ArtWay - Nicola Ravenscroft: The silent language of art

My latest interview for ArtWay is with the sculptor Nicola Ravenscroft and focuses on her bronze sculpture at the Royal Free Hospital which stands as a lasting tribute to the courage, compassion, and dedication of NHS staff:

'As a quiet peacemaker, a sculptor, a songwriter and a mother/grandmother, I seek out the universal languages that connect, and bring us together.

‍Agape – the pure, unconditional love a parent has for their child – is one of those languages. In their acts of self-sacrifice, the “peaceful warriors” of the NHS, and indeed all health workers across the world, were fighting for the lives of others.

Children represent the future. They have an innocent perspective that, if we allow it, can tenderly inform our adult vision.

Heaven belongs to little children: they are especially loved by God.'

For more on Nicola, click here for my Artlyst interview with Nicola, and here for an ArtWay Visual Meditation on her work. Click here for a poem published by Stride Magazine that was inspired by Nicola's series of 'in the language of angels' images. I have also written short stories about Nicola's mudcub sculptures (now called EarthAngels), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes.' The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King'. The third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'.

My other writing for ArtWay can be found at https://www.artway.eu/authors/jonathan-evens. This includes church reports, interviews, reviews and visual meditations.

ArtWay.eu has been hailed "a jewel in the crown of work in Christianity and the arts," and having come under the custodianship of the Kirby Laing Centre, the much-loved publication has entered an exciting new chapter in its story following the launch of a new website in September 2024.

Since its founding, ArtWay has published a rich library of materials and resources for scholars, artists, art enthusiasts and congregations concerned about linking art and faith. Founded by Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker in 2009, ArtWay's significance is reflected in its designation as UNESCO digital heritage material in the Netherlands.

In 2018, I interviewed ArtWay founder Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker for Artlyst on the legacy of ArtWay itself.

In the video above, the ArtWay team recounts the history of this much-loved resource and looks ahead
to an exciting future for ArtWay.

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Raphael Ravenscroft - ...and a little child shall lead...

International Times: The Edge of Chaos

My latest poem to be published by International Times is entitled 'The Edge of Chaos'. 

My earlier pieces for IT are an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a profile of Bill Fay, plus reviews of: 'Breaking Lines' at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, albums by Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey, also by Joy Oladokun and Michael Kiwanaku; 'Nolan's Africa' by Andrew Turley; Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone; Helaine Blumenfeld's 'Together' exhibition, 'What Is and Might Be and then Otherwise' by David Miller; 'Giacometti in Paris' by Michael Peppiatt, the first Pissabed Prophet album - 'Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired & profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse & inspire' - and 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

IT have also published several of my poems, beginning with 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published in Amethyst Review are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'. 

I am among those whose poetry has been included in Thin Places & Sacred Spaces, a recent anthology from Amethyst Press. I also had a poem included in All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the first Amethyst Press anthology of new poems.

'Five Trios' is a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The five poems in the series are:

• 'Barking';
• 'Bradwell';
• 'Broomfield';
• 'Pleshey'; and
• 'Runwell'.

These poems have been published by Amethyst Review and International Times.

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Michael McDermott - What In The World.

Unveiled Poetry Evening

Tim Harrold read a selection of his poems at Unveiled in St Andrew's Wickford this evening. His poems included: 'AntiChrists & False Prophets'; 'Not Enough Tears in the Sea'; 'The Insurrection of Resurrection'; 'Urchin Church'; and 'You are the Tribe of Bezalel', among others. 

Check his poems out at https://www.instagram.com/harrold.tim?igsh=dHFnMzF2dnY5d2I1 and find his Verses versus Viruses collection at https://redballoonpublishing.co.uk/our-books/ols/products/verses-versus-viruses-by-timothy-harrol.

My poems included 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'Barking' from my 'Five Trios' series, a poem about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey which draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. Both have been published by International Times. I also read several poems inspired by the art of Nicola Ravenscroft including 'The Language of Angels', which has been published by Stride Magazine.

