Blog

7th September: 

Working flat out now on the new chapel window for Abingdon School; new glass screen (two storey high) for Islip Church and the sculpted Aumbry for Iffley Church. It's an extraordinary coincidence that they're all Oxfordshire based projects. It's nice to be back in the UK again. I've been in Switzerland and France over the last two months, working on project drawings as well as cycling l'etape du tour in the Pyrenees on 18th July (along with another 10,000 cyclists). It's not really ideal working on three huge projects at the same time but when the glass drawings go to Daedalian (the glass studio) I'll feel just slightly less pressured.

8th June:

I'm taking part in an exhibition at 'Wallspace' All Hallows on the Wall, London from 23 June until 16th July. Entitled 'THE COLLECTION' , the exhibition is a selection of works from the extraordinary Methodist collection of modern and contemporary Art. This will be the first opportunity to see works newly acquired for the Methodist collection. It includes work by Craigie Aitchison, Edward Burra, Elizabeth Frink, Mark Cazalet, Eric Gill, Ghislaine Howard, Peter Howson, Nicholas Mynheer, Roger Wagner, Georges Roualt, FN Souza, Graham Sutherland, Norman Adams and David Jones among others. Details about the exhibition are in my EXHIBITION section. I plan to be there on Thursday 1st July to talk briefly about having a piece of work in the collection.

4th April   -   Easter Day

For the painting 'The Empty Tomb' from the Sarum Cycle this accompanying text:

Just after sunrise, the women return to the tomb in order to anoint the body of Christ. The huge tomb stone has been rolled away and the body of Christ has gone. Two angels 'in cloths that gleamed like lightning'' sitting in the tomb say to them, ' Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here! He has risen!''

The intense light from the angels is the light source of the painting. It even lights up the sky itself but it is all the reflected glory of God.

              'Praise, O servants of the Lord,

                        praise the name of the Lord.

              let the name of the Lord be praised,

                        both now and for evermore.

              From the rising of the sun to the place

                        where it sets,

                  the name of the Lord is to be praised.'                Psalm 113 v.1-3

3rd April   -  Holy Saturday

For the painting, 'The Stillness' from The Sarum cycle I wrote this accompanying text:

An empty landscape with a wintry sky. Jesus sleeps in the earth. All in still. An old tree at first appearing dead can be seen to sprout a new green leaf; the promise of new life, of resurrection.

For me the day between Good Friday and Easter day is a strange unearthly day, hardly a day at all, a sort of noon, neither morning or afternoon. It seems to be a fulcrum on which balances hope or despair; a strange state of limbo with the balance wavering between life and death before it gently tips over into Easter. Once again we breathe a sigh of relief. the world is born anew.

            'We wait in hope for the Lord;

                     he is our help and our shield.

            In him our hearts rejoice,

                     for we trust in his holy name.

            May your unfailing love rest upon us, O

                          Lord,

                    even as we put our hope in you.'        Psalm 33 v.20-22

2nd April - Good Friday:

For the painting'The Road to Calvary' from the Sarum Cycle I wrote this accompanying text:

Jerusalem, having sucked Jesus in, now disgorges him. A man, still holding a palm frond from the day Jesus entered Jerusalem, carries Jesus' colt over his shoulder like a toy.

Men with muscular forearms carry out the tools necessary for crucifixion; a ladder, a hammer and nails. Simon of Cyrene is seen next to Jesus, about to help Jesus carry the crossbar.

As in 'The Entry into Jerusalem' we almost miss Jesus as our eyes are drawn to the ferocity of the central figure. For many of these men this is just another crucifixion, a daily occurence, just another sentence being carried out.

                'But when I stumbled, they gathered in

                        glee;

                    attackers gathered against me when I

                        was unaware.

                    They slandered me without ceasing.

                Like the ungodly they mailciously

                       mocked;

                    they gnashed their teeth at me.'                                    Psalm 35 v.15-16

1st April (Maundy Thursday):

For the painting of The Last Supper (in my Sarum Cycle gallery) I wrote this accompanying text:

Jesus and his disciples sit around a table in an upper room, encircled by a vine and lit by oil lamps. The disciples talk in groups, unaware of what the night will bring.

