Christmas Eve

the mystery of light 
shining in the darkness...

Mystery of light shining in darkness...Madonna & Child #5, Janet Driver

a sense of mystery...
even in the midst
of all the dark and terrible things that have been happening around us

the writer of the fourth gospel
gives us this hope..
that "in him was life
and that life is the light of all human beings..."

not just for a few
but for all...

and that light
which is life
"shines on and on
in the darkness..."

Darfur Madonna: Janet Driver

even in the darkness of trauma for refugees...? whether in Sudan, N Nigeria, Yemen, Syria...or ...?

yes...pinpoints of light, like candles in the darkness, lit by countless volunteers & rescue workers. 

Look for the stories of hope behind the headlines, and discover the light that is still there...

...shining on and on in the darkness...

for Advent Sunday

Dalit Madonna by Jyoti Sahi

Methodist Collection of Modern Christian Art

click link below for details:

http://www.methodist.org.uk/static/artcollection/image37.htm

Advent Sunday...the beginning of a new year,

& this year we turn to the Gospel of Luke ...

 Matthew tells the nativity story from the point of view of Joseph

Luke gives us Mary 

·         Luke is the only one who tells us about the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary,  of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth....& the whole story of Zechariah, Elizabeth & the birth of John the Baptist

             Luke alone writes about the shepherds  the outcasts visiting the manger...and this seems so pertinent these days, with all kinds of poor and vulnerable people suffering through the cuts in UK; people in the poorest areas of the world already suffering the effects of climate change, not to mention the way refugees are now stuck in various bottlenecks across Europe...

              this painting seemed very appropriate for this first week of Advent...  

·

Chagall's White Crucifixion Revisited...continued

Chagall's White Crucifixion

the Art Institute of Chicago website gives a brief background to Chagall's painting:  http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/59426

From my previous post you will see that I have attempted a contemporary version of Chagall’s work, highlighting some examples of how, 75 years later, violent persecution continues to force people to flee.

Chagall in his White Crucifixion identified the crucified Christ with the sufferings of Jews at the beginning of World War II.

I have followed a similar format, painting Christ wearing jeans instead of a Jewish prayer-shawl to identify him with fleeing refugees.

Chagall’s  Menorah at the foot of the cross has been replaced with prayer nightlights,

 but the symbolism of only 6 living flames, has been kept...and I have painted the seventh light as snuffed out / blown out...

If I had taken too long to think & plan, I would probably been stopped in my tracks: there was no way I was going to emulate Chagall's style !  Fortunately that didn't even occur to me until now, when I look back on the painting process.

I decided to use the format of the Crucifixion right in the centre, rooted in the events swirling around ... so I began there,  using a thin glaze of indigo, choosing this cool, dark colour to bring out the tragedy & sorrow of all the scenes of violence...but I also wanted to include the stream of light, giving a sign of hope in this darkness.

In fact there have been many signs of hope in the news...especially of people going out of their way to help, often at great risk to their own lives... 

So I have decided to offer this painting for sale during the Firstsite Exhibition as small way of raising funds for Medicans sans Frontiers                           Doctors Without Borders

where many doctors volunteer to go during their holidays to be sent with a medical team wherever they are needed...

  http://www.msf.org.uk/

Since completing this painting I feel I should now do a sequel...showing how events have moved on with so many thousands of refugees, including many young families, pouring through Europe... but then Chagall has already done something similar in his later crucifixion:

Addendum: Oct 9th 2015:

This morning one or two people were asking me about my painting, having seen it in the Exhibition at Firstsite ... and so I looked again for references to Chagall's White Crucifixion and discovered an article by Bryan Owen, who spent time reflecting in front of the painting with a Jewish friend  (click on link below ) He gives far more detail on the Jewish symbolism...and also points out parallels in modern society. It was written a few years ago, in 2007, but still contains food for thought and questioning that links in with my own painting...

 http://www.bryanowen.com/9701/32901.html

Chagall White Crucifixion Revisited: "Father Forgive "

How did I ever come to paint this ? ...so different from anything I have painted recently...

When I  heard about the Firstsite Open Exhibition    http://www.firstsite.uk.net/    
I thought "Oh yes...I have several paintings ready to go into my October solo exhibition: I could easily chose from one of those..."

But then I read through the Guidelines and thought again...
Yes, I could easily put in one of my recent sunsets or...   

BUT the exhibition organisers  were clearly hoping for a few paintings that might get people talking and interacting with the exhibition...Mmmm... could I possibly rise to the challenge ?