Our Parish, and Wickford as a town, has historic links with Wickford in Washington County, Rhode Island, USA. These are links that we are currently seeking to re-establish and, as such, we have made contact with Fr Spencer Reece, who is Vicar of St Paul's in Wickford, Rhode Island. Fr Spencer is a prize-winning poet with a fascinating story in regard to life and ordination, as well as being a writer and artist. 

In my review of ‘Acts’, Fr Spencer's latest poetry collection, for Stride Magazine I wrote: 'He has written that 'A poet, like a priest, works with facts and mysteries: the facts mysterious, the mysteries factual' and has said that what he is after in poems or prose is 'telling the truth in the art'. Time, he suggests, “must somehow be dilated or pass before I can understand much of anything” but, when time has passed, 'in poetry, the autobiography becomes something else entirely, somehow selfless.' This is the essential movement in his life and work which, in the words of Jonathan Farmer, means that he 'offers pastoral attention to the wounded and discarded of the world—including, frequently, himself.' Poems, Reece suggests, are 'spiritual suitcases' which provide 'comfort in the hour of need.'

Tonight, I read a small sample of Fr Spencer's poems from his 'The Road to Emmaus' collection.

Check out the remaining programme of great events this term at Unveiled, our fortnightly Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church (7.00 – 9.00 pm, 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN):

Unveiled Summer Programme 2025

• 13 June (7.30 pm) – Open Mic Night organised with John Rogers. Everybody is welcome to come along and play, read, sing or just spectate. See you there for a great evening of live performance!
• 28 June (7.00 pm) – The Choral Scholars of St Martin-in-the-Fields in concert. The Choral Scholars sing for services, concerts and other events at St Martin’s, exploring a huge range of repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day.
• 4 July (7.00 pm) – An evening with Neil Tye. Hear British-born and Denmark-based artist Neil Tye speak about his work; paintings that entice the viewer to be immersed in their colours, shapes, and movement, where hidden images, feelings, or meanings can be revealed.
• 18 July (7.30 pm) – Eva Romanakova and Andrew Palmer in concert. Hear Mezzo-Soprano Eva Romanakova and pianist Andrew Palmer perform a wide selection of music including musical theatre, classical, opera, pop, jazz, folk and songs from the movies.

See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html and https://basildondeanery.co.uk/index.php/news/ for more information.

These events do not require tickets (just turn up on the night). There will be a collection to cover artist and church costs.

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Tim Harrold - A Blessing.

Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me

 

Here's the sermon I recorded as this Sunday's weekly sermon for the Diocese of Chelmsford (Mark 9:30-37):

The disciples had been arguing among themselves – nothing changes there, then, we might be tempted to think! They had been arguing about which of them was the greatest and thinking of what they could get out of the movement that Jesus began. What they wanted was prestige and power by being elevated over all the other disciples to what they thought of as the position of influence at the right hand of Christ. Jesus turned their thinking about what is important and about prestige and power on its head. In the kingdom of God, service; thinking of and care for others is what counts, not personal advancement, position or power. What can I do for you, not what can I do for me!

At a training weekend for new curates the then Bishop of Barking, David Hawkins, performed a handstand to demonstrate the way in which Jesus, through his teaching in the beatitudes, turns our understanding of life upside down. He was thinking of the way in which Jesus startles us as paradox, irony and surprise permeate his teachings flipping our expectations upside down: the least are the greatest; adults become like children; the religious miss the heavenly banquet; the immoral receive forgiveness and blessing. Bishop David's action turned our expectations, as curates, of Bishops and their behaviour upside-down at the same time that it perfectly illustrated his point.

Years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah had promised a child born for us who would establish endless peace upheld with justice and righteousness. Isaiah described a time when the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard would lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, with a little child leading them (Isaiah 11.1-9).

Isaiah's vision of the peaceable kingdom was centred on a child born to be the Prince of Peace. When that promised child came among us at Jesus, he said: ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs’; ‘Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’; ‘Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven’ and ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.’ The child born for us calls us to welcome children and become like children. The most radical reversal in a culture where elders were revered is that “the greatest among you must become like the youngest.”

