood; ask again now, in this era of climate crisis, what time is it, and we will do well to reflect on….
Time Spent
