Between: stories

Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 March 2025

Artlyst - An Uncommon Thread: Hauser & Wirth Somerset

My latest exhibition review for Artlyst is on ‘An Uncommon Thread’, Hauser & Wirth Somerset, with a mention also of the work of Ernst Blensdorf in Bruton:

"‘An Uncommon Thread’ is part of an ongoing Hauser & Wirth Somerset initiative that champions emerging and mid-career artists. The exhibition features 10 contemporary artists driven by curiosity and inventive approaches to materiality and process. Each artist shown demonstrates a commitment to the integral role materials and techniques play in their creative process, employing unexpected painting surfaces, adapting formal craft traditions and repurposing discarded products into compelling works. Use is made of a wide range of different materials including sanyan fabric, latex, satin, beading, black oyster anchor bands, an aeroplane engine fan cover, and Hebridean fleece, among others.

As a result, the multidisciplinary exhibition highlights the transformative power of unconventional mediums in evoking personal and collective memories while also demonstrating how reuse and reclamation in the creation of environmentally charged works can shine a spotlight on the damage done to the environment by human greed. The 10 artists, therefore, invite viewers to engage with the rich stories woven into each work through individual investigations of identity, tradition, nature, fantasy and the environment."

For more on Ernst Blensdorf see here and here..

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Andy Squyres - You Bring The Morning.

Saturday, 7 October 2023

Epiphany: Telling an Alternative History of Modern Art

My latest article is for Epiphany, the magazine of Epiphanyart, an ecumenical society of Christian artists in Britain formed over 70 years ago and affiliated to the international movement Société Internationale des Artistes Chrétiens (SIAC) which supports national Christian arts events in many countries.

Epiphanyart aims: 1.To bring the work of Christian artists to the notice of churches and the public; 2. To provide opportunities for mutual support and encouragement to its members; 3. To provide a resource for exhibition organisers and others to contact and commission artists via its website; and 4. To serve as a focus for all forms of creativity.

This edition of Epiphany features: a review and reflections on the 'Disparate Threads' exhibition; Helen Armstrong on commissions at St Peter's Hove; poetry by Janet Wilkes; Vision for a National Christian Arts Festival; John Armstrong on Joy; and an obituary for Rosemary Roberts.

In my article I give an overview of the history of modern art flagging up the religious influences in order to counter the traditional narrative of modern art as a secular enterprise:

"... this story is not yet consistently or thoroughly told in the standard art histories of modern art, and that matters. From an art historical point of view, it matters because significant strands within the
story of modern art are absent from it and the story, as a whole, is diminished and incomplete.

From the perspective of emerging artists, it matters because, for those wishing to explore spirituality, their range of reference and role models is lessened. For practising artists, it has mattered because, for those wishing to explore spirituality, opportunities to exhibit and sell work have been constrained. For the Church and other faith communities, it matters because the traditional telling of the story, which excludes spirituality, privileges and promotes secularism.

The telling of stories matters because stories are what we live by or within. To see a change maintained in the way this story is told, we all need to be involved in its telling and to be those who tell the story in as great a breadth and depth as we each can manage."

In my first article for Epiphany, I gave an account of two war-time artists who made their way to Britain and ended up making an important contribution to the cultural life of the country through their art.

Join Epiphanyart to receive Epiphany magazine regularly.

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Ed Kowalczyk - Angels On A Razor.

Wickford Remembers

See the 'Wickford Remembers' display at St Catherine's Wickford until 12 November. Archive photographs and stories of those who served in the two World Wars. Our thanks to Basildon Heritage for the display. See also the War Memorial and Commonwealth War Graves at St Catherine's.

Also, 'Wickford Heroes': A talk by Steve Newman, 3 November 2023, 7.00 pm, St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN.

Hear Steve Newman of the Wickford War Memorial Association and author of ‘Wickford Heroes - The Wickford & Runwell Roll of Honour Book’ speak about the War Memorial & some of those from Wickford & Runwell who made the supreme sacrifice in the World Wars.

Part of ‘Unveiled’, the fortnightly Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church.

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Mark Knopfler - Remembrance Day.

Sunday, 10 September 2023

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.

Amazon US
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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.

