Sunday 22 July 2012

Art in Action! Amazing !!!

This Saturday I went to the amazing art festival with colleagues. 'Art In Action' show cases artist - sculptors, painters, print makers, world art, glass makers, designer makers and so on. I came away inspired having watched demonstrations in print, glass blowing, sculpture in clay and stone. I even saw Spanish flamenco dancing as well as blacksmith making art. Not to forget all the painters working away! I going next year and one day I want to show my own work there!

Monday 16 July 2012

The Bible and the Cross - long exposures.

Recently I have been experimenting with a long exposure app on the IPhone. Here I have created a visual blur perhaps from the perspective of my cross project suggesting how faith or Christianity is viewed. Or perhaps how faith shifts and moves in our hearts.

Saturday 14 July 2012

Woody Guthrie

I have just listened to a couple of great program's on BBC iplayer celebrating that 100 years ago Woody Guthrie was born. It is inspirational to hear his words and how they have so much relevance today. The programmes included interviews with people of America who struggle with poverty, drug addiction and unemployment as well as racism and the struggle to just feed themselves. A symptom of the times. Woody wrote about these people in his time - straight from the heart. He was also a Christian.
An inspiration I can take into my work in some way. In the song below The lyrics referring to bankers seems particularly relevant today.


Jesus Christ
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

Jesus Christ was a man who traveled through the land
A hard-working man and brave
He said to the rich, "Give your money to the poor,"
But they laid Jesus Christ in His grave

Chorus:
Jesus was a man, a carpenter by hand
His followers true and brave
One dirty little coward called Judas Iscariot
Has laid Jesus Christ in His Grave

Chorus

He went to the preacher, He went to the sheriff
He told them all the same
"Sell all of your jewelry and give it to the poor,"
And they laid Jesus Christ in His grave.

Chorus

When Jesus come to town, all the working folks around
Believed what he did say
But the bankers and the preachers, they nailed Him on the cross,
And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave.

Chorus

And the people held their breath when they heard about his death
Everybody wondered why
It was the big landlord and the soldiers that they hired
To nail Jesus Christ in the sky

Chorus

This song was written in New York City
Of rich man, preacher, and slave
If Jesus was to preach what He preached in Galilee,
They would lay poor Jesus in His grave.


Thursday 12 July 2012

The New Elizabethans - Cross Project

There is a great radio show on at the moment called The New Elizabethans. James Naughtie profiles people that have been influential during our Queens rein. The recent program was very interesting to me as it talks about Francis Bacon and his work. His view was that "life is extreme and brutal" and that if people observed the world as it really is they would not perhaps find his work so shocking. His work looking at crucifixions talks about him using the cross as an 'armature' for the subjects he was interested in. His was not religious in any way and saw life in very dark and menacing terms

'God doesn't exist'

This is what my 6 year old daughter said at lunch after church last Sunday. I suppose she is is searching for certainty as well as challenging important issues in her own way. My answer to her was - "how do you know?". She thought a moment and said "because when I asked him to answer my prayers it didn't happen.". "He has a plan and his reasons for not granting all our wishes" I replied.