Blog

27th January:

Still a few final adjustments on the Abingdon Chapel window designs and the enjoyable business of checking glass samples as Davia (the extraordinary Glass artist) sends me through sections to comment on. The deadline for getting it all finished and installed approaches fast.

Recently I went to see progress on Roger's (Wagner) new window that he's producing for Iffley Church. A sort of 'Flowering Rood' it will sit directly opposite John Piper's super Nativity Window (probably my favourite Piper window). It's going to be a very beautiful window. It's exciting to think that both of us will have work in the church. Talking of Piper I've got to write a talk for the John Piper Conference happening in Dorchester Abbey later in the Spring, entitled ' the Artist & the Church in the 21st century'...gulp.

George Wightman (poet) sent me another poem that I think is quite wonderful. It's always very moving and sometimes almost disturbing when someone else expresses what is in your own heart; exciting and disarming at once.

LIGHT

The child views with delight

Each flake of falling snow.

His world in its first light

Saints and slinky foxes know.

Old now his weakened sight

Sees hills at sunset glow.

The earth in its last light

Grace holds while shadows grow.                        copyright   G.B.H. Wightman

23rd January 2012:

For some years now I've had a copy of the poem 'English Seasons' by the poet George Wightman on my studio wall. Its eight lines span, for me,  not only the changing seasons of the country year but also the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ himself. In its simplicity lies not just the extraordinary beauty of Nature but a great hymn of praise to God. What God has created turns and praises. This poem captures in a few words what I have spent the last thirty years trying to say through paint, stone and glass.

'ENGLISH SEASONS'

'Praise the spring when the land

Is loved back to life

Praise the summer when the land

Flowers with love

Praise the autumn when the land

Bears the fruit of love

Praise the winter when the land

Sleeps in love that lives forever.'                    copyright: G.B.H.Wightman

When I painted 'Harvest' (in the Paintings gallery) I had the third couplet in my mind. My painting depicts the harvesting of apples (being lowered in a basket)  but it is also  the deposition of Christ's body from the cross. Christ is the 'fruit of love'.

Similarly, in my 'Sarum Cycle' when I painted 'The Stillness', in which we see the dead body of Christ lying under the earth, I had in my mind the last two lines of George Wightman's poem, 'Praise the winter when the land - Sleeps in love that lives forever.'

It's as if he as a poet works like I do as an artist, paring down words until only what really matters remains. His few remaining words cut like Simeon's sword straight to the heart. One has the sense that, like Blake's 'Tyger', the words were not written in any normal sense but that they were always there.

18th January:

Having just finished checking the full size drawings for the 'Services' Window for Abingdon School I've taken the opportunity of a break between commissions to start a few other things. I've started carving  ' Veronica wipes Christ's brow' (Caen stone) as well as working on several paintings that I've been wanting to start for a while. One of the paintings is a strange image of what I call 'Old Father Christmas'. With a little research reading I realised that the reason I always think of Father Christmas as 'Old' Father Christmas has its roots in the 17th century English Puritan's objections to the figure of Father Christmas. To give the idea that he had been around (as he indeed had) for some time those of a not so religious fervour referred to him as 'Old' in their effort to stop the Puritans banning him.

13th January:

A friend sent me a very touching picture of her granddaughter reaching up and placing her hand into the hand of one of my sculpted Angels in Iffley Church. It hadn't occured to me that the stone hand is in fact about the size of a small child's hand and just about within reach. Apparently another very small child when lifted up to look at the angels did exactly the same thing; she reached out and held the hand of the Angel.

It's wonderful how children respond to Art; instinctively. That simple gesture meant more to me as the artist than any rave review or artistic praise.

I remember some years back, taking my sons (when they were very small indeed) to the Biennale in Venice. their response to some of the Art was nothing short of hilarious - I'm only amazed that we didn't get thrown out. In one room a Japanese artist had filled the floor with rice and placed a pair of shoes in it also filled with rice - too much for a small child to resist. RMy youngest son immediately took off his own shoes and filled them with rice. Another gallery had a video installation playing by a Dutch artist that was nothing short of gruesome. After 30 seconds or so watching it the two boys roared uncontrollably with laughter and continued until everyone else in the room joined in laughing - initially at them then gradually with them at the video.

Children respond in ways that often take us by surprise. Thank God for that.

A piece by the poet Thomas Traherne comes to mind:

'You never enjoy the world aright, till you see how a sand exhibiteth this wisdom and power of God.

Suppose a river, or a drop of water, an apple or a sand, an ear of corn or an herb: God

knoweth infinite excellencies in it more than we: He seeth how it relateth to angels and

men; how it proceedeth from the most perfect Lover to the most Perfectly Beloved.