In 2022, several of Nicola Ravenscroft’s EarthAngel sculptures were exhibited at St Andrew’s in Wickford. These bronze sculptures are of children, simply dressed in soft silk tulle, who hesitate in time, leaning forward, hopeful, poised to dive into life, eyes closed, dreaming into their future, anticipating things unseen. Nicola says that her EarthAngels are youngling messengers of peace and healing, guardians of our future.

One reason why the promised child calls us to become like children is that children see the peaceable kingdom, until adults teach them otherwise. Children don’t argue amongst themselves for prestige and position until adults have taught them to do so. That is why the children are our future and can lead the way into a better future. We need, as Thomas Traherne wrote, to unlearn the dirty devices of this world in order to become, as it were, a little child again that we may enter into the Kingdom of God.

By telling his disciples that “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all”, Jesus turns the meaning of greatness and leadership upside down. No longer are they to be understood in terms of garnering wealth and power for oneself. Now they are understood to be about service; giving your life that others might live. Jesus, as the servant King, says to us, ‘I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another’s feet. I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you.’

Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, in his statement on the coronavirus outbreak reminded us that: ‘Jesus came among us in the first place, to show us … how to live not simply as collections of individual self-interest, but how to live as the human family of God. That’s why he said love the Lord your God, love your neighbor as yourself. Because in that is hope for all of us to be the human family of God.’

Through her EarthAngels, Nicola Ravenscroft extends this call and example to include our care for the earth and the creatures it supports. Her sculptures are “earth’s messenger-angels: silently calling us all to live in peace with nature”: “Earth’s children are life’s heartbeat: they are her hope, her future ... they are breath of Earth herself. Creative, inquisitive and trusting, children are Earth’s possibility thinkers. They seek out, and flourish in fellowship, in ‘oneness’, and being naturally open-hearted, and wide-eyed hungry for mystery, delight and wonder, they embrace diversity with the dignity of difference.”

These are the children we are called to welcome, the children we are to become, the children to whom the peaceable kingdom belongs. Nicola’s EarthAngels stand together, peacefully, as friends, vulnerable and strong, silently singing out their call to change. These little children lead with trusting feet, plump and bare. The Prince of Peace is with them and calls us to let them lead the way. Will you be among those who follow?

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Raphael Ravenscroft - "... and a little child shall lead ..." Isaiah 11:6. 

International Times: A Parisian Epiphany and Vision

My latest review published by International Times is on Giacometti in Paris by Michael Peppiatt:

'This double portrait of the artist and the city he loved is Peppiatt’s letter of introduction for his readers to an artist whose idiosyncratic life and loves lie hidden behind the intense focus and in-your-face realism of the standing figures and heads he created.'

My earlier reviews for IT were of the first Pissabed Prophet album - 'Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired & profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse & inspire' - and 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford last Autumn. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'.

My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Kerry Livgren - To Live For The King.

Online launch for All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich

The online launch for the anthology of poems for Julian of Norwich is on Wednesday 20 September 2023, 19:00 - 20:00 BST. The launch features new poems read by contributors. Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/all-shall-be-well-poems-for-julian-of-norwich-online-launch-tickets-527733122977

All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the Amethyst Press anthology of new poems for Julian of Norwich is now available in print and as an e-book!

To celebrate the 650th anniversary of Julian of Norwich's visionary 'Shewings', here is 'All Shall Be Well', an anthology of new poems for Mother Julian, medieval mystic, anchoress, and the first woman to write a book in English. Lyrical, prayerful, vivid and insightful, these poems offer a poetic testament to Julian's enduring legacy of prayer and confidence in a merciful God who assured her that 'All Shall Be Well, and All Shall Be Well, and All Manner of Thing Shall Be Well.' The anthology has been edited by and comes with an introduction by Sarah Law, editor of Amethyst Review.

