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

Sunflowers & Sunsets, Creative Art & Croquet

http://leeabbey.org.uk/devon/

arriving at Lee Abbey

after a long day of travelling

...a really warm welcome, followed by a glowing sunset...

                                  and sunflowers on every table in the art room

joyful colour ... "joy in the journey" ...

beginning with Matisse :

Matisse: The Sheaf

& wonderful coloured paper to cut out our own designs

many delightful surprises

like the enameling workshop 

and even a game of croquet 

with an international flavour

and  winner from Uganda

delicious food 

 a delightful international evening

an opportunity to learn lino-cutting

joyful colour

& sunflowers, yet again...

opening up to quiet beauty

and joy

deep within

http://leeabbey.org.uk/devon/

Pyfleet Week 1-8th August

Fancy trying your hand at sketching & painting sailing boats ?

What better place to begin than by watching the great variety of boats racing away during Pyfleet week...this week... in Brightlingsea:

http://pyefleet2015.sailbrightlingsea.com/programme/

These paintings were completed in the studio after sitting sketching away... I have to be really fast and only jot down the main shapes that first catch my eye, filling pages and pages with rough sail shapes & people's silhouettes... all the time looking out to sea and drawing "blind"- hardly looking down at the paper
But one year I was lucky enough to see this boat coming straight towards me, travelling really fast, out on its own ahead in the race & clearly on a winning streak with the wind full behind its sails...

Later this sleek sailing boat below was riding high on the waves with a good strong wind; dashed straight up to where I was sitting at Splash Point & suddenly jibed just before hitting the sea wall steps !  Wow ! Boom riding over, almost into the sea wall, front sail flapping & spray flying everywhere as it dashed off at a sharp angle to continue the race...

.

 I really enjoyed the challenge of catching this, using a palette knife on the sails to give the sense of power as they turned slap into the wind right in front of me.


Then another day there wasn't even a breath of air: one of those hot hazy mornings before high tide where the sea is calm as a millpond...

A few boats had ventured out, only to become totally becalmed !
They were stuck there for nearly an hour as the tide glided in, barely moving the reflections.

This was a real gift for me... as I could sit & sketch to my hearts content...ending up with these 2 paintings (above: "Becalmed" & below : "Waiting for the Race to Begin " )

Once the tide was up, they all set sail... 

... only to discover the wind rather variable still...

some were soon taking the breeze from one another (whether they intended to or not !) 

whilst three had managed to get ahead and two others were yelling to one another: " Lets nip round behind this lot !" "Yea ! theres room on t'other side...best get around them quick !

I really enjoyed painting this one, hoping to convey the  sense of confusion afloat.

Wonder what awaits us at Brightlingsea this week ?

Butterfly Count 2015

There seem to be fewer butterflies around... is this true ? or is it just in our garden ?

I saw this beautiful Peacock butterfly a couple of years ago, but haven't noticed any since then... 

Has anyone seen any of them this year ?

I just happened to come across an advert for the  Butterfly Count... for the next week or two, until August 9th... & spent a lovely quiet 15 mins watching for butterflies.

 Saw a few large white butterflies circling around one another and then fluttering away on the breeze, or gently floating into the lavender... a couple of very small brown ones, or so I thought...but they turned out to be bees, also enjoying the lavender !  

  I was really surprised how few butterflies I saw... I thought we had planted several butterfly friendly plants...so where are all the other butterflies ? 

...years ago we used to see Red Admirals,  and many others I couldnt name...but theres a very good identification page to download from  

   

  www.bigbutterflycount.org  

A few years ago I visited a tropical butterfly house, and saw this amazing Blue Morpho which landed on a large banana leaf and basked in a pool of sunlight.

At first its wings were tightly closed & I was fascinated by the "eyes" & other patterns, quickly sketching away while it sat obligingly, almost as though it knew it was sitting for its portrait!

Can you imagine my surprise when it suddenly began to open its wings...just enough for me to glimpse this brilliant blue inside. What a challenge...could I possibly paint its portrait with this vibrant blue ? it took a long time to give the appearance of glimmer and shine, experimenting with various blue glazes...and, yes, this is one of those oil paintings that is best viewed from a distance... with, perhaps, a little time just to sit in silence....?

Climate Change

Climate Change Window

designed & made by Janet Driver in the 1990s

It must be nearly seventeen years since I was designing & making this stained glass window commissioned by the School of Life Sciences at Whitelands College, now part of Roehampton University, London.

In the 1990s Climate Change was already firmly on the agenda of the Environmental Studies Courses, and so my design includes visual predictions of increased volcanic activity, displacement of large numbers of people, tsunamis & rising sea-levels, to name just a few of the abstract images.

Even as far back as 1970s I remember discussing possibilities of alternative energy with university students; concerned young people, who realised it wasn't only a matter of curbing lead in fuel emissions, but how vital it is for the future that we move right away from fossil fuels...

... something the Guardian is now re-emphasizing with its 

 "KEEP IT IN THE GROUND" 

CAMPAIGN 

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground

We were actively aware of the need for action on climate change at least thirty or forty years ago... how slow we humans are to adapt and take the necessary steps so vitally needed to prevent catastrophe.

Even just in the 15+ years since I made this climate change window, many of these predictions have become alarmingly true:

 first the tsunami that shocked us ten years ago,

& since then earthquakes have devastated Haiti, Japan & now Nepal...
rising sea levels still threaten the Maldives... & floods have become much more frequent worldwide...
...& then last week I heard on the TV News that the current conflict in Syria was sparked off through climate change causing fighting among farming families which escalated...

... a wake up call we dare not ignore!

and if you are still unsure, I came across an excellent book, written by an eminent Climate Scientist,
& highly readable...I mean if you are a non-scientist, like me...
 

In the Eye of the Storm: Sir John Houghton

                            ....we have just a short window of opportunity ...

Annual Art Exhibition 20th & 21st June 2015 at Elmstead Church

this exhibition is in a lovely old church with a lot of daylight flooding through the windows to light up the paintings... Whilst deciding what to choose to exhibit, I happened to read this article about renewed violence in the Darfur area of Sudan:

 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/16/why-is-the-world-blind-to-the-fresh-threat-of-genocide-in-darfur

and this made me decide to include the "Darfur Madonna" I painted a few years ago...

 ...when the plight of refugees in Darfur first began, and pictures of hundreds of women and young children were flooding the media...I found these images so moving I made a quick sketch of one of countless women queuing for food with a young child sitting atop a pitifully small bundle of their belongings ... then began the slow process of building up dozens of thin glazes of oil paint...
 a slow  meditative process
enabling me to pray whilst painting