janet driver : acid-etched deep green leaded glass panel For several hours high winds of 56 - 60mph have been buffeting our trees around, making me feel almost sea-sick ! so I have chosen a still & peaceful image to follow after the rolling & rollicking branches... In fact this hanging plant I came across a few years ago when visiting a butterfly house near Kew Gardens was so still... merely turning very slowly as it hung down above a pool surrounded by exotic plants and beautiful butterflies...I remember the amazing stillness I felt as I sat beside the water quietly sketching this beautiful flower...

I hope that by choosing to focus on either my glass panel or oil painting you might be able to catch a glimpse of silence, stillness & thankful joy...

The Transfiguration : St Luke 9 v 28 - 36

The Transfiguration : c. T.A.Thomas

This Indian painting conveys a strong sense of stillness, awe  and wonder, whereas the Cameroonian one below reminds me of disappearing into mist and cloud rolling down the mountain in Snowdonia...or Kilimanjaro in East Africa with its summit often surrounded by cloud.

How do you imagine this scene ?

Luke’s Gospel recounts many times when Jesus went up into the hills alone to pray, and I can well imagine the silence and solitude... walking alone... gaining perspective away from the crowds... and taking his inner group of followers up the mountainside would immediately remind them of Moses and Elijah seeking God in mountain silence & solitude.

The Indian painting reminds me of depictions of the Buddha in the Sri Lankan Dambulla  Caves, where his Enlightenment is portrayed by a rainbow of coloured light surrounding him as he sits in meditation. This Indian artist has shown Christ as an Indian Holy Man, surrounded by colourful light which both comes down upon him and shines out from within him...

The Transfiguration : c. Jesusmafa

Friday 22nd May

Be silent. Be still... Holy Week : Wednesday

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.

Let your God—
Love you.

Into the Wilderness...

What does this painting say to you ?

If you find it useful to begin your time of prayer with a painting, then you might like to try the daily Lenten Retreat emails from pathwaystogod.org  The painting above was from Ash Wednesday, and today’s painting was a Carravaggio...

Its amazing how spending time with a painting can show you something you have never noticed before... I had always assumed that Matthew was the young man in this detail below...

But this time I thought ‘wait a mininute, he could almost have been anyone in this painting... mabe he is the most unlikely one !’  And I wonder, what does that tell me, now, at this moment in my life?
And you?

Praying through Creative Art

Weve had two good Sunday afternoons so far 

& one more to go in August...Sunday 21st.

Lost amidst the chaos of weeding & clearing our front garden, someone dropped by to chat...

 & said the art & prayer sounded interesting....but....well, could someone like me join in?

...I mean what do you actually do ?

Well, a few brave souls decided to come & dip their toe into the water, so to speak...

& the first afternoon we began by looking at Jesus Calming the Storm: Mark 5 v 35-41 

Annie Valotten : Line drawings for the Good News Bible : Jesus stills the storm

Then, taking the storm as symbolic of chaotic events in our lives, or in the news,

Tsunami : etched & sandblasted antique glass panel

we chose pastel colours to doodle...shapes & colours to express our/angry /fearful / chaotic feelings
then took time in silence to pray that Christ might still this storm within us,....

finally drawing a symbolic shape to symbolise His presence within & among us,
whether expressed as calm on a wide sea...

or a variety of other colours & shapes...

Anyone can join in...at any level... its simply a way of going more deeply into what you really wish to bring before God in prayer... & maybe, a way of getting away from the wordy "shopping list"!

On our second afternoon we had a go at intercessory prayer, without using words, but instead using coloured pastels & drawing shapes to represent the people / events we wished to bring before God in prayer.

Interested?  
then do let me know...and we might plan some more small groups in Wivenhoe...
or a Quiet Day somewhere, focusing on silent prayer through creative art.

 ( click on page "Prayer painting/Quiet Day" above for more details )

Quiet Day

The begonias loved the rain (so much more refreshing than my watering can !)

and I was caught sketching when it poured...giving added texture, I suppose...?

.and in fact I found the rain refreshing too... We visited Clare Priory for a Quiet Day, and were given a a warm welcome, along with other groups there that day...I found a quiet spot on a wooden seat with centuries old ruins on one side, and  prolific young pear tree on the other...but another nearby tree slowly caught my eye as I rested and relaxed into the deep silence all around...

the tree was old, gnarled, aged...and lots of dead leafless branches hung down in a tangle towards the ground...the white haired lady that looks back at me from the mirror, and who Im only just beginning to recognize as me, seemed mirrored in these branches gathering lichen...mmm... but then I began to realise there were leaves higher up...this tree, like me, was still very much alive !  But it was only as it began to rain that I noticed the fruit...

Rain suddenly pelted down, and I ran for shelter under another tree with much denser leaves and branches hanging down; a really natural umbrella... but only as I was standing underneath it, getting used to the dim light...only then did I begin to notice that under the leaves, on the inside, hidden away, this tree was bowed down with hundreds of deep blue plums...

www.clarepriory.org.uk