With contributions from: Susan Brice, Mark S. Burrows, Lance Carden, Carol Casey, Johanna Caton, O.S.B.. Sarah Cave, Ann Cefola, Jennifer Clark, Linda Collins, Jonathan Cooper, Scott Dalgarno, Keren Dibbens-Wyatt, Diana Durham, Jeffrey Essmann, Jonathan Evens, Ruth Gilchrist, Maryanne Hannan, James Harpur, Maura H. Harrison, Kale Hensley, Terry E. Hill, Angela Hoffman, Laura Reece Hogan, Erich von Hungen, Rosie Jackson, Elisabeth Engell Jessen, Sylvia Karman, Jane Keenan, Adrienne Keller, Desmond Kon, Irina Kuzminsky, Sarah Law, Tim Lenton, Shannon Lippert, Viv Longley, Rupert M. Loydell, Hannah Lucas, Tony Lucas, Marjorie Maddox, Marda Messick, Jennifer Davis Michael, Nessa O’Mahony, Tory V. Pearman, Ann Power, Frances Presley, Patrick T. Reardon, Merryn Rutledge, Deborah W. Sage, Maha Salih, Steven Searcy, Kathryn Simmonds, Susan Delaney Spear, Mark Tulin, Laura Varnam, Gail White, Martin Willitts Jr and Mike Wilson.

My poem for the anthology is based on a large painting 'The Revelations of Julian of Norwich' by Australian artist Alan Oldfield which is to be found at the Belsey Bridge Conference Centre in Ditchingham, Norfolk.

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To learn more about Julian of Norwich, please visit the Friends of Julian and consider supporting their work.

Amethyst Review is a publication for readers and writers who are interested in creative exploration of spirituality and the sacred. Readers and writers of all religions and none are most welcome. All work published engages in some way with spirituality or the sacred in a spirit of thoughtful and respectful inquiry, rather than proselytizing.

The Editor-in-chief is Sarah Law – poet (mainly), tutor, occasional critic, sometime fiction writer. She has published five poetry collections, the latest of which is 'Ink’s Wish'. She set up Amethyst Review feeling the lack of a UK-based platform for the sharing and readership of new literary writing that engages in some way with spirituality and the sacred.

Foue of my poems have appeared in Amethyst Review. They are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'. I have also had several poems in Stride magazine, including several reflecting on other poets, beginning with the artist-poet David Jones, continuing with Dylan Thomas and ending with Jack Clemo. To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, and here.

Additionally, several of my short stories have been published by International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures (now known as Earth Angels), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford last Autumn. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Gordon Bok, Ann Mayo Muir, Ed Trickett - All Shall Be Well Again.

International Times: Pissabed Prophet review

My latest review published by International Times is on the first Pissabed Prophet album:

"Zany in parts, moving in others, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more unusual, inspired & profound album this year. ‘Pissabed Prophet’ will thrill, intrigue, amuse & inspire."

Matt Simpkins, who is one half of Pissabed Prophet with Ben Brown, was a curate in the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry. He returned to St Andrew's Wickford in autumn 2022 to play a wonderful gig as Rev Simpkins and the Phantom Folk. He returns this year to play another gig at St Andrew's on Friday 17 November at 7.00 pm.     

See also my IT review of 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

Several of my short stories have been published by International Times including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford last Autumn. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'.

My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Pissabed Prophet - Evensong.

International Times: The Mudcubs and the Wall

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story entitled 'The mudcubs and the Wall'.

This story is the third of three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures, which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford last Autumn. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes.' The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King'.

I have been writing a range of pieces (stories, poems and reflections) in response to Nicola's works. Click here for a poem published by Stride Magazine that was inspired by Nicola's series of 'in the language of angels' images, here for my Artlyst interview with Nicola, and here for an ArtWay Visual Meditation on her work.

My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, The New Dark Ages, a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and The curious glasses, a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Joy Oladokun - Keeping The Light's On.

International Times: The Black Rain

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story entitled 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media.

My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect, and two stories about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures - 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes' and 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King'.

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Hurtsmile - Just War Theory.

International Times: 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King'

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story entitled 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King'. 

This story is the first of three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures, which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford last Autumn. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes.' 

I have been writing a range of pieces (stories, poems and reflections) in response to Nicola's works. Click here for a poem published by Stride Magazine that was inspired by Nicola's series of 'in the language of angels' images, here for my Artlyst interview with Nicola, and here for an ArtWay Visual Meditation on her work.

