539...

Girl with flowers and birds

539... is a collection of images created by the artist over a period of 40 years. Some of the images I still possess, others are commissioned pieces, some have been overpainted, a few may have been thrown into a skip or given away to random people. Some are unskilled, rough, ingenuous and immediate; others are professionally produced icons after more than 20 years of practice in tempera - you may come across some of them in various religious establishments.

Sketch of the top angel from Lewes War Memorial from my flat window, 2002

Christ has been central in my work and, coming from a non-religious background, this is quite surprising. He has encouraged me, sent me help, picked me up when in despair and fills me with light when I finally stop procrastinating and get on with creating. There is a buzz and energy when working with Him and I will recount some of these experiences at some point.

During Art Week in Lewes, about 20 years ago, I opened up my flat above the bookies in the centre of the town by the wonderful war memorial, the beautiful angels by Vernon March.

My work was experimental and fulfilled a childhood desire to paint stories from the Bible. Neither of my parents were interested in religion, rarely spoke about God... though going to Hell as a punishment was alluded to by my 'lapsed Catholic' mother, as she called herself, when she wanted to control my behaviour. Despite this I took myself off to church at the age of 8, and fell in love with the stories in the Bible, especially Daniel and the Gospels. Everytime I read them I felt I was there seeing all the details of my surroundings vividly. I felt all kinds of emotions, the deepest of which was a sense of being held and cherished.

Finger painting - Christ Crucified, 2002

Back in Lewes - during art open weeks the predominant visitors are other artists wanting to see what you are up to and to assess the competition. I remember one male artist studying a large finger painting in oils, of Christ crucified. He folded his arms and said, "You'll never make any money doing religious art." Then another woman came in and looked at a small landscape I had rendered of the Cliffe, a wonderful feature of the Lewes landscape. "If I could paint something like that I wouldn't bother with any of the religious stuff."

Being rather bloody minded and stubborn, I took no notice and continued. I was doing this for me and not to fall in with what other people wanted. As a result I discovered the art of egg tempera and iconography, and enrolled on a course at Turvey Abbey for a week some years later. This led me to the ultimate realisation - it is not the art in itself that is important but the transformation of the soul through the creative endeavour.

My painting of the Girl with Flowers and Birds epitomises the motivation of my artistic life - finding something beautiful within.

I still have the canvas of the finger painting but the landscape of the Cliffe? I have no idea where that went.

To draw Christ predominantly has been a gradual realisation and for some time I was not aware of the invisible bubble pushing me in this direction but then...

...that's a story for another post.

The Artist.