Those nearest to Jesus watch as he breaks the loaf of bread. A simple leaden coloured chalice holds red wine.

The night is clear and starry, the palm trees motionless in the warm night air.

         ' Let them give thanks to the Lord for his

                       unfailing love

                and his wonderful deeds for men,

           for he satisfies the thirsty

                and fills the hungry with good

                       things.'                                                  Psalm 107 v. 8-9

31st March:

Last night saw the final Queen's College Lenten meditation evening of Art and Music. The final section of Simon Whalley's extraordinary 'Christus' was performed. It is an incredibly powerful piece. In no sense are you merely a 'listener'; you become part of the music. It is the singers, the musicians and us the 'audience' who betray Christ, us who cry 'Crucify Him', us who nail him to the cross but it is to us that he bowes his head from the cross.

Roger Wagner's 'Flowering Tree (painting) was exhibited on one side of the chapel and my 'Corpus of Christ' on the other. Roger's small oil study is very beautiful indeed, a sort of Flowering Rood; brightly coloured and exquisite.

I wrapped the head of my sculpture of Christ with brambles cut from my garden. It seemed somehow very symbollic standing on a chair at the front of the chapel binding the viscious thorns around his head. This was the culmination of over a months carving, hoisted up high onto its plinth in front of the Sanhedrin (as they sat waiting for the concert) my hands spotted with specks of blood from fitting the crown of thorns.

Palm Sunday - 28th March:

This is the text that I wrote to accompany the painting,'The Entry into Jerusalem', the first picture on my Sarum Cycle gallery. It was painted and written for this very day:

In a maelstrom of swirling humanity Jerusalem sucks in another prophet. The buildings, the people and the very landscape are all involved in the event; together they shout, 'Hosanna in the Highest, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord'.

Amongst the spinning colours we have to look hard to see the supposed reason for their celebration; the small insigificant barely noticed figure of Jesus sitting on a humble colt.

The palm waving crowd do not look at Jesus for he is merely another prophet; the reason for celebration is no longer as important as the celebration itself. Only Zacchaeus looks down from the tree with interest. Zacchaeus is often found in depictions of The Entry into Jerusalem even though in the gospels he appears elsewhere. What matters is not when he climbed the tree to see Jesus; only that he did!

'Lift up your heads, O you gates;

     lift them up, you ancient doors,

     that the King of Glory may come in.'                                             Psalm 24 v.9

19th March:

I've always loved that Hymn, 'Jesus Christ the Apple Tree'. It was only recently that I discovered that it's actually only 19thc or early 20thc; I'd always assumed that it was medieval. I've painted it a couple of times and designed a glass version (never produced) and I was thinking about that theme when I came across a wonderful poem by Christina Rossetti entitled 'As the Apple Tree among the trees of the wood'.  It made me think of Christ in the wilderness.  -

As one red rose in a garden where all other

          roses are white

    Blossoms alone in its glory, crowned all alone

In a solitude of own sweetness and fragrance of

         own delight,

    With loveliness not another's and thorns its own;

As one ruddy sun amid million orbs comely and

         colourless,

    Among all others, above all others is known;

As it were alone in the garden, alone in the

         heavenly place,

Chief and centre of all, in fellowship yet alone.

17th March (St Patrick's Day):

Last night in The Queen's College Chapel, Oxford I listened to the second part of Simon Whalley's extraordinary 'Christus'. It is one of those rare works where the words and music are one; where Holy Scripture is not seperate from music but the same thing. I always think Finzi's setting of 'Dies Natalis' and the 'Salutation' are like that; you cannot imagine the words without the music. Last nights section started with the Last Supper and the agonisingly painful questioning by the disciples of who will betray Christ and ran through to the equally painful denial by Peter (and his betrayal of Jesus). Perhaps Simon Whalley has a particular interest in Betrayal; I remember a most astonishing operetta(?) that he wrote years ago for the Christ Church Cathedral School (Oxford) based on the betrayal of King Arthur. I feel privileged to be hearing this work week by week for its first time. The week after next, when Roger Wagner and I exhibit our work, the work culminates in The Crucifixion. I look forward to it with huge excitement but also absolute dread.