My other short stories to have been published by International Times are The New Dark Ages, a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies and The curious glasses, a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Moby - In This World.

Short story: The New Dark Ages

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story The New Dark Ages, a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies.

This is the third of my stories to be published by IT. The others are: The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes, the first of three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures which were recently exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford, and The curious glasses, a story based on the butterfly effect.

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Mark Heard - Treasure Of The Broken Land.

Story: The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story entitled 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes.' 

This story is the first of three about Nicola Ravenscroft's mudcub sculptures, which we are currently exhibiting at St Andrew's Wickford. I have been writing a range of pieces (stories, poems and reflections) in response to Nicola's works. Click here for a poem published by Stride Magazine that was inspired by Nicola's series of 'in the language of angels' images, here for my Artlyst interview with Nicola, and here for an ArtWay Visual Meditation on her work.

mudcubs… touching earth, bringing peace
5 September – 31 December 2022
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

St Andrew’s Church is usually open: Saturdays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm; Sundays from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon; Mondays from 1.30 to 3.45 pm; Tuesdays from 1.00 to 4.30 pm; Wednesdays from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon; and Fridays from 10.00 am to 1.30 pm.

See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

Children pay attention to the world finding wonder in it. A child’s journey from the front of the house to the back will ‘be full of pauses, circling, touching and picking up in order to smell, shake, taste, rub, and scrape’, ‘every object along the path will be a new discovery’ because ‘the child treats the situation with the open curiosity and attention that it deserves’ (Sister Corita Kent). That is why the children are our future and can lead the way into a better future. This is also why Jesus said a child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

. . mudcubs . . are Earth’s messenger-angels: they silently call us to live in PEACE .. with nature and with each other.

Previously exhibited at St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Cambridge, HSBC global headquarters Canary Wharf, Churchill College Cambridge, Cambridge University Faculty of Education and coming to us from the Talos Art Gallery’s ‘Natural Elements’ exhibition where they spent three months outdoors standing guard at the base of an old tree, these are sculptures to touch and feel and cherish. Nicola says: “Earth’s children are life’s heartbeat: they are her hope, her future ... they are breath of Earth herself. Creative, inquisitive and trusting, children are Earth’s possibility thinkers. They seek out, and flourish in fellowship, in ‘oneness’, and being naturally open-hearted, and wide-eyed hungry for mystery, delight and wonder, they embrace diversity with the dignity of difference.”

Nicola Ravenscroft is a British sculptor and songwriter whose sculpture has a lifegiving presence and a peaceful stillness. A graduate of Camberwell School of Art, London, UK she has owned and run a sculpture gallery and, as an art teacher, has nurtured many young people into celebrating their inherent creativity and thinking beyond the walls. Her sculpture installation With the Heart of a Child was part of a project exploring what the arts in transdisciplinary learning spaces can contribute to primary education. Nicola has been commissioned to create the Westminster National bronze memorial, honouring the sacrifice of NHS and careworkers on the covid front line.

Web: https://nicolaravenscroft.com / https://nicolaravenscroft.com/mudcubs/.

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Raphael Ravenscroft - "... and a little child shall lead ..."

Poem - The language of angels

My latest poem to be published by Stride Magazine is available from today. Entitled 'The language of angels,' it was written for Nicola Ravenscroft's series of 'in the language of angels' images.

For more on Stride click here, to read my other poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, and here, and to read a review written for Stride of two poetry collections, one by Mario Petrucci and the other by David Miller, click here. 

Stride magazine was founded in 1982. Since then it has had various incarnations, most recently in an online edition since the late 20th century. You can visit its earlier incarnation at http://stridemagazine.co.uk.

I have read the poetry featured in Stride and, in particular, the work of its editor Rupert Loydell over many years and was very pleased that Rupert gave a poetry reading when I was at St Stephen Walbrook.

Rupert Loydell is a poet, painter, editor and publisher, and senior lecturer in English with creative writing at Falmouth University. He is interested in the relationship of visual art and language, collaborative writing, sequences and series, as well as post-confessional narrative, experimental music and creative non-fiction.

