Pentecost Sunday

“I will pour out my spirit on all people...”  Acts 2 v 17

I would love to know the name of the artist of this painting I saw recently ...which seems to hint at far more people than those dressed in the clothes of Jesus’ immediate followers receiving the Holy Spirit

What does it say to you ?

Ongoing Pentecostal Symphony...     

It seems to link in with my painting from a few years ago when someone challenged me to paint something for Pentecost...
I thought of the quiet, intimate giving of the Holy Spirit by the Risen Christ
( John 20 v 22 ) when “He breathed on them, and they received the Holy Spirit”...

and also the description of the “rushing mighty wind “ and “tongues of fire” (Acts 2 ) when there were probably a larger group of people all gathered together ( Acts 1 v 12 - 15 )...

and then recalled all those throughout history, around the world, and within my own knowledge who have experienced the Holy Spirit in our own lives...an ongoing symphony...a continual outpouring... in a myriad different ways...

Saturday : awaiting Pentecost

Friday awaiting Pentecost

“within our darkest night
             You kindle a fire
                    that never dies away...  “          chorus from Taize Community :    www.taize.fr

                                                                 

Thursday : Wind

 I love painting sailing boats... the way the wind takes their sails...

sudden jybe, Pyfleet races: c. Janet Driver

on the wings of the morning : c. Janet Driver

...as a child I remember learning this poem about wind... with a long drawn-out Whooooo   :)

Who has seen the wind? 

Neither I nor you: 

But when the leaves hang trembling, 

The wind is passing through. 

Who has seen the wind? 

Neither you nor I: 

But when the trees bow down their heads, 

The wind is passing by.                                  Christina Rossetti

..then, years later, this struck me :  

 “the wind blows wherever it pleases;

you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going...

that is how it is with all who are born of the spirit...”

                                                                           St John 3, v 8

Wednesday : Peace Window

Ervin Bossanyi : Peace Window, Canterbury Cathedral

Tuesday

Monday

Sunday

Annie Vallotton

Saturday

have you seen any butterflies yet ?

I have seen a peacock butterfly... and there are a couple of small holly blues 

flitting around enjoying the sunshine...

butterfly-conservation.org       scroll down the page to join in the butterfly survey or find a children's colouring competition
If, like me, you are not sure of the names...there is a very good identification page as part of the butterfly survey...all you need remember is, what the butterfly looked like...

Friday 22nd May

Ascension Day

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 (St John 14 v 27 )

Wednesday : Judas : forgiveness window

engraved glass by Laurence Whistler

St Nicholas Church, Moreton

detail of Forgiveness Window, St Nicholas Moreton

As you can probably guess, this church originally had coloured stained glass windows... but they were destroyed by a WW2 bomb. Over many years they were gradually replaced by a series of beautiful etched glass windows by Laurence Whistler ( a relative of the oil painter ).
     The Forgiveness Window was donated by the engraver, but only at last accepted by the church many years after his death... it depicts Judas’ suicide... but as the 30 pieces of silver fall from his dying hands the coins are transformed into seedlings... a moving visual symbol of forgiveness & new life.

you can see more of these windows by searching on Pinterest or Google

Tuesday : daily picture : Judas

Giotto : detail...the arrest of Christ

for those of you who were taking part in last Sunday’s service streamed via the St Mary’s Wivenhoe website  stmaryswivenhoe.org and saw the cross with its carving of the Last Supper after Judas had left... I was reminded of these paintings... can you see Judas just leaving in the first painting ? 

apologies... I do not know who painted the first 2 paintings

                                                 ...to be continued tomorrow

Monday : daily picture

oil on canvas, Janet Driver

Some years ago I sat down for a moment in a tropical butterfly greenhouse.
My entrance had clearly disturbed the butterflies who were flitting all around me...
...so I sat very still, allowing us all to calm down...

then

... I saw this small flower,

hanging
 way above me,

 turning slowly in the humid air...

beckoning me

...as I began to sketch these beautiful, simple shapes...

towards

“...the still point of the turning world... “

... a memory of T.S.Eliot’s Four Quartets

Sunday 17th May

stained glass, church of Reconciliation, Taize

Saturday : daily picture

Wivenhoe

Friday : daily picture

spiral galaxy : oil on canvas, janet driver

Some years ago I became fascinated by spiral galaxies ... looking at the sheer beauty of many of them...  as I joined in with thousands of other volunteers in the ‘citizen science’ project classifying photos of galaxies at  www.zooniverse.org/projects ...and now there are all kinds of different projects hosted on this website...why not click on this link and see if one of them is for you ?

Thursday : daily picture

walking down the garden to give my shed / studio a coat of dark green paint l just had to stop and take these photos of beautiful deep pink flowers opening up in the sunshine...

Wednesday : daily picture

this mosaic jumped out at me when searching the internet ...

Tuesday : daily painting

after Monet : Houses of  Parliament oil on canvas, janet driver

Monday daily picture

So glad I took a few photos in our garden before the high winds took over !

The colours were beautiful  :)

Sunday : St John 14 v 1 ...

Thomas said to him: We do not know where you are going...how can we know the way ?

Thomas was often dismissed as ‘doubting Thomas’ yet it seems he is more accurately a questioner... a thinker...and Jesus accepts this... :)

Saturday : daily picture

Friday : daily picture

Dreamlike shapes in morning mist : c Janet Driver

On a walk along the old Brightlingsea railway route a few years ago we saw these odd shapes in the distance...gradually realising they were trees... but looking more like ... well... what do you see ?

This painting was great fun to create !

Thursday : daily picture...imagine...

i saw this and thought you might like it...
                                                                         ... just for fun !

Daily Picture : Tuesday

Come and See : c. Janet Driver

What do you see ?

If you just stop & spend a little time with this painting you will probably see more and more hidden away in the weeping willow, the deep waters, or the corners...  children love discovering all sorts of things...

but what about the painting as a whole ?      what do you see ?

Monday

Sunday : St John 10 v 1 - 10

Jesus the good shepherd : c Jesusmafa : Cameroun

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”                                     John 10 v 2-4 (NIV version)

Catacomb painting 

Christ the Good Shepherd was a very popular image in early Christian art... and again today

found on Pinterest /  Isaiah 40 v 11

artist : Yongsung Kim

Saturday : daily picture

Beautiful double rainbow over Wivenhoe Quay in Essex yesterday evening. @thismorning #clapforNHS #rainbows pic.twitter.com/2qCKE7FgCi

— Katrina Kerr (@KatrinaKerr25) May 1, 2020

someone found this on twitter & sent it to me...
incredible rainbow !