An ant is a great miracle in a little room and no less a monument of eternal love than

almighty power.

You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are

clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars.

You are as prone to love as the sun to shine.'             -        Thomas Traherne

10th January:

Whilst waiting for the go-ahead to start working on the Qatar sculpture project (and the Mirfield sculpture project and the Kidlington Altar) and whilst the Abingdon Windiows are in production  - I've been painting and sculpting.  I'm carving 'Veronica wiping the brow of Christ '. This will be part of the Passion series that I started some time back. So far I've carved 'Simon and Jesus' (Simon of Cyrene helping Christ carry his cross) as well as 'The Deposition'. The series will be ten or so pieces. The themes have not all been decided on yet.

6th January 2012 - Epiphany:

Epiphany - the time when we remember the arrival of the Magi. Datewise, I have always associated the feast of The Epiphany with the Massacre of the Innocents. Nowadays in the Church of England Holy Innocents day seems to be marked on the 27th December. I've just read somewhere that the two feast days were indeed originally on the 6th January so perhaps I grew up with that understanding (not that it matters one jot what day we remember them; merely that we do).

I like Christina Rossetti's poem about the Massacre of the Innocents  -

    Unspotted lambs to follow the one Lamb,

        Unspotted doves to wait on the one Dove;

    To whom Love saith, 'Be with Me where I am,'

        And lo! their answer unto Love is love.

    For tho' I know not any note they know,

        Nor know one word of all their song above,

    I know Love speaks to them, and even so

        I know the answer unto Love is love.

2nd January 2012:

I have just returned from celebrating Christmas and the arrival of the New Year in Switzerland. One of the highlights, for me, was the extraordinary cowbell ringing on the eve of Cristmas eve and on the eve of New Year's eve. A dozen or so hardy young men processed around the village (Schonenberg) each with two huge cowbells hanging from a yoke around their shoulders. As they walked the bells clanged. The cacophonous ensemble processed around the village throughout the night stopping only for beer.  As the Swiss celebrate Christmas eve with their main Christmas meal this procession occured on the 23rd and similarly with the eve of New Year; the pre-Christmas ringing serving to drive out evil spirits whilst the pre-New Year ringing welcomed the good spirits in.

The other highlight  was standing by Schonenberg church as a full peel of bells rang in the New Year. Looking down over lake Zurich  fireworks, as far as the eye could see, lit up the black starry night land illuminating the growing cordite fog over the lake. Directly in front of where we stood flickered little red candles on graves in the cemetery. It was as if all those who had gone before joined with us as we stood with hearts uplifted and hopes for the New Year. Those little red lights seemed slightly at odds with the Protestant church next to us and protestant difficulty in accepting that we all - dead and living - are one in Christ. We lit Chinese lanterns and as if by divine intervention they duly rose into the black night and drifted in perfect succession over the lakeside villages towards the lake - a magical night.

21st December 2011:

Two more windows fitted for Abingdon School Chapel. The remaining five should be fitted by the end of February.  Daedalian Glass are doing a good job of making the windows (as well as fitting them).

I'm presently working on a painting of the Holy Family. It's a painting I started a year or so ago but didn't like so had left unfinished. It's wonderful when you can attack a painting with fresh eyes and with a lack of respect for what you'd already done. It almost always leads to something exciting happening. Whilst working on it I've been listening to Howard Goodall's 'Enchanted Carols' and specifically his 'Lullaby of Winter' which seems to echo the painting exactly. It is a magical piece hinting at the deep unspeakable mystery that is Christmas. Howard Goodall, in the music's accompanying booklet, tells us that the composition of all the music on this Christmas selection was all done in the 'baking heat of a French summer'. When I read that it reminded me of a time that I sat painting in the searing heat of a Burgundy garden. I had started a painting of the Holy family in a bright summer setting. Suddenly I knew that should rather be the Holy family on the Flight to Egypt in moonlight. I retired indoors to finish the painting.

This time so deep in the darkness of Winter always seems a time of change. Two friends, unknown to each other and a generation apart have died in these last two weeks. One a young man of 30 (Dan Male) the other an elderly lady (Kay Ireland) - united in their extraordinary positivity, never ever complaining, setting the example of truly loving their neighbour and always putting others before themselves. 

13th October:

The Depositionof Christ sculpture is just about finished. I've put an image on the Sculpture Gallery. A brief explanation of it can be found under the entry for 21st September.

It's in Caen stone. Caen stone is nice to carve; not as hard as Portland and not quite as easy as Tervoux. I was planning to make the Font and Stations of the Cross (for Qatar) in Tervoux but the Caen seems better quality presently and as it's very similar indeed in colour it looks as if it will be Caen stone.