He has edited Stride magazine for over 30 years, and was managing editor of Stride Books for 28 years. His poetry books include Wildlife and Ballads of the Alone (both published by Shearsman), and The Fantasy Kid (for children).

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John Tavener - Eternity's Sunrise.

St Andrew's Wickford: New archive displays plus sculptures and paintings

See the changing face of Wickford Town Centre at St Andrew's Church with new displays of archive photos showing shops in the Town. Much thanks to Basildon Heritage for the displays. Visit St Andrew's to see these archive photographs plus sculptures by Nicola Ravenscroft and paintings by members of Runwell Art Club.

The Runwell Art Club exhibition features animals, children and nature, as a complement to Nicola Ravenscroft's mubcub sculptures. These sculptures are of children intimately connected to the earth – reminding us of our duty of care to life, to love, to planet Earth.

Last night, for this week's Unveiled event, Basildon Heritage's Ken Porter gave a fascinating and informative talk on famous people from the Wickford area. 

mudcubs… touching earth, bringing peace
5 September – 31 December 2022
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

St Andrew’s Church is usually open: Saturdays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm; Sundays from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon; Mondays from 1.30 to 3.45 pm; Tuesdays from 1.00 to 4.30 pm; Wednesdays from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon; and Fridays from 10.00 am to 1.30 pm.

See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

Children pay attention to the world finding wonder in it. A child’s journey from the front of the house to the back will ‘be full of pauses, circling, touching and picking up in order to smell, shake, taste, rub, and scrape’, ‘every object along the path will be a new discovery’ because ‘the child treats the situation with the open curiosity and attention that it deserves’ (Sister Corita Kent). That is why the children are our future and can lead the way into a better future. This is also why Jesus said a child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

. . mudcubs . . are Earth’s messenger-angels: they silently call us to live in PEACE .. with nature and with each other.

Previously exhibited at St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Cambridge, HSBC global headquarters Canary Wharf, Churchill College Cambridge, Cambridge University Faculty of Education and coming to us from the Talos Art Gallery’s ‘Natural Elements’ exhibition where they spent three months outdoors standing guard at the base of an old tree, these are sculptures to touch and feel and cherish. Nicola says: “Earth’s children are life’s heartbeat: they are her hope, her future ... they are breath of Earth herself. Creative, inquisitive and trusting, children are Earth’s possibility thinkers. They seek out, and flourish in fellowship, in ‘oneness’, and being naturally open-hearted, and wide-eyed hungry for mystery, delight and wonder, they embrace diversity with the dignity of difference.”

Nicola Ravenscroft is a British sculptor and songwriter whose sculpture has a lifegiving presence and a peaceful stillness. A graduate of Camberwell School of Art, London, UK she has owned and run a sculpture gallery and, as an art teacher, has nurtured many young people into celebrating their inherent creativity and thinking beyond the walls. Her sculpture installation With the Heart of a Child was part of a project exploring what the arts in transdisciplinary learning spaces can contribute to primary education. Nicola has been commissioned to create the Westminster National bronze memorial, honouring the sacrifice of NHS and careworkers on the covid front line.

Web: https://nicolaravenscroft.com / https://nicolaravenscroft.com/mudcubs/.

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Cat Stevens - Where Do The Children Play?

Gospel and Culture: churches as meeting places

In 'Gospel and Culture: churches as meeting places' at St Andrew's Wickford today we explored the image of churches as estuaries. 

We recorded as much of the event as it was possible for us to do on the day but were unable to record every session. Recordings of sessions from the day can be viewed here (Sam Wells), here (Paul Carr), and here (myself). 

Estuaries, where salt water mixes with fresh in a confluence of river and tidal waters, are environments of preparation where, for example, young salmon, striped bass, and other fish come downstream after hatching.

Churches that regard themselves as meeting places of human and divine, gospel and culture, timeless truth and embodied experience, word and world, are functioning as estuaries. Creating cultural estuaries in churches happens when the creative capital of an artist, the social capital of a pastor or community leader, and the material capital of finance or business, converge.