• ...first idea:  "Climate Change...thats the biggest issue at the moment, with the important talks coming up in December..."   

... but somehow all I could think about was this poster advertising "Baked Alaska" the touring Climate-Change play:    http://ridinglights.org/baked-alaska/   

 or my window in Climate Change  http://janetdriver.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Climate%20change   

amazing how  "been there, done that " blocked my thinking...plus the fact there was hardly time to produce an  oil painting that would be dry before the handing in dates...

...I left it... got on with life...turned my back on the whole idea...

...went for a walk by the sea...

• ... walking along by the sea at Brightlingsea, watching the small ferry full of people as it fought the current, going so slowly against the incoming tide, making its way towards Mersea... 

...can you see the visual link already?....

....a flashback to news pictures of refugees in overcrowded small boats, some floundering & overturning... others pouring into Greek islands...

"how would we react if they were landing here...?"

By the time I reached home my mind's eye had raced on, remembering Chagall's White Crucifixion.

Hadn't he painted a whole series of incidents about early holocaust victims all around the Crucified Christ ?  

Chagall: White Crucifixion

 ...and suddenly I could see the link:  70 / 75 years on ...unimaginable horror & violence escalating once more around the world

...images poured into my mind, tumbling after one another... I knew what I had to paint...

...could I actually complete it in time ?  

 Well, maybe...if I didn't spend too long planning it...if I could let go and follow my intuitions... 


                                                                                                                    ...to be continued....



added January 2016:   Just read this article about the Lampedusa Cross & the carpenter who decided to make small crosses out of migrant boats which broke apart whilst carrying migrants...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35360682

Signs of Hope

Its been snowing heavily, but just outside my studio window I see the snowdrops have multiplied...

 Apparently the Snowdrop is a symbol of hope, discovered after the Crimean War, growing out of the mud & chaos, and adopted as a symbol in a similar way to that of the poppies after later wars.

 So, after all the recent tragedies, I began looking for signs of hope, especially in the news where so often chaos & tragedy take the headlines...

• There was an article about Syrian refugees being given hospitality in Jordan;
• Bishop Libby Lane's Consecration opening a doorway for the future;
• & Muslim neighbours helping Christians whose homes & churches were being burnt down...

just to mention a few...

• and over the years there appears to be a growing sense of oneness with people in far off places when there is a terrible tragedy...an instinctive feeling of solidarity.

• Whenever there is joy & hope in the recovery of a health worker I also remember the remarkable doctor who saved Nigeria from the outbreak of Ebola, even though she died as a result. A really tragic death, yet her son could later write of discovering hope through the realization of what she had achieved:

"I wonder how one individual has so much connection with so many people.
 So, it's like we shared her with everybody which is special."

read the whole story here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29696011

• Then I discovered this article about the unassuming, ordinary neighbours of refugees in Jordan  http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/30-january/news/world/syrian-refugees-find-compassion-in-jordan

Not only has this country with far fewer resources than ours welcomed so many thousands into their midst, but they have opened up their schools by creating double shifts.

• in mid-January ordinary people miles away in Niger rushed to help their neighbours whilst a mob was burning churches & homes: " While the mobs were preoccupied with the destruction they inflicted on the front part of the house... the pastor's Muslim neighbours rushed through the back door to save whatever property that they could spare. "They helped to save the pastor's property while the crazy mob was burning everything," http://www.christiantoday.com/article/muslim.neighbours.helped.pastor.during.niger.attacks/47117.htm
• And then for a joyful historic breakthrough in the UK as the first female bishop is consecrated in the Anglican Church in England 

 click this link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30974547


What, I wonder, have you noticed as a sign of hope ?

Epiphany

"In the beginning was the Word...the Word was the true light that enlightens all humankind... John 1 v 1-18

Maybe one year I will be inspired to paint the Maji daring to follow the star... however, some years ago I followed my 'star' / vision / intuition: to try and communicate the beginning of John's Gospel : his poetic Prologue... and over the years I have painted several versions, hoping each time to go more deeply into this mystery.

click this link for my website: www.janetdriver.co.uk

One Christmas I asked : If Christ were born these days, where would we be most likely to find him ?  Of course I could have painted any baby, anywhere, for surely each one of us reveals a glimpse of God's likeness in some way or another? But at the time the TV news was full of the Sudan refugee crisis, and showing starving mothers & young children flooding into refugee camps, and in order to pray for them I began drawing ... and decided to paint a Madonna & Child based  on these images, as a prayer painting.  I share this painting here

in the hope that within our darkest night Christ comes among us in some hidden way.