Also just finishing off sketch for the last window design for Abingdon School. This particular window is to celebrate the Royal Air Force; The Royal Navy and the Army and all the Old Boys who served or presently serve in the forces.

7th October:

My Holy Family sculpture is now sitting happily outside the Church of St Matthew, Perry Beeches, Birmingham. I shall miss seeing it every morning as I look across my garden towards Otmoor but I've enjoyed having it with me for so long. I've put an image of it in the Sculpture gallery. It fascinates me how a sculpture looks different, somehow, in a different setting. Because it had sat outside for some years the stone has weathered and coloured. It has the benefit of not looking too new in its new setting but rather appearing as if it might have always been there.

St Matthew's Church also has a painted set of Stations of the Cross that I produced as well as an Altar frontal that I designed. I remember that for the dedication of my Stations Fr Simon enlisted Andrew Parrott and his Tavenor (?) Singers to ' perform' the Stravinsky Mass. It was an incredible experience that I shall never forget; sublime music working truly as part of the worship accompanied by the crying of babies and shuffling of feet - sounds all mingling together with clouds of incense in an extraordinary reverie. The priest Simon Mackenzie has commissioned a number of other interesting fittings. He was also instrumental in the commissioning of Jonathan Dove to compose the opera 'Tobias and The Angel'. It's first performance was in the church. The Almeida Theatre then performed it. The open vast architecture of the church suited this most extraordinary opera.

6th October:

Yesterday visited Daedalian Glass to see how the Abingdon Windows are progressing. The fused samples are beautiful; very nearly there. There's a lot of windows to make though... The whole cycle of windows have to be installed by next Easter.

Today spent the day carving a Deposition of Christ in Caen stone. I've been working on this on and off for some time now. It will be one of a series of sculptures that I plan to produce based on Christ's Passion. So far this is only the second in the set; the first being Simon of Cyrene helping to carry Christ's cross (hopefully on it's way back from exhibition in Germany). I've also started drawing up the Stations of the Cross fullsize for The Church of the Epiphany, Qatar. It's often only when you see things drawn up fullsize that you realise how much work will be involved.

Tomorrow I'm installing my Holy Family sculpture into the churchyard of St Matthew's Church, Perry Beeches, Birmingham. Finally my Holy Family (having spent years in my garden) have found room in the Inn.

3rd October 2011:

Just returned from four very sunny days in the far West of Cornwall. On the return journey stopped off on Bodmin Moor to visit the mystical and atmospheric Dozmary Pool, the pool into which Sir Bedevere returned Excalibur.

My exhibition in Regensburg finishes today - shame didn't get round to visiting it - I would have like to have seen it.- I especially like the work of Peter Howson.

Back in 2003 I designed a set of large stone Stations of the Cross and a font for a new church being built in Doha, Qatar to be dedicated to the Epiphany. Over the last few years the church has been being built. I heard this morning that the church will be dedicated at Epiphany 2013 and  I am to produce the font and set of Stations. I'm delighted about this because I had carved a stone machette of one of the Stations and was very excited about the prospect of seeing them full size. The larger size (than I usually work) will, I think, allow me to be more absorbed in each Station.

26th September:

An interesting morning being interviewed for the  BBC Culture Show in connection with the English Heritage Angel Awards. Producer, Presenter and crew all truly delightful. It certainly was nice to visit The Church of The Good Shepherd in Nottingham again. My stone Stations of The Cross have now been there ten years and I must say that they still look fresh; the pale Tervoux limestone still clean. It really is an absolutely splendid church with stunning glass by Patrick Reyntiens. It was especially nice to meet Fr Frank McLaughlin again who commissioned the carvings and clearly has been hugely influencial in the upkeep and indeed development of that church.

22nd September 2011:

I have just been introduced to the work of the Scottish poet Norman MacCaig by my friend Simon Mackenzie. One particular stanza of MacCaig's stuck in my mind,

'A boy skips flat stones out to sea - each does fine

till a small wave meets it head on and swallows it.

The boy will do the same.'

I read today of the tragic deaths of a number of Peruvian school children after eating food contaminated with poison. One boy was named - nine year old Miguel Angel. The poem cut me like the sword of Simeon.

21st September:

Yesterday I started work again on a sculpture of The Deposition of Christ that I started earlier in the year. The Caen stone has dried out over the summer and now makes an entirely different sound as I carve it; more like the ping ping of Portland. The inverted body of the dead Christ is being lowered by a soldier (possibly) into the receiving arms of his mother (possibly). There is no cross present - the upright of the cross being represented by the almost vertical body of Christ.