We explored these ideas with:

• Revd Dr Sam Wells (Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields);
• Revd Paul Carr (Team Rector, Billericay and Little Burstead Team Ministry); 
• Nicola Ravenscroft (Sculptor); 
• Sarah Rogers (HeartEdge); and 
• Revd Jonathan Evens (Team Rector, Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry)

The programme included:

• Keynote speech – Revd Dr Sam Wells
• Engaging cultural offers – Paul Carr & Sarah Rogers in conversation with Jonathan Evens
• Engaging with artists – Nicola Ravenscroft in conversation with Jonathan Evens
• ‘Controversy and conversation: Art and churches’ – Jonathan Evens

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Woven Hand - Good Shepherd.

St Andrew's Wickford: Autumn art and heritage displays

 

Our autumn exhibition at St Andrew's Wickford focuses on children and nature. An archive display from Basildon Heritage has photographs of Wickford's children through the ages. Paintings by members of the Runwell Art Club feature animals, children and nature, while Nicola Ravenscroft’s mudcub sculptures are of children intimately connected to the earth – reminding us of our duty of care to life, to love, to planet Earth.

mudcubs… touching earth, bringing peace
5 September – 31 December 2022
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford, Essex SS12 0AN

Nicola Ravenscroft’s mudcubs are children intimately connected to the earth – reminding us of our duty of care to life, to love, to planet Earth.

This exhibition is complemented by a heritage display on Wickford’s children from Basildon Heritage (Web: http://www.basildonheritage.org.uk/) from 18 September – 22 October (followed by a display on Wickford’s shops) and an exhibition by members of Runwell Art Club (https://community.saa.co.uk/art-clubs/runwell-art-club/) featuring animals, children and nature. All their works are for sale.

St Andrew’s Church is usually open: Saturdays from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm; Sundays from 9.30 am to 12.00 noon; Mondays from 1.30 to 3.45 pm; Tuesdays from 1.00 to 4.30 pm; Wednesdays from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon; and Fridays from 10.00 am to 1.30 pm.

See http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html for fuller information.

Nicola Ravenscroft’s mudcubs are children intimately connected to the earth – reminding us of our duty of care to life, to love, to planet Earth.

Children pay attention to the world finding wonder in it. A child’s journey from the front of the house to the back will ‘be full of pauses, circling, touching and picking up in order to smell, shake, taste, rub, and scrape’, ‘every object along the path will be a new discovery’ because ‘the child treats the situation with the open curiosity and attention that it deserves’ (Sister Corita Kent). That is why the children are our future and can lead the way into a better future. This is also why Jesus said a child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

. . mudcubs . . are Earth’s messenger-angels: they silently call us to live in PEACE .. with nature and with each other.

Previously exhibited at St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Cambridge, HSBC global headquarters Canary Wharf, Churchill College Cambridge, Cambridge University Faculty of Education and coming to us from the Talos Art Gallery’s ‘Natural Elements’ exhibition where they spent three months outdoors standing guard at the base of an old tree, these are sculptures to touch and feel and cherish. Nicola says: “Earth’s children are life’s heartbeat: they are her hope, her future ... they are breath of Earth herself. Creative, inquisitive and trusting, children are Earth’s possibility thinkers. They seek out, and flourish in fellowship, in ‘oneness’, and being naturally open-hearted, and wide-eyed hungry for mystery, delight and wonder, they embrace diversity with the dignity of difference.”

Nicola Ravenscroft is a British sculptor and songwriter whose sculpture has a lifegiving presence and a peaceful stillness. A graduate of Camberwell School of Art, London, UK she has owned and run a sculpture gallery and, as an art teacher, has nurtured many young people into celebrating their inherent creativity and thinking beyond the walls. Her sculpture installation With the Heart of a Child was part of a project exploring what the arts in transdisciplinary learning spaces can contribute to primary education. Nicola has been commissioned to create the Westminster National bronze memorial, honouring the sacrifice of NHS and careworkers on the covid front line.

Web: https://nicolaravenscroft.com / https://nicolaravenscroft.com/mudcubs/.

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Raphael Ravenscroft - '... and a little child shall lead ...'