My dear Friends
The day after 9/11 some people were doing something on the site of the tragedy. Other people, at a distance, wondered what it was and drew nearer to find out. Then they saw that a group of people were dancing, for the JOY of living.
And so we must hope that something good comes out of the terrible events last week in Norway. We have learned, and so said one of the Norwegian government ministers, that evil can happen anywhere, and is not just a result of Islamic terrorism. We learn from the Prologue of the Gospel of John that the Light was coming into the world, and that the darkness could not overpower the Light. In the original Greek, the darkness cannot even comprehend the Light.
There was a Norwegian man who was living in a cabin on the shores of the lake where the terrible incident happened. Having received a phone call from a friend, he took his boat out on several successive occasions and mangaed to rescue one hundred teenagers.
As the bells tolled from Oslo Cathedral and the people left hundreds of bunches of flowers, we can reflect that the reaction of the Norwegian people was one of a people wanting to affirm their democracy and their tolerance. That gives us hope for a better world.
In Peace
Sister Gila
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
More gifts
My dear Friends
I moved onto other artists just last weekend. Again, they were very different. The first one, Robin, is a photographer, taking interesting and unusual photos of the beach at Aldeburgh where Benjamin Brittten wrote much of his music and where there is a performing arts centre to this day. Robin specialises in interior landscapes, whereas her daughter, Isabel, paints large canvasses of sweeping colour, in dynamic blues, reds and yellows. There was one wonderful painting, almost like Cezanne, of a large bowl of yellow flowers.
Round the corner was Sue, a Jewish sculptor of some dimension. She was taught by Ester Joseph, whose amazing work I also went to see and which I will describe in a moment. Both sculptresses express the human condition on their work. Sue depicts some sorrow; a wonderful sculpture of figures like Adam and Eve(although she says they are not) being cast out of something like Paradise. A woman protecting her brood under a sort of canopy, and many more. I came away feeling very moved by her exhibits.
Going back to Esther; her figures are cast in stone and are lifesize. Sue was taught by Esther, although her figures are much smalller. Esther's figures really depict the fragility of our human condition, by the expression of the faces particularly. She uses different types of stone, some pink and I was amazed that such a slight figure as Ester could wield and mould such enormous figures.
Last but not least I visited the studio of Anna from Italy, near Lombardy. She does silk painting and they are really are exquisite, landscapes in the oriental style in a fine brush. I used my inner eye to gaze into the paintings and I didn't go unrewarded.
What a feast!
Shalom from Sister Gila
I moved onto other artists just last weekend. Again, they were very different. The first one, Robin, is a photographer, taking interesting and unusual photos of the beach at Aldeburgh where Benjamin Brittten wrote much of his music and where there is a performing arts centre to this day. Robin specialises in interior landscapes, whereas her daughter, Isabel, paints large canvasses of sweeping colour, in dynamic blues, reds and yellows. There was one wonderful painting, almost like Cezanne, of a large bowl of yellow flowers.
Round the corner was Sue, a Jewish sculptor of some dimension. She was taught by Ester Joseph, whose amazing work I also went to see and which I will describe in a moment. Both sculptresses express the human condition on their work. Sue depicts some sorrow; a wonderful sculpture of figures like Adam and Eve(although she says they are not) being cast out of something like Paradise. A woman protecting her brood under a sort of canopy, and many more. I came away feeling very moved by her exhibits.
Going back to Esther; her figures are cast in stone and are lifesize. Sue was taught by Esther, although her figures are much smalller. Esther's figures really depict the fragility of our human condition, by the expression of the faces particularly. She uses different types of stone, some pink and I was amazed that such a slight figure as Ester could wield and mould such enormous figures.
Last but not least I visited the studio of Anna from Italy, near Lombardy. She does silk painting and they are really are exquisite, landscapes in the oriental style in a fine brush. I used my inner eye to gaze into the paintings and I didn't go unrewarded.
What a feast!
Shalom from Sister Gila
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Gifts
My dear Friends
Every year the Cambridge artists open their studios to the general public. They started two weeks ago and I have been amazed at how God has showered them with gifts, all of which are unique.
I started on the South of the city, in a street lined with beautiful trees. The first artist I came across was Jane, who does striking still life, landscape and animal paintings in in a highly original style, combining Chinese painting methods with Western influences. I was very struck by a painting of Loch Rannoch, at the entry to the Scottish Highlands. I ascended to the first floor, and Jane's studio, and sar for a while in a lareg wicker chair.
Quite a contrast when I went on to Heloise! She is a young painter and paints bold and quite radical portraits, one of a handsome black young man. She also had two paintings which I could have sworn were Pre-Raphaelite-the style was almost identical. Heloise has four sisters and her mother was in the house, which has a quite definite feel of the turn of the twentieth century. Heloise's nudes were good too and lined the wall on the staircase leading up to the first floor.
Round the corner was Eithne(I suspect her name is Gaelic, although she sounds English) and some beautiful abstract paintings. The one I liked the best was of the standing stones on the isle of Harris in the Hebrides. Drawn from photos, it was nonetheless authentic and the dark red colur of the stones was striking.
It was nice to receive hospitality from these artists and to glimpse a little of their artistic life.
More later!
Sister Gila
Every year the Cambridge artists open their studios to the general public. They started two weeks ago and I have been amazed at how God has showered them with gifts, all of which are unique.
I started on the South of the city, in a street lined with beautiful trees. The first artist I came across was Jane, who does striking still life, landscape and animal paintings in in a highly original style, combining Chinese painting methods with Western influences. I was very struck by a painting of Loch Rannoch, at the entry to the Scottish Highlands. I ascended to the first floor, and Jane's studio, and sar for a while in a lareg wicker chair.
Quite a contrast when I went on to Heloise! She is a young painter and paints bold and quite radical portraits, one of a handsome black young man. She also had two paintings which I could have sworn were Pre-Raphaelite-the style was almost identical. Heloise has four sisters and her mother was in the house, which has a quite definite feel of the turn of the twentieth century. Heloise's nudes were good too and lined the wall on the staircase leading up to the first floor.
Round the corner was Eithne(I suspect her name is Gaelic, although she sounds English) and some beautiful abstract paintings. The one I liked the best was of the standing stones on the isle of Harris in the Hebrides. Drawn from photos, it was nonetheless authentic and the dark red colur of the stones was striking.
It was nice to receive hospitality from these artists and to glimpse a little of their artistic life.
More later!
Sister Gila
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