Anniversary

“celebrate good times” Kool & the Gang I don’t suppose many people celebrated the 23rd March. A year ago, this day lockdown started in the UK. Unbelievable as it seems, we have now been under covid restrictions one way or another for just over a year. Who would have thought it, a year ago? Around …

Best or better

Take a look at the first picture. This is an illustration by my friend and Leeds based artist Si Smith, based on the story of the temptations of Christ in the Wilderness. In this picture, Christ is tempted to turn stones into bread. What strikes you? I like the fact that the speech bubble and …

Just walking home

Take a look at the first image. It shows an art piece I’m in the process of making. It is a patchwork made from maps of Britain. I am using the quilting technique of tufting using red thread to mark every place where that has been a reported incident of violence or threat to a …

A Knotty Problem

“life begins in the imagination” Greenbelt 2013 Chaos. Abstract tangled texture. Random chaotic lines. Hand drawn dinamic scrawls. Black and white illustration. Background with stripes. Universal pattern. Art creationAbstract Background Detail Of A Celtic Knot Pattern In Stone Take a look at the first picture. This is a little doodle of a knot that I …

Home school

“May we raise children who love the unloved things…“ Nicolette Sowder Take a look at the two images. What do you see? These are both pictures by Outsider Artists; those who have had no formal artistic education. They are also both highly collectable artworks, not that this should matter. Yet it does, because what we …

The new now

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” (Serenity prayer) Take a look at the first picture. I wonder what you notice? The large fir trees? The snow? The building rising from the mist? The crucifix under the …

Self-Care

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” 1 Corinthians 13 Take a look at the first image. This is one of the sculptures that I mentioned in last week’s blog by Louise Bourgeous. What does it convey to you? Care? Compassion maybe? When thinking about survival for a previous …

Touchy Feely

“Hold me now, warm my heart, stay with me” Thompson Twins Take a look at the first image. This a piece by artist Ashleigh Taupaki, an artist based in New Zealand. Ashleigh’s art works are all about holding, caring and cradling fragility and ephemerality such as the slight things of nature that we easily ignore: …

Survival Plan

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style” Maya Angelou Take a look at the first image. What does it say to you? This painting by Chagall, who was a Russian Jew, was made during the Holocaust …

Broken Beauty

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (St Paul) The quote above was in last week’s meditation and it started me thinking about the idea of imperfection as beauty. The first image here shows a mended bowl using the Japanese concept of Kintsugi, the ‘art of precious scars’. When the …