I came across this text yesterday (actually from 'As You Like it' but also inscribed by Samuel Palmer on his 'The Valley with a Bright Cloud')

'This our life, exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees, books in ye running brooks,

Sermons in stones,and good in everything.'

 Also, yesterday, I was delighted to discover that The Church of The Good Shepherd in Nottingham had been nominated for The English Heritage Angel Awards. Back in about 2001 I was commissioned to produce a set of fourteen stone Stations of The Cross for this beautiful church. The glass in the church is all by Reyntiens and is very special indeed. The very large modern largely concrete building has had to have a huge amount of restoration work done on it over recent years and it is indicative of the faith and determination of its congregation that it has been able to raise the money to do it.

15th September:

I can't believe it - I'm actually working on the final window design for Abingdon School. My friend Davia Walmsley is busy (or at least I hope she is) working on the coloured fused window designs that I've already given her. This final window will not have any colour; it will be completely sand-blasted. The theme is the 'Services' (Air Force, Army and Navy). A solitary young soldier stands facing to the left (acknowledging the existing war memorials on the chapel wall) but he looks up to see a cross in the sky (made by the vapour trails of two fighter planes). This is a reference to the Faith of the Centurian who looking up at the crucified Jesus declaring that 'this was truly the Son of God'. The soldier stands in a ploughed field (for me symbolic of both a torn world and at the same time a symbol of the hope of new life). Behind is a plough - refering to the 'turning of swords into ploughshares'.

Having drawn a  ploughed field this morning I walked onto Otmoor and watched a lone tractor ploughing.

I find, more and more, that my work seems to echo the particular season in which it is produced. Because of where I live (on the edge of Otmoor) the landscape and sky dominate my surroundings. There are not many buildings near me and the small lane that runs to the house carries no passing traffic. I am always aware of the sky and the changing light. I think that, often, without even being aware of it my work responds to the changing seasons and the weather.

8th September 2011:

Back in the UK after having spent July and August in France. Presently working on a private stone commission and trying to design the final windows for the Abingdon School chapel.

The exhibition in Regensburg, Germany continues until later this month. The curator sent me various press cuttings reviewing the exhibition but as my German is nil I cannot read them - probably just as well. Many of the artists including my friends, Tom & Bennita Denny, Roger Wagner, Mark Cazalet and Richard Kenton Webb managed to get there for the opening - sadly I did not. Neither did I manage to get back to the UK for my dedication of the Islip Glass Screen by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 10th August. A few days later though I found myself flying back (for a day) to attend a friend's funeral.

28th June 2011:

Yesterday delivered sculptures and paintings to Gloucestershire ready for them to be shipped to Germany for the exhbition in Regensburg near Munich which starts in July.

One of the great delights about having artist friends is that you can swop work with each other. I swopped work yesterday with Richard Kenton Webb. His recent work is astonishing and I was absolutely delighted to drive home with some exquisite lino prints.

22nd June:

My style of painting and sculpting is very much a linear one. Line is the starting point and is never lost. Whether painting, designing or carving, it is the curved line that predominates.

It never ceases to amaze me how the merest curve of a paintbrush or chisel can capture profound sorrow or unspeakable joy in a way that words rarely can. The slightest change of angle in, for instance, the drawing of an eye can change the mood from sadness to deepest suffering.

When carving a curve in stone, holding the chisel in the left hand and the mallet in the right, one uses the left elbow as a pivot to produce the perfect curve. Drawing a beautiful curve is immensely satisfying; carving one fills me with ecstatic joy. There is a sense that the curve is being felt into being.

It has taken me years to realise that curves whether drawn, painted or carved (and regardless of size) are perfect when they are related to the human mechanical process of making them. The graceful line of The Millau bridge (Norman Foster) must have been born from a sweeping pencil line at some stage. Coincidentally, the lines of the Millau bridge are similar to that of a Laguiole knife (from the same region of France).

One of the most beautiful works of Art I have ever seen was in the Museum of religious Art in Dijon, France; a 13th century Corpus of Christ. The crucified body, wracked with pain, comprises of a series of interlocking curves; intensely beautiful yet agonisingly painful at the same time. It is this sense of linear beauty combined with the tension born out of the juxtaposition of curves that I hope to capture in my Altar design for St. Mary's Church, Kidlington.

21st June:

Trying to sort the paintings and sculptures that are going off to Germany for the exhibition in Regensburg. The exhibition doesn't open until July 23rd but the work's being picked up shortly.

13th June 2011:

Last night saw the dedication of my Guardian Angel sculpture for St Edward's School chapel during the school Compline service. As the students left the chapel they were encouraged to lay their hands on the sculpture - a lovely idea; the dedication became a welcome.

