Amber’s Black Iris design can be found with the other Traditional Arts products at a concession in Selfridges

Sami Rahman speaks to Amber Khokhar from the Traditional School of Arts

In 1993 His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales founded The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts with the aim to support artists who used traditional methods and materials to produce art. Today the school commissions and sells products made by their artists. All the profits are donated to The Prince’s Charities Foundation, which ensures the continuing education of these methods of young people all around the world.

Amber Khokhar is one of the many students who came to the school. In fact it was here that she designed the Black Iris, which can be seen in many of the Traditional Arts products such as the jugs and glasses. Amber explains that the inspiration for the Black Iris came from Jordan’s history. “It was quite an interesting project. I was asked to look at something that would symbolise Jordan and so it was a combination of research and looking at that part of the Middle East. The Black Iris is their national flower, but also there were 13th century tiles that had a very specific dark plum colour. That was something unique to that area. So it was those two aspects that attracted me.”

Having graduated in Design from Central St Martins School of Art, Amber started out as a graphic designer before joining the School of Traditional Arts.

Looking at the exquisite artwork created by Amber it’s easy to see that her inspiration comes from the beauty of nature. “I get very excited about flowers. I’m constantly looking at patterns within the natural world. I think that’s where I’ve found my inspiration from, either a park or a garden. The Sufi teaching also inspires me. Sufi writers and poets that are alive today are who I get most of my inspiration and strength from.”

Currently, Amber is working on a host of projects. “At the moment I’m working on a project with crystal-wear vases, using some of the earlier motifs. There’s also a carpet project doing and I run workshops. I have three parts to my work. I have the work I do with Traditional Arts, my studio work and also the workshops which I run. So it’s a juggle between the three.”