The Angels’ Share — A New Limited Edition Print

Happy New Year 😊

...and after a long period of quiet work, I’m finally ready to share something new!

The Angels’ Share fine-art print is now live.

This work is inspired by Scotch whisky — its recorded origins in 1494 — and the small, mysterious loss that occurs as whisky matures in oak casks. The 2% that rises unseen each year, long known as the angels’ share.

But the story behind this piece stretches back much further than the print itself.

 

 

 

 

 

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Where it really began

The Angels’ Share tartan was designed almost ten years ago, in 2016.

At the time, I was thinking deeply about whisky — not just the drink, but the process. The chemistry. The evaporation. The way light moves through liquid in a glass. I’d had a few drams while working on the design, and I remember feeling lifted, reflective, and inspired.

What I wanted to capture was that ethereal glow — the spark you see when whisky catches the light — and the invisible journey the spirit takes as it breathes through oak over time.

That angelic quality, that sense of illumination, was part of the intent from the beginning.

What wasn’t intentional was what came later.

 

 

 

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The angel I didn’t design

After the tartan was designed, something unexpected emerged.

Stepping back from the geometry, I began to notice that a distinct, symmetrical form appeared within the sett — a shape that, to my eye, reads unmistakably as an angel. Not illustrated. Not placed there deliberately. But revealed by the structure itself.

That realisation stayed with me for years.

The tartan was woven twice over that time, most recently in authentic 16oz Lochcarron Strome, pure Scottish wool. And it lived its life as cloth.

Until a moment much later brought everything together.

 

 

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The pivot

While working directly with the cloth more recently — fringing it by hand (for another idea I have in mind… and for another day) — I couldn’t help but notice the light shifting across the tartan.

One particular pivot caught it in a way that stopped me in my tracks. I took a closer look. Then felt compelled to take some photographs — high-resolution images. I was particularly interested in that single pivot.

That pivot became the origin of the artwork.

It felt as though something I’d always known was there was finally asking to be shared — not as cloth, but as art. Upscaled. Slowed down. Given space to breathe.

 

Was that an angel?

Was it light from somewhere else?

I don’t know.

I only know I felt compelled to follow it.

 

 

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From tartan to fine art

The artwork you see now is a fine-art photographic print of real woven tartan, captured on the bias so that light moves across the threads.

As the light shifts, forms appear and soften again. Some people see wings. Some see guardians. Some simply see glow, depth, and movement.

 

For me, the geometric angel has always been there.

Whether it becomes something more is for each viewer to decide.

 

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The story in the weave

The tartan carries the whisky story in precise ways:

• 40 amber threads reflect the legal minimum of 40% ABV

• Twin ochre lines trace the annual evaporation — the angels’ share

• Seven colours follow the journey: water, fire, earth, grain, fermentation, oak, and light

These choices sit quietly inside the structure, much like the spirit sits quietly inside the cask.

 

 

 

 

 

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The poem

When I began preparing this work for release, the historic record kept returning to my mind — the 1494 Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, with that famous line:

 

“To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, VIII bolls of malt to make aquavitae.”

 

I wanted that moment honoured — but it needed more heart than a single line could hold.

That’s where the poem came from.

The short verse printed on the artwork is only the beginning. Each print is accompanied by a separate archival poem sheet that expands the story — from malt and flame, through oak and time, to the presence suggested in the weave.

It felt right to release this work at the start of January, in the season of Burns — when poetry, whisky, and reflection naturally meet.

 

 

 

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The editions

The Angels’ Share is available in two formats:

• A1 Guardians Edition — framed, limited to 149 worldwide

• A2 Edition — limited to 1,494 worldwide

Both are printed on Hahnemühle Bamboo paper, chosen for its warmth and natural tone, which suits the amber and oak hues of the tartan. Each print is numbered, certified, and produced locally (UK, EU, or USA).

 

 

 

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Sharing it

This print exists because something I created years ago asked to be seen differently.

Fine-art printing allows that detail — and that light — to be shared with the world in a way that’s accessible, while also helping support future weaves of the cloth itself.

If you spend time with it, I hope you might see what I see.

And if you see something else entirely, that feels just as right.

 

👉 Explore The Angels’ Share — Limited Edition Prints

Slàinte mhath,
Stevie
The Tartan Artisan®