Still a few final touches on the glass screen at Islip. This morning Davia Walmsley from Daedalian Glass sand-blasted a few small areas to finish off the sand-blasting. It's remarkable that it didn't need any more work in situ on the sand-blasting. One never quite knows, until the work is actually installed, whether it really is finished or not. Just the lighting to sort out now. Then we went straight on to Abingdon School Chapel to look at some coloured glass samples in situ. Now that the Islip screen is finished work on the Abingdon  windows will move up a gear.

I'm also in the process of drawing up the new Altar I've designed for another church. A couple of days ago I went to visit 'Deep in the Wood' who will supply the English Oak from which it will be made. It's a very nice project to work on alongside the Abingdon Chapel project.

From 23rd July until 25th September I will be exhibiting paintings and sculptures in Museum Obermunster, Regensburg, Germany in the exhibition 'Insights - British Art Today' - should be fun!

3rd June 2011:

An extraordinary day - after five years of planning and work the Islip Glass screen is fitted. I'm very pleased with the effect it has on the church; serving to create a feeling of openess, of space. It will take a while to work out the best way of lighting it still but overall it works as I imagined it would do. The space behind the screen has become kitchen, WC with a beautiful oak staircase leading to a light and airy upper room with glass balcony from which you can look through the screen into the body of the church. The Great West doors (previously unused) will now on occasion be used so that upon entering the tower from the west doors you will pass through the  glass screen into the Nave of the church.

The Guardian Angel sculpture for St Edward's School was also fitted in the school chapel and I was pleased with how it sits or rather floats - just away from the wall above the (otherwise unnoticed) foundation stone. The Angel gestures gently both to the Foundation stone and towards the main entrance of the chapel inviting us in. Perhaps this is  the seraphim who having previously guarded the Garden of Eden (after The Fall) now invites us back in!

Both Islip Church and the Chapel of St Edward's have weddings tomorrow (Saturday) - I rather like the fact that (though the wedding guests may barely notice the works) the work will straightaway be part of the worshipping fabric of the respective buildings.

2nd June 2011:

I spent the last two days in Windsor Castle (not as a prisoner but as a guest) on a conference dealing with the commissioning of new Art for churches. The conference was very interesting - staying in Windsor was fascinating. Much like the Cathedral 'villages' that I've visited/stayed in it seems to have an existence of its own. Being able to visit the Chapel Royal late at night and early in the morning for services was rather special.

It's interesting how things have changed over the years. The last time I visited the castle (to visit a friend who was a priest for the Chapel Royal) I literally just drove my car into the castle - having to stop only briefly to explain who I was visiting. Now there is a complex series of barriers and gates with guards carrying machine guns and at night dogs protecting the entrances. The dogs made it still seem wonderfully medieval!

I'm not sure how Her Majesty manages to sleep in the castle though; it's directly under the flight path -give me Otmoor anyday.

On my way back home I called in Islip church to see how the glass screen fitting was progressing. I'm usually around for the fitting of an artwork (either helping or at the very least getting in the way) so it was a rather strange feeling to walk into a church not quite knowing how it would look. So far so good - though the fitting is not entirely finished it's looking very good. Already one could see that the overall effect of the glass screen would be to 'open' up the church Nave, making the church seem lighter and airy. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week.

28th April 2011:

A busy couple of days. Yesterday I spent the day in Lancashire, in the Daedalian Glass studio checking on the glass samples for the Islip glass Screen. It's all suddenly coming together now. Today I was in Norwich Cathedral taking down my Sarum Cycle paintings. Whilst I was in Norfolk I went to the Lynford Arboretum in the Thetford Forest to find my Salutation sculpture. This was a larger version of the Salutation sculpture of mine in Newcastle Cathedral. I hadn't seen it since it was installed back in 1999 to celebrate the new millennium. It was commissioned by the Methodist W.E.R.E. trust and it was dedicated to a young boy, Thomas Marshall who died in tragic circumstances. It was like going to see an old friend. The weather has discoloured the face of the stone considerably so that it looks at first as if the sculpure has been there for decades - but like a good old friend it was if we had never been apart. I've put two images of it on the sculpture gallery.

22nd April   Good Friday:

Spent  last week in Cornwall sketching designs for a series of sculptures based on the Passion of Christ. 

Wednesday was in Norwich Cathedral leading a meditation on my Sarum cycle of Passion paintings. the evening before my 'Guardian' sculpture was exhibited in The Queen's College, Oxford for the last in this years Lenten series of music and art meditations. As ever the music was sublime; very moving.