Saturday, 19 August 2023

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.

Saturday, 4 March 2023

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.

Saturday, 5 November 2022

International Times: The curious glasses

International Times, the Magazine of Resistance, have just published my short story entitled 'The curious glasses'.

This story, which is based on the butterfly effect, can be found at https://internationaltimes.it/the-curious-glasses.

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Bruce Cockburn - The Rose Above The Sky.

Sunday, 30 October 2022

As we cry out in grief God meets us

Here's the reflection I shared in tonight's Commemoration of the Departed Service at St Andrew’s Wickford:

Psalm 23 is a picture of life. Our lives contain both times of refreshment and joy – those times by the still waters and in the green pastures – and times of trial and loss – as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. These times of joy and times of trial are our common experience of life. But this Psalm says more. It says that God is with us in all of these experiences. He leads us beside the still waters and walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. He can do this because in Jesus he has experienced human life for himself. God understands and will be alongside us in our grief.

How can that be, particularly when grief involves a whole mix of different emotions at different times – anger, sadness, love, guilt and numbness – which mean that it is a very individual experience? All we can really do, as a result, is to share our experiences of how it has been for us. That is what Alfred Tennyson did in his poem ‘In Memoriam’, a sequence of lyric poems written over a 17-year period which comprise a requiem for the poet's beloved Cambridge friend Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly of a cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna in 1833. Tennyson then wrote memorably again on the subject of death in ‘Crossing the Bar’ after he had survived a serious illness. Shortly before he died, Tennyson told his son, whom he had tellingly named Hallam, to "put 'Crossing the Bar' at the end of all editions of my poems." Just as Tennyson memorably shared his experience of God with him in his grief, I would like to do the same.

My younger brother, Nick Evens, died on 11th November 1999 in a plane crash in Kosovo. He was on a UN commissioned plane taking relief workers into Kosovo to work on reconstructing the country following the conflict there. Nick was part of Tearfund’s Disaster Response Team. He had been in Kosovo working with Kosovan villagers to rebuild homes, had returned home for a short break, and was then returning to continue work on the rebuilding programme.

The plane went off course as it neared Pristina Airport and crashed in nearby mountains. I remember taking a phone call from my parents who had been notified that contact had been lost with the plane and feeling absolutely unable to accept or comprehend the news. This was something that simply could not be happening.

My father and I were flown to Rome by Tearfund to wait for news together with the families of the other 23 people who died in the crash. After a few days we were flown to Kosovo to see the crash site for ourselves. On arrival at Pristina Airport, we were loaded into helicopters and flown the short distance into the mountains and over the site of the wreckage. This was the worst moment for each one of us. As we saw the small pieces of the plane strewn over the mountainside, we knew exactly what had happened to our loved ones and were faced full-on with the reality of their death.

When we returned to Pristina Airport, some refreshments had been organised for us in a tent and members of Tearfund who had worked with Nick had travelled to the Airport to be with us. We sat and listened as they told us about the effect that Nick had had on the Kosovan people with whom he had worked and also on other members of the team as they had valued his friendship, support and advice. As they talked, the tears flowed; theirs and ours and, I believe, God’s as he was with us at the time enabling us to express our grief. But, as they talked, I also had a growing sense that Nick had gone into God’s presence and had been welcomed with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In that moment I glimpsed something of the glory into which Nick had entered and that glimpse continues to sustain and strengthen me in my loss.

Over subsequent days, I heard many more stories of the way in which Nick’s life had influenced others and, over the years since, I have seen the way in which the inspiration he provided has led others to continue the work that he began. Young people whose lives were turned around through the youth project that Nick worked for have continued his youth work and his charitable work in Uganda while Nick’s involvement with Tearfund inspired another member of our family to join their Disaster Response Team. In these ways, the stories about Nick that begun to be told at Pristina Airport have continued to be told and in the telling my sense that God is alongside me in my grief and that Nick has been welcomed into glory has grown.

My experience of grief suggests that it is as we cry out in our grief that God meets with us. He is alongside us through his Spirit and will speak for us in groans that words cannot express. We should not be afraid of tears, of memories or of stories, as they are an expression of the love we feel. As we share our grief together, we may catch a glimpse of the glory that waits to be revealed to us and into which our loved ones have entered and that glimpse can sustain us as we re-enter our everyday lives. In these and other ways God offers to lead us through the times of trial until we come to live with him forever.

