Saturday 20 May: 9.30 am – 4.00 pm, Wickford and Runwell Art TrailSee
artworks by Val Anthony, William Butterfield, Enid Chadwick, Antony Corbin, Christine Daniels, David Folley, David Garrard and Julia Glover at
St Andrew’s, St Catherine’s and St Mary’s churches, plus the
photographic exhibition at the Salvation Army,
Jackie Burns’ Space Art at St Andrew’s,
Tim Harrold’s assemblages at St Catherine’s and
paintings by Pam Jones at St Mary’s.
Art talks/tours at St Andrew’s (10.00 am), St Catherine’s (11.30 am), and St Mary’s (2.00 pm). The artworks in these churches feature in a
case study for the
Gods' Collections project. Jackie Burns will paint live at St Andrew's Church throughout the day and Mike Fogg will give a talk on Composition in Photography at The Salvation Army at 11.00 am.
Jackie E. Burns is a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and seeks to foster the inquisitive joy of art and astronomy while inspiring people to the awe and beauty of space and astronomy. Her One Beautiful World exhibition of space art by Jackie E. Burns is at St Andrew's until 23 July 2023.
Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May, 10.00 am to 4.00 pm: One Beautiful World photographic exhibition by Compass Photography at The Salvation Army, Jersey Gardens, Wickford SS11 7AE.Photographs by
Mike Fogg and
Terry Joyce of the Essex based
Compass Photography Group whose approach is summed up in a quote attributed to Matt Hardy, a Dorset based photographer: “Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing beauty is what separates a snapshot from a photograph.”
Mike Fogg will give a free talk (50mins) at 11am in The Salvation Army on the Saturday, as follows:
Composition in Photography – Mike Fogg FCIPS: When you “take a photograph” you are really creating a work of art! Many of the same principles that apply to artists apply to photographers. In this session, Mike will use examples of his own “good” and “bad” photographs to highlight a number of easy to grasp techniques which will allow participants to improve their own photographs. In both 2019 and 2021 Mike won an international photography competitions with his images.
Saturday 20 May: 4.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church: One Beautiful World poetry reading with Tim Harrold and Jonathan EvensTim Harrold is a poet who creates images of profound challenge and change, of pause and process, of chrysalis and catalyst. His most recent publication is
‘Verses versus Viruses’.
Jonathan Evens is a creative writer whose poems and stories have been published by
Amethyst Review,
International Times and
Stride Magazine.
What to see at St Mary's, St Catherine's and St Andrew's:St Mary's Runwell is a magnificent mediaeval building which boasts an interesting and mixed history. The church is often described by both visitors and regular worshippers as a powerful sacred space to which they have been drawn. This powerful impact comes in part from the art and architecture in the space.
The colouring of the screen at St Mary's and the murals the one pillar in the south aisle dates from the 1930s-1950s and was undertaken, by his sons, under the guidance of then Rector, Revd John Edward Bazille-Corbin to 'reproduce as closely as possible' the decoration of the medieval church. The painting of St Peter and the crucifix below it were by Anthony Corbin and are 'restorations of medieval work which had been well and truly scraped out, but the traces of which could, at that date, still be faintly seen.' The large painting of 'The Baptism of Our Lord' by Enid Chadwick of Walsingham was gifted to the church by Fr David John Silk Lloyd. Local woodworker David Garrard has crafted Stations of the Cross using the motif of the Runwell Cross which have been placed around the church. Garrard also built an altar for the side chapel together with an inscribed cross on the side chapel wall.
The building of St Catherine’s Wickford is beautiful and peaceful and is like a beacon on the hill. There has been a church on the site for hundreds of years but the present building dates back to 1876 and is Grade II listed; however, there are records showing a church has been in existence since 1154. Throughout most of its existence, the story of St Catherine's has been one of a small country church serving a village community. From the late 20th Century, this role has changed dramatically and today it ministers to a large bustling town. Although much of the village has been lost under bricks and tarmac, the church and churchyard still seem to retain an atmosphere of the rural heritage of Wickford's past.
The reredos at St Catherine's was given to the church by Vicar and Churchwardens of All Saints' Margaret Street. It is by William Butterfield, the architect of All Saints, and is said to be one of the finest of its kind. Additionally, on the West wall of the church is a small part of a wall painting, believed to have been salvaged from the previous building. The church also has a range of stained-glass, each with their own dedication, which range from the Madonna and Child to the Crucifixion and on to depictions of saints.
St Andrew’s Wickford was rebuilt in the 1960s: the church’s simple, spacious interior has been enhanced over the years by the skill of church members who have designed and made banners, window paintings, altar frontals and kneelers. St Andrew's has stained-glass by local artists Val Anthony and Christine Daniels and banners by Julia Glover, plus a hidden painting by internationally exhibited artist David Folley. Folley's large 'Descent from the Cross' is a major work by an artist who has exhibited widely across the UK and Europe, including at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, in London, in Sweden and Germany, and at important contemporary international art fairs in Edinburgh and Dublin.
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