Whilst in Cornwall last week went to the 30th birthday party of Dan Male. He is the most remarkable chap; awaiting a heart and lung transplant but probably one of the most positive and happy people I've ever had the fortune to meet. He has started his own company called 'Joey Pouch' which makes small fashionable bags and covers for medical machinery that some people have to carry around or have attached to them. A couple of days before his party he had to be rushed to London for an emergency heart operation. The morning after his operation he was at his party! - a truly remarkable and inspirational young man.

3rd April  Mothering Sunday:

Recently someone asked me..."What do you think Mary did immediately after the Crucifixion?"....he carried on "I think she went and put her arm around Judas' mother".   Perhaps this is the true nature of a mother, perhaps of women in general; that of reconciliation. Perhaps it is through mothers/women the healing of the nations can be brought about. Let's face it men have had long enough to try!

31st March 2011:

Trying to balance my time between a number of projects: presently working on another window design for Abingdon School Chapel while still adjusting design details for Islip Glass screen. The Islip 2 storey high screen should possibly be installed sometime over Easter. It's a massive project and a huge piece of glass. It's very exciting seeing the full sized glass sandblasted samples that Daedalian Glass are producing at the moment. When the samples are all perfect we'll start on the real thing!

I'm also in the process of designing an Altar for a church. The church is a wonderful medieval church and my assymetric design reflects the slightly twisted layout of the building itself. I have several other stone projects all at different (early) stages as well as the limestone angel that I've almost finished. My head is spinning!

In some ways it would be nice to be able to concentrate fully on one project at a time but it often works out that projects that have been in the pipeline for years suddenly come to fruition all at the same time. Sometimes, though, working quickly (but not rushing) on projects produces the best results rather than overworking them because of the availability of time.

28th March:

Yesterday the village of Islip organised a sponsored bike ride from Westminster Abbey to the village of Islip in Oxfordshire to help raise money for the glass screen that I've designed. It was the most marvellous day. I took part in the ride and thoroughly enjoyed it. The bikes and riders were all blest in front of the Abbey before making their way through central London and out into the country. The day got warmer and warmer until mid afternoon when it was like a summer's day. Events like that bring out the best in village community life. There were so many people involved: the organisers, the riders, the huge team of marshals, the team of women who had prepared and served food at all the food stops and at the village Hall, the sponsors (a local estate agency called Breckon & Breckon), the local MP (Ian Howell), local media people, children (who'd decorated their tiny bikes) and had ridden them a couple of hundred metres and a large number of  villagers who had come to support.

Today I was in Norwich Cathedral hanging my Sarum Cycle of Passion paintings in the new Hostry exhibition space. This really is a splendid space just at the entrance to the cathedral - a wonderful combination of ancient stonework with contemporary architecture. My Sarum Cycle will be there until 28th April.

15th February:

Yesterday I worked all day on a new sculpture, an angel. For months now a wonderful piece of Caen stone has stood patiently facing my studio. A bright, largely sunny day combined with a strong sense of where the finished sculpture might go, prompted me to start the lengthy process of uncovering the angel in the stone. It's probably just as well that the sky is grey and dull today as I have to work in the studio finishing off some detail drawings for the Islip church glass screen ready for delivery to the glass company later in the week.

I realised as I carved into the creamy white Caen stone yesterday that it is the process of making art that I relish. Whilst I can see in my minds eye the finished piece long before I have started it is the actual production of it that thrills me. I cherish the time working on it so much that I often find myself slowing down towards the end so that it will not finish. Working on paintings and certainly with glass I find that this is not so marked probably because (especially with the glass projects) they are produced in a series of stages - drawings, paintings, detail drawings and detail glass samples before final production. But with the stone it is an uninterrupted process (even if one has to break from the process occasionally to work on other projects). I suppose with the stone, from start to finish, the process is the same; it becomes a journey that  you long to return to when you are called away from it. Sculpting stone is a slow hard journey - very much like climbing a hill. You can often see the top of the hill though it sometimes becomes hazy. You know that you must not rush or you might make a mistake, stumble or fall. Steady controlled progress is what is needed; not rushing ahead but not holding back either. When you reach the top of the hill, the view is glorious but you realise that it was the process of getting there that mattered the most!

2nd February 2011:

Spent the day yesterday at Daedalian Glass the extraordinary company who produce my glass designs. Based in Lancashire they are always a delight to visit. Their studios are a veritable treasure  trove of experimental glass techniques and current projects.  They're working on both the huge Islip glass screen for me as well as the Abingdon School chapel windows that I've designed. Davia Walmsley is a brilliant glass artist and manages to translate my painted designs into pure glass. All I have to do is to see the glass coming out of the kiln to decide what does and what does not work. Check out www.daedalian-glass.co.uk to see their work. At the moment I have the full size drawings for Islip church in my studio but they're so big I can't lay them all out. When it's sand-blasted it will be done in 7 massive sections then fitted together in situ. We won't see it as a complete piece until it's installed...scary!! Over the next months I shall be up and down to Lancashire checking on the progress of the two projects.