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Delirious? - Find Me In The River.

Friday, 23 September 2022

Unveiled Open Mic Night

The Ladygate Scribblers meet in the St Andrews Centre on Mondays at 2.00pm. Eleven of their members read at the Unveiled Open Mic Night. Their leader Debra Webb introduced the group to the Unveiled audience. Tim Harrold read from Verses Versus Viruses, a collection of 28 'crafted prophetic' poems during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. They chart a personal voyage through that spring and a response to the shifting spiritual atmosphere over that period. We also saw four of his Endeavour films and several of his assemblages.

The next Unveiled evening sees Simon Law in Concert - Friday 30 October, 7.30 pm. Prior to Ordination in 1996, Simon had spent 20+ years playing in Christian bands and working for an evangelistic charity, “The Wavelength Trust” mainly doing outreach in secondary schools; colleges & universities; youth clubs; and prisons. In 1975 Simon played in the British Youth for Christ band, “Really Free” (with Cliff Bergdahl) and then fronted: “Sea Stone”, “INTRANSIT” and “Fresh Claim”; doing hundreds of gigs across the UK and Europe. All of his musical output is published by Sea Dream Music and released through Plankton Records.

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Tim Harrold - Endeavour.

Wednesday, 10 August 2022

Walking Back Home and Short Stories Volume 2

Never one to shy from telling stories, Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross is now telling his own life story in a new book. But there's also more music too. He says: ‘For all these years I’ve told stories. Sometimes these days I also tell them on the radio. I’ve met some amazing people and their stories need told too."

His memoir, ‘Walking Back Home’, has recently been published. He writes: "In the book I write about growing up in Dundee, my first forays into music and my life with Deacon Blue. I also discuss my relationships with faith, politics, and the ever-changing challenges of being a musician."

His latest album Short Stories Vol2. is also out now: "I’ve always been interested in telling stories. Most of the stories have become songs but some stories take a little longer. A couple of years ago I started to write down some longer memories which didn’t fit as snugly into verses or choruses. I hope people might enjoy the stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them down."

Read his interview with Lorraine Wilson here.

I'm looking forward to seeing Ricky Ross at Emmanuel Billericay on the Short Stories Vol2 tour. Read a review of his performance at Emmanuel on the first Short Stories tour, a gig which I also saw.

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Ricky Ross - Bethlehem's Gate.

Friday, 29 July 2022

Signs of Hope, Gospel and Culture

HeartEdge is active in Essex and in the Diocese of Chelmsford through two hubs; the Harlow Archdeaconry Learning Hub (see https://www.facebook.com/Learning-Hub-545693942608410) and Shoeburyness and Thorpe Bay Baptist Church (see https://www.stbbc.org.uk/heartedge). A number of excellent awareness events have already been held as a result, that have grown and deepened the network here.

The next focuses on Congregation and is called ‘Signs of Hope’. This is an evening at Shoeburyness and Thorpe Bay Baptist Church on Wednesday 14 September beginning at 7.30 pm where Rev Erica Wooff, Rev John Goddard and Rev Claire Nicholls will tell stories from their congregations. To book a place email Nicky Snoad at nicky.snoad@stbbc.org.uk. Then, on 8 November, there will be a similar event focusing on Culture.

In between is a further opportunity to explore the relationship between churches and Culture, this time with Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, on whose theology much of HeartEdge’s thinking is based. Sam Wells sees churches as meeting places of human and divine, gospel and culture, timeless truth and embodied experience, word and world. As a result, they are like estuaries.

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 the human and divine are essentially functioning as estuaries. Creating cultural estuaries in churches happens when the creative capital of an artist, the social capital of a minister or community leader, and the material capital of finance or business, converge.

Explore these ideas further with Sam Wells, Revd Paul Carr (Team Rector, Billericay and Little Burstead Team Ministry), Nicola Ravenscroft (Sculptor), and myself in ‘Gospel and Culture: Churches as meeting places’ at St Andrew’s Wickford on Tuesday 20 September, 10.30 – 3.30 pm. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gospel-and-culture-churches-as-meeting-places-tickets-391772731787.