Jane Dowling exhibited her wonderfully intimate 'Betrayal of Christ' painting alongside the music last night. She is a towering artist. Viewing her painting (nearly always in tempera) is  like looking into a crystal clear rock pool, with layers and layers of overlapping colours that seem to move before your eyes.

15th March:

Went to Roger Wagner's exhibition last night in the Ashmoleum museum. It was really for the formal receiving in of his 'Mennorah' painting into the museum collection (although it will after the next fortnight) return to its usual hanging place in St Gile's Church, Oxford. A splendid exhibition that really is worth seeing . His work has a mystical quality a bit like Samuel Palmer's in some ways but as Richard Harries said in his brief but excellent speech, Roger has the ability to create images that remain with you.  It was also great to catch up with many artist friends and colleagues.

12th March:

Finally finished both sculptures I've been working on - The 'Corpus of Christ' (which will be exhibited on Tuesday 30th March at The Queen's College chapel, Oxford) and 'Simon and Jesus' which will be exhibited at the Stillpoint Stations of the Cross exhibition (26th March onwards). The details of these two events are listed in the Exhibition section.

I've put these two newest sculptures on my Sculpture page (top right two thumbnails). It's a great relief to get them finished even though I thoroughly enjoyed carving them. The last 4 or 5 weeks have certainly been cold working outside!

Carving this sculpture of Simon of Cyrene helping Christ carry the cross has refired in my mind the idea of producing a series of sculptures based on The Passion of Christ (a little like my Sarum Cycle of paintings - which incidentally look like they'll be going to Norwich Cathedral for Lent and Easter 2011). It's a huge committment, timewise, though which I will have to fit in between the commissioned projects but it's an exciting idea.

10th March:

Last night was the first of The Queen's College Lenten meditation evenings of Art and Music. The artists Alison Lilley Berrett and Tim Steward provided very strong works that looked stunning in the chapel. The composer Simon Whalley conducted the first performance of his 'Christus-the Passion according to St. Mark'. It was breathtaking; quite extraordinary. We were transported to The Mount of Olives...you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife....utterly spellbinding.  Words, Art and Music intertwined with the Love of God.

4th March:

Spent the day outside working on the sculpture 'Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross' (I think I'll call it Simon & Jesus). I've never really spent so much time with Simon of Cyrene before.  We are told in the gospels that Simon was 'forced' to carry Jesus' cross. Jesus, on the other hand, willingly accepted the cross. St. Mark tells us that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus (in a way that suggests that they were known to his readers - perhaps early christians?). What interests me though is the fact that Simon was a father. Could it have been that Simon's own sons were the same age as Jesus? What dark thoughts must have been going through his head as he shared the burden of the cross?

By carrying Jesus' cross Simon carries Christ himself, recalling the words, ' What you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'.

In my sculpture the two figures and the crossbar become one; they become the cross itself, the very symbol of redemption.

3rd March:

I've just loaded the new 'Corpus of Christ' sculpture onto my Sculpture gallery. I'm not sure it's entirely finished but it's quite nice to give things a breathing space. After a few days or so you generally know if you have any more to do to it.

As I photographed it in the late afternoon sunshine a cloud of gnats swarmed directly over Chist's head in a perfect circle. It was very strange; nature responding to the image of its creator and making a perfect halo!

This time of year, what I really look forward to is the change in the air that marks the coming of Spring. Every year there is a particular moment when I suddenly feel the change. It's difficult to explain what it is exactly as it's not gradual but instantaneous and very definate and brings with it ecstatic joy. It hasn't happened yet although the sudden change from bitter cold to more mld temperatures and sun have given the appearance of the arrival of Spring. Even though a crocus has blossomed in my garden and the daffodils are on their way through I haven't felt 'the change' yet. I suppose working outside so much of the time makes one very sensitive to any change in light and possibly pressure change.

The next thing I look forward to every year is the call of the Cuckoo. When I first hear that (usually) distant call my heart leaps with unlimited joy. The call of the cuckoo symbolises the start of summer and the promise of warmth and light. It is for me a symbol of Hope.

23rd February:

Working flat out at the moment on my 'Corpus of Christ' for the Queen's College series of Lenten meditations that start on the 9th March and run on consecutive Tuesdays until the 30th March (the evening Roger Wagner and I exhibit our pieces).