20th January:

My thoughts keep returning to a News report from the floods in Australia that I heard yesterday. A young boy,13 year old Jordan Rice, was trapped with his mother and his younger brother on the roof of their car as it was engulfed in the raging floods. He insisted that the rescuers saved his younger brother, Blake,  before him. Jordan drowned, along with his mother, before the rescuers could return.

'Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'.   Matthew 25: v.40

Oh how we underestimate children. If in my own life I can be half as brave, half as strong, half as selfless as Jordan Rice, I should be very happy indeed.

To those who think that you do not go to Heaven by good acts - try telling that to young Blake Rice who must surely know that his brother sits at the right hand of Christ Himself.

14th January:

Yesterday visited Norwich Cathedral to look at the new exhibition space (very nice). My Sarum Cycle (Passion of Christ) paintings will be hung there 28th March until 28th April.

This evening off to Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire, to speak about my painting in the exhibition there (Methodist Collection of Contemporary Christian Art).

10th January 2011:

A very busy time for me - I'm working on the final drawing for the two-storey  sand-blasted glass screen for Islip Church as well as painting the design for a fused glass window for Abingdon School chapel. Both fabulous commissions to work on. The Islip design has already been approved but a slight change in choice of door/s has meant an adjustment of the original design. It's hoped that it will be sand-blasted and installed by Easter.

My Sarum Cycle of paintings (based on Christ's Passion) will be exhibited this Lent in Norwich Cathedral. At the moment there is an exhibition of the extraordinary Methodist Collection of Christian Art in Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire. I'm going up there Friday evening to talk about my painting in the collection, 'The Rest on the Flight to Egypt'.

18th December 2010:

Where I live on Otmoor it is incredibly quiet with no traffic noise and rarely any other sound other than the occasional dog bark, a pheasant call, my cocks crowing, the sheep in the field behind or the wild birds. Upon waking this morning I was aware that the silence was a different sort of silence; a dead soft silence that you only get with snow. It's been snowing ever since. I photographed a sculpture in my garden (see sculpture gallery) of The Holy Family. This had originally been produced as a commission for Parham Church in Suffolk but never found its home there. The commission was cancelled. It amused me that The Holy Family found no room in the Inn (Parham Church) and so they have resided (quite happily) in my garden ever since.

3rd December:

Snow covered landscape outside my studio window. Otmoor is frozen. I've started a painting of The Holy Family on the flight to Egypt in a snowy landscape. It seems every year, at about this time, I'm drawn to work on this theme. Living on Otmoor, an area of open countryside, I'm very aware of the weather and the sky and find myself responding to it in my work - not only longing to be outside carving when it is sunny but actually reflecting the weather and season in the actual work.

A couple of nights ago I was considering the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the virgin Mary. I've often felt it odd that St Luke suggests that Mary was 'troubled' at his words - rather than being troubled at his appearance. Is it that God makes his angels to appear in a way that is acceptable - that we can cope with? Perhaps they appear sometimes in human guise? Perhaps also it was that Mary was so aware of the reality of God that she does not question the existence of the angel. She only questions her part in the event...yet she answers unswervingly, 'May it be to me as you have said.'   Luke 1 v.38   Gentle modest words and yet upon this response rests the whole weight of our salvation. The choice Mary makes sets the whole Nativity of Christ, the ministry of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection...in action.

11th November:

It’s that time of year when I start thinking about what I might produce for next year’s series of Lenten meditations held in The Queen’s College, Oxford. The music looks like it will be an 18thc setting of the Passion by Heinrich Graun, alongside works by Biber, Whyte, Schmeltzer, Lassus and Tallis. There will be six weekly concert/meditations accompanied by a contemporary work of art.

I enjoy producing a work of art especially for this series (even though I might spend a month or more carving a work that is only on show for an hour). It is for me a time to contemplate the Passion.

A number of ideas have reoccurred to me - a deposition of Christ; a dead Christ or perhaps ‘Christ on a Cold Stone’ - all ideas that I have already spent time designing over and over. The last idea keeps coming back - Christ on a Cold Stone. I’d never heard of this theme until I went to the National Gallery’s ‘Seeing Salvation’ exhibition back in 2000. In the middle of a crowded room, at first completely unnoticed by me, and certainly by most people, sat a carved medieval painted stone sculpture of Christ sat on a stone. It was if he had stopped for a moments rest on the Road to Calvary. I remember turning around in that crowded room and being suddenly confronted by this figure of Christ; completely unexpected; not on the wall as an exhibit but right in the middle of us all. It stopped me dead in my tracks as I looked directly into the eyes of Christ. How had I not noticed him?

