Tag: Art

Doing what you didn’t think you could…

When I studied Art at Grammar School there was a general agreement amongst my teachers that I lacked the talent to become even a modest artist. There was much evidence to substantiate this view. With disappointment I accepted this judgement on my ability, or rather lack of it! It has kept me away from paint brush, water colours, oil, canvas etc ever since. Thankfully I did discover that I had a deep appreciation of art thanks to one of my teachers. He opened up within me the enjoyment of art in its many forms. However, I have never felt confident in my practical skills in this area.

That changed slightly last Saturday.

I was encouraged to join a Craft morning at my church. It was advertised as a fun morning where creative juices flowed and we needed no previous experience. There was also a variety of things we could try. My Vicar was leading a group who, under her tutoring made felt animals, mainly sheep! Another table was devoted to what is called Creative Doodling, which is described as the act of drawing simple or complex designs, patterns, or scribbles without a specific goal in mind, often for relaxation, focus, or creative expression, rather than as a planned artwork. That sounded attractive.
Other possibilities were craft work making place mats and other objects; making striking animals such a cat with it’s tail held high and a very convincing Giraffe; and also a table where, using oil, acrylic or water-colour paints, it was possible to create a painting.
This was clearly my nemesis to be avoided.
Perversely, I joined this table, led by my friend Paul who is an accomplished artist. He encouraged me to have a little dabble. So I did, using the medium of water-colour!

On a blank sheet of art paper, I attempted a group of trees which were not very like real trees. Then inspiration came to me. I took up a pencil and drew what I hoped was some resemblance of Tarn Hows in the Lake District. It’s a beautiful spot and I was probably inspired by photos sent to me by my friend Gill who lives near the Tarn. (Many of her photographs and reflections appear on this blog).

Very soon, hills looking rather like pyramids and water and more trees appeared. I accidentally dipped my brush in a cup of coffee and discovered it was a perfect medium to absorb paint and also brought its own texture to bear. I Found a stick of charcoal and managed to dot a kind of shoreline. The result can be seen in the photograph above.

But that was not the real result.

I arrived at the Craft morning in a poor emotional state. I had been to my dearest friend Anne’s funeral in the North East and spent time with her family who are very dear to me. I was full of memories and they mixed together in sadness, joy, tears and loss but also wrapped in the solace of faith.
Spending a morning reflecting and painting was just what I needed.
Without intention on my part, I found a quietness to my inner turmoil and a kind of healing. Becoming absorbed in something different can bring a new perspective for our lives and a new value. We often get embroiled in the sheer slog of daily living in a world which increasingly devalues the beauty and the joy of our humanity. So much is about pressure, getting through the day, dealing with the demands of others and generally a loss of discovering who we truly are inside. Our souls get submerged in the sheer effort of a kind of living which actually can be self-destructive.

When I picked up the paintbrush on Saturday I wasn’t sure why but two things emerged.
One was that I was doing something that I didn’t think I could and that I had been told I couldn’t. I certainly didn’t produce a great piece of art but it was my first ever watercolour.
There was a lady there who had been an art teacher and she came up to me at the end and said, ‘I give you an ‘A’ for that’. She had no idea just how much that meant to me and how many ghosts of the past she put to rest!

The other thing which emerged is that for various reasons some of us put low limitations on what we can do and on who we are. Discovering that we can do something new can raise us up. After all, we were created by God to become the best person we can be and when we accept that God never limits our development as a human being made in His likeness, we can soar!
Other people may try to limit us but God lifts us up and awakens his Creative spirit within us. When we accept that, nothing can stop us!

The day after the craft morning we sang John Bell’s hymn about the Holy Spirit. All 4 verses celebrate the Spirit of creativity, full of movement, joy, action. The third verse particularly moved me because it seems to describe what I experienced the day before.

She dances in fire, startling her spectators,
waking tongues of ecstasy where dumbness reigned;
she weans and inspires all those whose hearts are open,
nor can she be captured, silenced or restrained.

[Mr G. 8th September 2025]

Mothering

The drawing above of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus is by my artist friend, Kay Gibbons. It was recently exhibited in The Oxford Arts Society Show. Kate works in various mediums, especially stained glass; glass sculpture; water colour; sculpture; oil and much more. Her designs are often striking and bold and she has a tremendous eye for colour. To see more examples of her work, visit her on Instagram. (PS, I am a big fan!)

A Thought on Mothering Sunday from Kay

When all around is busy , crazy and chaotic …
I like to sit quietly
and draw
and think
and ponder
and wonder…
about this ,
that
and the other …..

[Kay Gibbons]

Mothering Sunday is a Christian holy day, celebrated throughout Europe, that falls on the 4th Sunday in Lent. It is a time when we traditionally celebrate the church as the place where our Christian family finds its home.In the past many people worked away from home—many children in service to big households—but on this day they were given time off to return home to their families, and to their ‘mother church’. They would pick flowers along the way to give to their mothers. It was also a day in Lent when the rules about fasting were relaxed, and it was a time when special Easter cakes were prepared, so it also became known as Refreshment Sunday, Pudding Pie Sunday and Simnel Sunday – after the practice of baking Simnel cakes to celebrate the reuniting of families during Lent.
Mother’s Day** is a more recent invention when is a celebration of the role of mothers and families. It is celebrated on the same day that Mothering Sunday so the two celebrations have now been combined.

