Advent Hands : a meditative poem by Catherine Alder

I discovered this poem & used it for a short Advent Meditation, and thought it would be better taken even more slowly... a week at a time to savour each verse... with the addition of one or two visuals.

First, focus on this cave painting...

                                                                                                             

What do you notice ?

[ even in this small section of the cave, covered with so many hands, you can begin to see how individual they are, and the longer you look, the more you notice about them: right hands,left hands,
different shapes & sizes of fingers, and at least one in deep yellow ochre... ]

This Advent poem focuses first on the hands of Joseph... just imagine....

"I see the hands of Joseph,
Back and forth along bare wood they move.
There is worry in those working hands,
sorting out confusing thoughts with every stroke.
'How can this be, my beautiful Mary now with child?'
Rough with deep splinters, these hands,
small, painful splinters like tiny crosses embedded deeply in this choice to stay with her.
He could have closed his hands to her,
said 'No' and let her go to stoning.
But, dear Joseph opened both his heart and hands to this mother and her child.
Preparing in these days before
with working hands and wood pressed tight between them.
It is these rough hands
that will open and be the first to hold the child.  "


Among so many Madonna & Child paintings, it seems that artists have tended to leave Joseph out, let alone thought of painting him actually holding the baby... but Georges de la Tour painted this beautiful picture of Joseph with Jesus holding a light for him to work by.

next week I will post the second verse of this poem by Catherine Alder

Trouble with Indigo oil paint

Having seen the beautiful dark indigo background of a Chinese book printed during the Ming Dynasty [ at the current British Museum Exhibition ]

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/ming.aspx?utm_expid=1760025-5.5M5ZQHKEQtSoqoh2xqqYEA.0

I decided to experiment with indigo myself.

After two glazes of Indigo I realized that this blue has a bitterness that will set my teeth on edge when warmer colours are placed anywhere nearby. Fortunately it will take umpteen more layers until I reach the depth of colour on the label, and so I decide to see what will happen if I glaze it over with ultramarine blue.
 Despite searching all over the Indigo tube of paint [ Artists Quality oil paint ] I can find none of the usual marking code to indicate whether this is a transparent, staining, semi-transparent or opaque colour. I have to guess therefore that it is opaque; I know Ultramarine in artists quality oil paint is transparent and wonder whether its warmth will actually have any effect on the cold layer below.

I thought maybe three glaze layers might help, but it took five glazes before I really had some degree of warmth and real depth of colour. Now in fact I enjoy the beautiful velvety deep blue background that has been created. I wanted a really deep background to offset the paler tones, and a background that would recede. I think I have discovered a way to take off the Indigo bitter edge, but only time will tell as I continue with the painting.

White Peace Poppies

Seeing the moving pictures of the "River of Blood" installation leaves me wondering why no one has thought to do anything with white peace poppies...perhaps we might think of that for 2018 when we celebrate the end of the first world war ?

Thinking along these lines made me begin to sketch some white poppies in pastels on black paper:

 As I began drawing white on black
I found myself thinking of the black IS flag, and their menacing black uniforms,
and how Muslim leaders have asked us not to call them Islamic State, because their violence has nothing to do with the true Islamic faith.

Then, whilst sketching this white poppy, I thought of all the warmth and love being shown by those who have suddenly found hundreds of refugees in their midst and risen to the challenge of housing them in schools, church halls and makeshift tents; somehow managing to find food... of all the aid workers & those who have donated money, sent supplies...and risk their lives.

Yes, red poppies are an immediate reminder of sacrifice and blood shed during war...
but I post these white poppies in remembrance of all those who work for peace, risking their lives as medical volunteers among Ebola victims; those who stand in solidarity with all who are persecuted; those who listen and care and in whatever way give their lives for others...far too many to name or number... but who also need to be remembered.

A rushing mighty sound of wings...

Just as I was taking this photo of the colour of autumn sunlight glowing on the leaves, 

the stillness of late afternoon was suddenly filled with an incredible cacophony of noise overhead.

 Looking up, wondering what on earth it was,  I saw skein after skein of geese in V formation cackling  across the sky,  closely followed by a rushing sound of wings, lingering in the still air.  My camera hastily aimed at the sky managed to catch these last stragglers ...

Open Studios Weekends

Just spent a fascinating afternoon looking round some Wivenhoe Artists Studios. Such a wide range of creativity & many within just a short walk from one another.

for details click here:  www.colchesteropenstudios.org

Hildegarde von Bingen

fascinating to celebrate the life of Hildegarde ... looking at some of her visionary paintings, and remembering what a powerful influence she had as an Abbess, and yet pondering her wish to become like a feather on the breath of God.

www.janetdriver.co.uk : let me be like a feather on the breath of God

 When painting this, I interpreted Hildegarde's 'feather' in terms of becoming as light as a feather, letting go of fears & worries that can weigh me down, and trusting to the life giving breath of God to carry us where he wills... something I often wish for, especially when feeling far too heavily weighed down !   

Yesterday someone sent me this link to a sonnet written about Hildegarde, which gives an added slant to this image ... interpreting it as a feather floating on the playfulness of God:  

  http://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/hildegard-of-bingen-a-sonnet-2/

12th & 13th September: Wivenhoe : Art in the Church

Come & see a wide variety of paintings by local artists.

This morning I took down three of my most recent oil paintings for this exhibition... My painting of the Houses of Parliament was naturally inspired by Monet... though I often pushed a pram along by the Thames, seeing this famous view when we lived in Lambeth.  So I have painted three H of P sunsets, each one with a different effect. The cliffs above are near Linton: again filled with the warmth of evening light. I am always attracted by the light at dawn or sunset shining through a sea mist.

If you visit the exhibition you may also find my painting of the River Colne transformed at Sunset, which is one of four paintings inspired by the amazing effect of sunlight shining though the evening mist, transforming the whole stretch of riverbank. I remember how the golden light changed to deeper orange, flooding the water at high tide: swimming in this was unforgettable !

details:    stmaryswivenhoe.org/forthcoming