Only today I came across something that Gabriele Finaldi, the curator of that exhibition, had written directly after the exhibition.

‘One visitor wrote memorably that she had experienced an immediate change in attitude after seeing the exhibition. As she made her way to the Gallery, she had seen a homeless man begging on the Strand and had not paid much heed. In the exhibition she had been particularly struck by the Christ on the Cold Stone, a sixteenth-century Netherlandish sculpture showing Christ seated on a rock awaiting crucifixion, completely naked and vulnerable. On leaving the Gallery she came across the same man in the Strand and somehow the image of the sculpture came to her mind and she found that her reaction towards him had been quite transformed.’

4th November:

I'm presently working on the designs for two more coloured fused glass windows for Abingdon (Boys) School chapel. These two windows are based on the Lent term and Summer term respectively (the Michaelmas term is already designed and underway).  This really is the most extraordinary commission - a complete set of windows for the chapel, alternating ful coloured fused windows with sand-blasted monochromatic (well almost) windows. The idea is that the complete cycle will both follow the church year as well as the school year, celebrating school life.

It all seems rather self - indulgent because it's such a pleasure to work on. Occasionally there is the worry that you might have been able to include something else in the design or that you should have spent more time on a particular area or a different colour might have worked better. The realisation that the finished work will probably be there for hundreds of years can intimidate more than reassure you as the artist. One has to put that out of one's mind and try to keep working freely.

2nd November (All Souls Day): 

I love this period of Hallowtide - this time of remembrance; of All Saints and All Souls. I don't understand why so many christians have a problem with Halloween. I sometimes that think contemporary society and the church in general has lost touch with death. The medieval church seemed to understand that it is necessary (and indeed healthy) to celebrate the change from lightness to darkness and to acknowledge death. Surely it can only be healthy to poke your tongue out at death and your own mortality - what greater celebration of life can there be!

I've also never understood why some christians don't like to pray for the dead. Afterall, surely they are as much part of the body of Christ as we are. I'm absolutely sure that they pray for us whether we choose to pray for them or not.

13th October 2010:

Finally the Aumbry for St Mary's Church, Iffley, Oxford is installed (see Sculpture Gallery).

A pair of pale limestone angels stand either side of a lime-washed English Oak door. These might be the two angels referred to in St Luke's Gospel (Luke 24v.4-7). However, rather than showing us the empty tomb, here they direct us with their gaze and their gestures to, 'Behold The Lamb of God'. A pierced section in the angels wings allows the light (from an electric bulb) to shine through.

This commission was for me a huge priviliege to undertake. Iffley church is a beautiful romanesque church; a veritable celebration of stone carving. Apart from the super John Piper Nativity window there has been little contemporary addition and as far as I can make out no sculpture since the 12th century!

I'm indebted to Peter Street (carpenter) who made the beautiful oak door and to Roger Wagner who appeared (like an angel) just when another pair of hands was necessary to help fit the carving. There can't be many churches that would be happy for the artist and carpenter to set up a workbench in the sanctuary for chiselling stone and sawing wood. As Peter Street remarked , 'Jesus, being a carpenter,  would have approved!'

29th September:

It seems rather fitting that I should spend the feast day of St Michael and All Angels working on my limestone angels for Iffley church.

26th September:

Last night I went to the dedication of the new window by Thomas Denny for Durham Cathedral. It really is a most extraordinary window and really stunning. Best seen mid-afternoon, the light streams through the bright central section of the window creating the most dazzling effects.

It was amazing to see the completed installed window having only seen sections of it some months ago when I visited Tom working on it in his studio. It is a great success and certainly seemed to be extraordinarily well received.

It was very sad indeed that Tom's friend Michael who had been doing the leading and helping with the installation should so tragically die as they worked to install the window. I suppose that he died doing what he loved. The window will be a lasting memorial not only to Robert Ramsey, in whose memory it was commissioned, but also to Michael Lassen.

20th September: I spent the last week down in Cornwall working on detailed drawings for the Islip glass screen. I'm producing white crayon on black paper drawings as guides for the sand-blasting. Good fun to do but very time consuming!  Today, I was carving again - on the Iffley project - Tervoux stone; very beautiful to carve.

10th September:

It seems that  I'm now officially a 'Superbug'!   The new Viral Superbug 'ndm1'shares my initials. Perhaps I'll spend the rest of the afternoon designing an appropriate outfit!

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  2010 -   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 2010:

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 2010:

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. 

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