This is one of our office reference books bought by Ros in a charity shop. It’s a brilliant, poetic ode to colour from the incredibly creative artist / stage designer / filmmaker Derek Jarman. He was dying of HIV-related illnesses and going blind at the time of penning it, which is extraordinary given the book’s subject. I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but with chapters such as Grey Matter, Purple Passage and Shadow Is the Queen of Colour, it’s lovely to dip into for inspiration.

I have driven up beside the place where I believe he wrote it – his former Dungeness home Prospect Cottage, famed for its black timber exterior, bright yellow windows and shingle garden. And, of course, as the inspiration behind my black shed.*

The side of it is inscribed in an excerpt from John Donne’s poem, The Sun Rising. My shed, sadly, is not.

Other than my gleaned understanding that Derek Jarman was a true creative soul, I only really know a handful of facts about him, including that he was a gay rights activist, a friend of Tilda Swinton (he directed her) and that he directed music videos for The Smiths and the Pet Shop Boys in addition to his films. I’m hoping to learn a lot more at this exhibition at his alma mater King’s College, which marks the 20th Anniversary of his death. Dipping inside his life and works, it includes the notebooks that he kept during his film and writing projects – something I’ll be making a beeline for.

Above is a photo of the man himself shot in 1968. Or, to my eye, the potential inspiration behind Ros’s next fancy dress costume.

Derek Jarman – Pandemonium Exhibition is open now until 9 March.

 *Ok maybe not ‘famous’ for that.