{ ** mothers’ day is kept at another time of the year in the USA and other places}

A Prayer on Mothering Sunday and beyond

Loving God, you have given us the right to be called children of God.Help us to show your love in our homes that they may be places of love, security and truth.
Loving God, Jesus, your Son, was born into the family of Mary and Joseph; bless all parents and all who care for children; strengthen those families living under stress and may your love be known where no human love is found.Loving God, we thank you for the family of the Church. We pray that all may find in her their true home; that the lonely, the marginalized, the rejected may be welcomed and loved in the name of Jesus.Loving God, as we see the brokenness of our world we pray for healing among the nations; for food where there is hunger; for freedom where there is oppression; for joy where there is pain; that your love may bring peace to all your children. Amen

Lunar Incantations

I have been a friend of Kay Gibbons for quite some time but recently I have also got to know her art as well. She recently produced the Calligraphy art above. I asked her if she would write something about the personal and artistic process involved

Lunar Incantations by Kay Gibbons

…..’half past three,
The lamp sputtered,
the lamp muttered in the dark,
the lamp hummed ;
‘Regard the moon,
La lune ne garde aucune rancune,
She winks a feeble eye,
She smiles into corners,
She smooths the hair of the grass….
The moon has lost her memory ..
A washed out smallpox cracks her face ….

T. S. Eliot, Rhapsody on a windy night.

These descriptive words about the moon inspired me to explore lunar imagery in Eliot’s poetry , especially in this poem, Rhapsody on a Windy Night.

I attempted to paint an image but was dissatisfied with the outcome and left it for a couple of days . When I returned I could see within the image ‘the moon smoothing the hair of the grass,’as in the lines of the poetry and I played along with the drawn lines and emerging image before me.

I added the words and their imprecise lines seemed symbolic of being lost in the dark of the night, partially visible by the light of the moon across the landscape. A happy accident for the Calligrapher within, to be able to add a sense of meaning to something which jarred against my need for the perfect line.

My process is one of thought and quiet meditation lifted with the joy of a babbling brook when it all falls into place and my understanding of Eliot’s words is satisfied by the art before me … tinged with a niggling desire to tweek a bit here and there as Eliot would have done too ..

T S Eliot inspires within me a creative welling response to a dialogue between word and image; between poet and artist.
I am delighted to encounter and explore Eliot’s poetry with its imagery and translate it into my own visual interpretation born out of a lively response to his own expression of feeling and emotion.

My work is a personal visual translation of Eliot’s words and intonations, the incongruities, the dichotomies, the discordant resonance inspiring a intriguing , meditative yet playful reflection on his words . Poet , Artist . Artist , Poet .

The arid dry texts of the ‘A’ level set texts transitioned during lockdown into a passion to interpret visually. Eliot’s words with my own subjective interpretation onto the artists paper .
A dialogue between words and pictures .the pouring out of creative energy in response to an emotional , intellectual stimulus.

An interplay between two destinies ..
Poet and Artist

And so in the dialogue between
La lune and Earth .

Kay Gibbons.

[] Kay is an artist who lives in Oxfordshire. She will be exhibiting there next year.
You can find lots more of her art on Instatgram – kaygibbons_art.glass.sculpture.

Damn the War

A Heart in pain reaches out to the people of Ukraine

Shamsia Hassani is from Afghanistan. She is an artist who believes strongly that art changes peoples’ minds and people change the world.

Over the time since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, that idea might not be as easy to believe in. It has remained, however, a strong belief and her art has intensified. It brought colour and appreciation into the lives of women who began to believe in themselves.

Prior to the Taliban take-over she was part of a movement in Afghanistan who were dedicated to inspire women in a male-dominated society, and, indeed, throughout the world. As a result women in repressed societies found a new hope. She taught creative use of art and her works, often expressed as graffiti or street art, is both proud and loud. Through it she and associates gave Afghan women a sense of worth and a depth of purpose. She taught in Kabul University and she has exhibited her work in many countries. Her message is motivational and challenging.

The Taliban takeover seemed to take all that away but as they moved into Kabul, Shamsai painted deeply provocative and defiant images which pushed the boundaries of her work into a highly dangerous confrontation.
As a result she has moved from Kabul to a safe location.

She has no idea what the future holds for women in Afghanistan or even for Afghanistan itself. Evidence suggests that, amidst the chaos and devastation of people’s lives and the crumbling infrastructure everything is moving backwards and women are losing the freedom to be themselves.

All is bleak and whilst Shamsia continues to paint her art as an expression of freedom and creativity, she is aware that the way ahead is far from easy.

As the escalation of war in Ukraine has touched her heart, what she has written below comes therefore from one who truly understands about the pain and violence and futility of what is happening in their lives. It has happened in hers.

No one can describe the moment, when the world suddenly collapses on you.
Ukraine, I feel your pain, I am also hit hard by the war. I feel the pain of your displaced and homeless people. I feel the pain of your children. I am sorry for what your people have lost and are about to lose. I am sorry that you are experiencing war and the endless pain that comes with it.
When I hear the word War I tremble. One cannot describe the word War.

I understand the current state of the Ukrainian people very well, I see myself among them. Escape,fear,displacement,hopelessness…
The loss of peace and short beautiful moments of life cannot be explained when suddenly your world is destroyed and taken from you.

For years, the word “War” has filled moments of my life. For years, I and my people have experienced the loss of friends, family and loved ones. We have experienced losing our homes and our homeland. We have felt the pain of migration, the loss of home, family and our homeland. The good days that we hoped for, never came.
Our beautiful past memories that will never come back, but will haunt our present forever.

Shamsai

She is currently working on a series of paintings which she is calling Damn the war/ لعنت به جنگ
The painting above is from the series.

Hope is in short supply right now but Shamsia is doing all she can to keep its flame glowing in herself and in the world. We can take inspiration from her and we can paint the same hope with our prayers.

Prayer is never something we should do because there is nothing else. Prayer should be the first thing we do because it brings us into the heart of God and therefore shapes all other responses. It opens us to a reservoir of true hope which feeds our actions for others who are in desperate need.

[Mr G]