Ist bound book

These photos are 1st book I've made. A present for my sister's birthday, very pleased
Learnt that I have improved a lot since Foundation and sometimes when you cut a picture down or take a section from it - that can be used as a base for further work. people have said this before but only just taken it on board!

sermon 24 May 2009

^{Contemporary English version Ephesians 3:19}

¹⁹I want you to know all about Christ's love, althoughit is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.

Luke 1:39-41

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹A short time later Mary hurried to a town in thehill country of Judea. ⁴⁰She went into Zechariah's home,where she greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary'sgreeting, her baby moved within her.
The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth.

I had been doing so many things – note doing -when Ifirst started looking after my grandson 15 months ago I rather thought that I would care for him from 8.00 a.m. till about 3.30 p.m.and that would be the extent of my involvement – I forgot to factor in the TLC needed at the end of a long day for a mum who was struggling with leaving her baby, the dropping in of family on us at weekends and the evening babysitting. I marvel at my naiveté

I was 200 miles away from my parents when I had my children so I had no template for what happens when the children live just 200 yards away.

At the same time my other daughter had ended a 5-year relationship and she was quite fragile, so no sooner had I waved Mum and baby goodbye than I was involved a in different form of support as my other daughter came home from work.

Not that I would have missed a single precious moment of time with any of them

Also I was trying to fulfil the programme of work that doing a fine art degree involved. And I really struggled to find time to do that. The tin lid though, the thing that made me feel I was hanging on by my a single fingertip, was the retirement through ill health of a dear friend of mine who for 25 years had come and had gladly and energetically cleaned my house for me. So not only had I to find the Hoover, I had to learn how to switch it on!

I became emotionally and physically exhausted, and recognising that, Guy and I agreed that I would have a sabbatical from preaching,leading , funerals, welcoming, PCC, Leadership team. I didn’t think that that would mean I stopped going to church on a Sunday. But it did.
Suddenly.
It was just like falling off a cliff.
One minute Iwas involved in community activities, worship, the company of other Christians, the next nothing. It was just me, by myself and God. So what would happen?And a great worry surfaced

If you don’t come to Church you will fall away and lose your faith!! Nah! didn't happen

So I want to tell you about my experiences being filled with the spirit

I was doing an essay

Had to talk about artists and a particular work they had done. As usual I was working to deadline so had been sitting panic stricken,for what felt like three solid weeks- numb bum syndrome at the computer trying to finish it.

The artist I was looking at was Ben Nicholson. Born in 1894, B.N. was the foremost abstract
artist of the post war years till his death in 1982 He started by drawing landscapes of Cumbria

but after going to Paris and looking at works by people like Picasso and Braque. Le chat au botte was his 'Damascus moment'

he started producing these amazing white abstract relief paintings which were built up from the canvas.

He ended his life in Cornwall and sort of came a full circle by painting abstract views of Cornwall

The one I was looking at was the one commissioned for the Festival of Britain in 1951, which was not a relief but a painting.

Who here remembers the festival of Britain?

It measured 7 foot high and was 16 feet long and had a bit ofa chequered history, because after the Festival ended it was displayed in theExecutive lounge at Heathrow airport It had a lot of abrasions at a regular height on all three panels, roughly corresponding to the height of luggage trolleys. It was then moved to the area at the University of Edinburgh where students ate their lunch, and had many runs of pigeon droppings down the front of it -pigeons had gained access through a gap in a roof, perching on the mural and opportunistically swooping down to collect scraps of food. This is the one I absolutely loved something about the texture - sanding and the colour and the simplicity. The 'barely there' feel to it.

It always helps in an essay if you can find a quote by the artist and I started to look for one. I spent ages trawling through the Internet and the online university journals, and knew there was an interview by him but couldn’t find it. I was getting fairly tetchy at this point and decided to look in this book – (show huge book)one of those that seem to have been written just to emphasise how very intelligent the authors are and how very unintelligent you are. Every discipline has them from Theology to Sports Science!

So I sat on the sofa and without much hope looked in the index and bingo there it was the article I had spent an age looking for. When I turned to it the first phrase that leapt off the page was stars in their courses, which immediately reminded me of Psalm 8

³When I consider your heavens, the work of your

fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

And then I read this sentence and every word seemed to fizz in me like those sweets space dust? which fizz and explode on your tongue

‘After all, every movement of human life is affected by form and colour, everything we see, touch, think and feel is linked upwith it, so that when an artist can use these elements freely, it can be a tremendously potent influence in our lives’

The feeling I then had was of amazing presence of God - enfolded by the Spirit - I sat there feeling completely at one with God very moved

And this is what I feel when worshiping God which happens at the moment, not in a formal worship setting, when I am involved in a painting or looking after my grandson or walking in the woods or just chilling with my family.

So revisiting that experience happens a lot. My grandson seems to like saying the phrase moonandstars at least 20 times a day, I might see a bit of peeling paint or colours which remind me of the painting or I might just see a pigeon, or the painting pops into my head. And each time I re experience the sense of being at one with God which happened on that day

So although all that I did in Church had gone the reality of the Spirit of God is with me every day.

Ian Parkinson said to me once – you have been grabbed by God - and I still feel very grabbed

Time to reflect on how Spirit has been working in your life

ben Nicolson sermon sheet

Sermon base

Ephesians 3: 19
(Contemporary English version)

¹⁹I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all
that God is.

Festival
of Britain Mural 1951 (16 ft long, 7 ft high)

‘After all, every movement of human life is affected by form and colour,
everything we see, touch, think and feel is linked up with it, so
that when an artist can use these elements freely, it can be a
tremendously potent influence in our lives’

Ben
Nicholson ‘Notes on Abstract Art 1941

3rd year degree show

The best piece of work was a combined piece by Lesley Brewer and Emma Bennett - separately they were good - together amazing. That juxtaposition - element of surprise that occurred when putting the two ideas together is something I shall try in my work. Think of something that is directly opposite - the other end of the scale and put it in. I shall return and try to take a photo of it. Will print and use in resource file.