In the Wilderness: Preparing for Public Service (2)

Malcolm Guite is publishing on his blog the sequence of seven sonnets which have been commissioned to go with a sequence of paintings by the artist Adam Boulter on the theme of Wilderness. They will form part of the exhibition ‘In the Wilderness: Preparing for Public Service which will be installed for the whole of Lent in St. Margaret’s Westminster. 

The paintings and poems are a series of meditations on key turning points in Biblical and Church wilderness experience. Malcolm has described the way in which he and Adam worked on them as follows: 

'First he sent me the scriptural or patristic point of inspiration together with a sketch he had made, in situ, of the wilderness episode, for he is a chaplain in Amman in Jordan and has been able to journey through the desert himself and visit these sites. Then I composed the poem, drawing on both the scripture or church history and the sketch, and sent him the poem. Then he completed the painting having in mind both the initial sketch and the poem. It has been a remarkable and I think fruitful long distance collaboration, and I can hardly wait to see the paintings themselves when he and I meet for the opening night on the 17th of this month.'

In the meantime Adam has given permission for Malcolm to share the initial sketch book images he worked with, as well as the sonnets, so these are being posted in a series on his blog. If you want to see the finished paintings then do go to the exhibition which is open 9.00am - 4.00pm every day in Lent, at St. Margaret’s just next to Westminster Abbey and across from the Houses of Parliament.

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Malcolm Guite & Steve Bell - The Singing Bowl/Birth Of A Song.