the gap between What do they do, The singers, tale writers, dancers, painters, Shapers, makers? They go there with empty hands, into The gap between. They come back with things in their hands. They go silent and come back with words, with tunes. They go into confusion and come back with patterns. They […]
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O glistening sunlight
Posted on by James Woodward
O glistening sunlight, O iridescence, O unique shining, The wedding of the Godhead: O burning jewel. The clothes you wear are noble They fall straight and clear; Your friendship is with angels: A citizen of the sacred. Come, enter into the palace of the King. Hildegard of Bingen
John Keble
Posted on by James Woodward
John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English churchman, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford. He was born in Fairford, Gloucestershire where his father, the Rev. John Keble, was Vicar of Coln St. Aldwyns. He attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford and, […]
On the need for Perspective
Posted on by James Woodward
One of my favourite pastimes is looking at paintings. There are two great dangers when looking at paintings. The first danger is that of being too close to the picture. All we see then is the scrubbed brush work, layers of streaky paint, fragments of colour. We need to be at a distance before the […]
Benedict
Posted on by James Woodward
Born to the Roman nobility. Twin brother of Saint Scholastica. Studied in Rome, Italy, but was dismayed by the lack of discipline and the lackadasical attitude of his fellow students. Fled to the mountains near Subiaco, living as a hermit in a cave for three years; reported to have been fed by a raven. […]
Relational Aesthetics
Posted on by James Woodward
FOR EVIDENCE OF ART’S recent love affair with “interactivity” and “connectivity,” one need look no further than the pair of digital art surveys currently playing at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. For less literal proof, this book is captivating and challenging ! As a young critic in […]
Whitehall
Posted on by James Woodward
Whitehall is a monument to British constitutional history, a curious, unsatisfactory muddle of royalty, fleeting republicanism, imperialism and bureaucratic compromise. No wonder Prince Charles is a defender of architectural tradition. Like love and marriage, power and architecture go together, only much, much more. When Henry VIII took over his old tutor Thomas Wolsey’s mighty […]
Saying the Unsayable
Posted on by James Woodward
I have been offering some reflections on the exhibition that took place in Centenary Square last week here are some image to give you a glimpse of how it all worked….
Thomas More and John Fisher
Posted on by James Woodward
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), also known as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and statesman who in his lifetime gained a reputation as a leading Renaissance humanist scholar, and occupied many public offices, including Lord Chancellor(1529–1532). More coined the word “utopia”, a name he gave to the […]
I said to my soul
Posted on by James Woodward
I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you Which shall be the darkness of God. As, in a theatre, The lights are extinguished, for the scene to be changed With a hollow rumble of wings, with a movement of darkness on darkness, And we know that the hills […]
Compassion, attachments, love and connections
Posted on by James Woodward
Further pictures from the Saying the Unsayable exhibition. We had a very large number of images to choose from to illustrate this theme and interestingly many that focussed on not only the value of peer friendships, but family and across generational connections.
Change and Decay in all around I see?
Posted on by James Woodward
The world round us is in a constant process of change and movement. Familiar buildings come and go. Nothing that is built will last forever. These images give us a glimpse of the movement and change that is at the heart of the familiar – even solid constructions. I wonder what associations you have with […]
Saying the Unsayable: Being Alive, hope and death
Posted on by James Woodward
The images here depict those aspects of living, dying, death that would not ordinarily be available for us to capture in our everyday lives here in the West Midlands. This first image has no text but allows you to imagine what happened before the bodies reached this place and what might happen next […]
Saying the Unsayable
Posted on by James Woodward
Over the next few days I want to share with you some reflections and pictures from an exhibition that will run in Centenary Square Birmingham from the 2nd through to the 4th of July 2009. Here is some background: How the exhibition came about: The Images project In this project we have used intentionally 2 […]
Love after Love
Posted on by James Woodward
the time will come when with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other’s welcome and say, sit here. Eat You will love again the stranger who was yourself Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the […]
Cyril of Alexandria
Posted on by James Woodward
Saint Cyril of Alexandria (c. 378 – 444) was the Pope of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th, and 5th centuries. He was a central figure in […]
Darkness:orange
Posted on by James Woodward
I listened in emptiness on the moor-ridge. The curlew’s tear turned its edge on the silence. Slowly detail leafed from the darkness. Then the sun Orange, red, red erupted Silently, and splitting to its core tore and flung cloud, Shook the gulf open, showed blue, And the big planets hanging. . From Ted […]
Is the Church over-managed?
Posted on by James Woodward
I commend this motion being out forward by the Diocese of Bradford at the next meeting of the General Synod. I wonder what the outcome might be??!! ‘Senior posts reduction in the Church of England’ Over recent years parishes across the country have been faced with considerable reductions in the number […]
Barbara Hepworth
Posted on by James Woodward
My house in Windsor is slowly becoming my new home through a process of adaption and sorting. Key in all this are my pictures. I finally found the spot for one of my favourites – a signed Hepworth Moon – very mystical and needing to avoid any direct sunlight. For those of you unfamiliar with […]
Alban
Posted on by James Woodward
Saint Alban was the first British Christian martyr. Along with his fellow saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three martyrs remembered from Roman Britain. Alban is listed in the Church of England calendar for 22 June and he continues to be venerated in the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox Communions.