I'm also really looking forward to working on a sculpture of Simon of Cyrene helping Christ for another exhibition in Oxford. This looks like it will be a very exciting exhibition - 14 Oxfordshire artists will each produce one Station of the Cross (or their particular response to that Station).  This will be the 2nd StillPoint Stations of The Cross exhibition to be held at The Jam Factory, Hollybush row, Oxford. It will run from March 26th until April 20th. find more details at:  www.thestillpoint.org.uk 

20th February:

I've just loaded a new painting onto the Painting gallery. It's the second in The Grail series. Here we see Abraham entertaining The Angels. But rather than serving them a meal of milk, meat and bread (Genesis 18) Abraham serves them bread and wine - a eucharistic meal.

The composition of the painting is similar to the glass version I designed for The Trinity window, Abingdon School. I often re-use a particular composition if I like it. Sometimes having sketched or painted it I realise that it would work equally well in stone. All my sketched ideas for paintings, glass or sculpture are done in a numbered series of sketch books. Often when I'm working on a design I recall a group of figures or perhaps a section of landscape that I'd drawn (perhaps years earlier) that seems finally to have found a use.

I'm sure that this particular design relates to Rublev's Old Testament Trinity icon; certainly it has a similar composition. I like the idea that the Angels are physically there with Abraham yet at the same time they seem distant, otherworldly.

12th February:

This is a busy time for me at the moment. I'm presently trying to design a hanging sculpture (for a church); in the process of drawing up a sculpture design for another; waiting to hear back about a large window design; working on two small paintings (in odd moments) as well as carving a corpus of Christ (for the Queen's College exhibition in Lent -see notice in Exhibition section). When that sculpture's finished I have to produce another (of Simon of Cyrene helping Christ carry the cross) for an exhibition based on the Stations of The Cross. Alongside these projects I'm waiting on a number of other projects (both here in UK and for a new church in the Gulf State of Qatar).

Yesterday I spent most of the day working outside on the stone figure of Christ. It was a largely bright day but only about 3 degrees with a biting wind. Sometimes producing art is really hard. Stone sculpture is often physically demanding but some days working out in the open it is brutal.  There seemed something bizarely appropriate about the discomfort of the situation; hammer and chisel in hand working on the twisted crucified body whilst the cutting NE wind blasted the face. The strange thing is that whenever I carve a sculpture of the crucified body of Christ it is beauty that seems to come out of it. Perhaps it is the same beauty that I see when I look at some early medieval carvings of the crucifixion. There is no denial of pain, far from it, but there is often a deep beauty in the suffering - a suffering that I can often feel through my chisel as the hand follows the shape of the face or carves the curves of the ribcage. The carving of the eyes and the wounds always seems deeply intimate; at one time hammering the very chisel through Christ's hand into the cross while at the same time caressing the wounds with the tender doubt of St Thomas.

6th February:

I've just started carving a block of English Limestone into a Corpus of Christ. This will be for the Queen's College Lenten series of music and art meditations in Oxford. The brilliant composer Simon Whalley is producing a piece based on The Passion of Christ and this Corpus will accompany one of the movements.

The way I work generally is more reductive than building up. We always think of creativity as being a sort of building up, of adding, but for me it is much more a case of cutting away - of reduction. I like the idea of cutting directly into stone. There is no going back, no putting back. A surgeon friend once said to me, 'What we do is the same - think twice and cut once'
Even when I paint I think of the process as reductive. I start with pencil designs reducing superfluous detail, simplifying and stylising until I feel ready to paint The whole process is one of paring down - of trying to see what really matters; a skill I haven't managed to apply to the rest of my life!

Dec 11th ( I think) -  It's worth having a Blog just to be able to advertise the poetry of Christopher Smart (1722-1771). If you don't know his work check it out. I discovered his work 10or 15 years ago and I feel called back to it constantly. I think the last verse of his The Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shows his genius  -  

'God all-bounteous, all-creative,

       Whom no ills from good dissuade,

Is incarnate, and a native

       Of the very world he made.''

Sublime!!

Dec 9th 2009 - Finally I have a new website. Thanks very much to Creative Edge for designing and building it. I hope you enjoy it.  Any feedback or comments most welcome.