For more information about HeartEdge, see https://www.heartedge.org/, including information about their online learning and support groups.

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Raphael Ravenscroft - and a little child shall lead.

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Gift to the City: A Passion Art Project

Passion Art is launching a massive hidden art trail in Manchester to remind us we are not alone.

During the last two weeks in July, two artists, ceramicist Rachel Ho, and artist and designer Micah Purnell will leave 240 beautiful ‘gifts to the city’ to find, to remind us to embrace our stories of loss and self-worth.

18 July - 29 July

www.gifttothecity.org

Hidden in the nooks and crannies of the city centre, the two artists will leave 120 Kintsugi pots and 120 You Are Enough oak engravings which the public are invited to find, and keep them as gifts. The art will be placed on the streets of Manchester between the 18th-29th July.

Rachel Ho (https://rachelho2020.wixsite.com/rachelhoceramics) is a ceramicist, who has exhibited nationally including London. Her work is inspired by Kintsugi, an ancient Japanese method of mending broken pottery with gold, resulting in more beautiful and precious pots. Rachel explains “The pots symbolise the fragility of our lives, the scars are then filled with gold lustre; expressing the mystery of new beginnings and new life even in our deepest pain. They pots represent all our stories of loss and reflect the beauty of hope, healing and renewal. I am drawn to clays delicate nature. My aim is to make work that evokes a sense of beauty and mystery. Just as ancient pots have told stories for thousands of years, I aim to use my pots to tell stories of healing.”

Micah Purnell (www.micahpurnell.com), whose clients include The Guardian, Elbow and the NHS, is a text based artist who has exhibited in group shows alongside Turner prize winner Douglas Gordan and global street artist JR. The award-winning artist and designer, renowned for his typographic work that took over Wembley Park during the Euros works to bring the humanities to public spaces. His well known phrase ‘You are Enough’ has appeared across the city over the last few years as giant banners and billboards. He says ‘My work is a lot about togetherness and self-worth. The oak reminders are made by Chapel-in-the-fields who use wood as a vehicle to work with people who have mental health vulnerabilities. I hope the phrase You Are Enough will help people to cut themselves some slack from the ever demanding voices in society and recognise the spark of beauty in themselves.”

Each gift will be accompanied by an invite to share anonymously how the artworks resonated with those who find them at www.gifttothecity.org where you’ll be able to read stories of difficulty and hope as the artworks are found.

The Passion Art project, entitled ‘Gift to the City’, is dedicated to founder Lesley Sutton, who, after five years of living with terminal illness, is drawing very close to the end of this life. Lesley founded Passion Art to build bridges between sacred and secular spaces through art. She is as beautiful in dying as she has been in living.

The project aims to help people feel seen and less alone, to recognise we all have our daily battles and to create a sense of hope and healing.

Rachel Ho: https://rachelho2020.wixsite.com/rachelhoceramics

Micah Purnell: 07990 533 749 www.micahpurnell.com

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Manchester Orchestra - I Know How To Speak.

Friday, 13 August 2021

Artlyst - Tino Sehgal: Location, Nature And Pandemic – Blenheim Palace

My latest review for Artlyst is of Tino Sehgal at Blenheim Park and Gardens:

'There are three strands to Sehgal’s work here: responses to location, nature, and the pandemic. These can be witty juxtapositions, as with the location of ‘Kiss’ in front of Massimiliano Soldani Benzi’s ‘The Medici Venus’ and ‘The Clapping Faun’. The contrast bringing to the fore the joy and challenge of sensual expression in the live encounter as opposed to its taming in the aristocratic acceptance of classical form. Then, in the first scene I encountered involving the swarm – a chanted work in the East Courtyard – came the most explicit reference to Sehgal’s wish to address the global sustainability challenge of the coming decades.

However, the strongest strand to emerge is a celebration, after a long year distanced one from another, of the fleeting, immaterial magic of human connection through bodies together in spaces and the everyday poetics of people’s lives and stories. After our experience of pandemic, that felt more than enough.’

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Articles -

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Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People.