Category: Community

I has been a pleasure getting to know artist Andy Brooke (portfolio here) since his families recent relocation to Scotland.

He walked into the orbit of Quartz during lockdown. So, despite living in Dumfries, and the odd meeting with other artists professionally through the Stove Network, his first contacts with Quartz were online followed up with sporadic chats over coffee following as the precautions taken to protect the vulnerable in our communities varied. Interesting times!

Andy has been facing the challenges of working on one of the physically largest commissions he has undertaken so far. He did this during Covid, after moving house, and whilst living across the border from the country it has been be installed in. For it he has translated a design by painter James Dodds into stained glass, and this has recently been installed so you can see the light rippling through the image to wash against the walls of the hall – perhaps we will find a video for a follow up post!

“Dove and Blue Boat” is an updated and very topical version of an ark – a sanctuary in troubled times – with the biblical dove bearing an olive branch of peace from out of the sun. James says he like to think the window depicting a small vernacular blue boat and dove represents love, community, hope and salvation, from the hardship and anxieties of climate change, pandemic and war.

“Former boatbuilder James Dodds’ paintings of traditional boats evoke a deep human need for safety in troubled times”,

says Belinda Bamber in her article in Perspective magazine “Love is a Boat”

The boat is a type that would have been built locally, a type that James helped build when he was an apprentice boatbuilder. The boat has come to signify many things to him. He says “the boat is a vessel that carries my artistic ideas. For the refugee a boat can represent a way to be carried to safety. For a religious person a boat can represent a place of worship and salvation.”

The Holy Spirit is often represented as a dove. In the famous paintings by Piero della Francesca and Leonardo Da Vinci of the Baptism of Christ the dove flies straight down from the heavens. The dove is also a symbol of peace, with its olive branch it offers Noah hope when adrift in the great flood. The Ark is a sanctuary in the turbulent seas. The boat is an ancient symbol for the Church and still resonates. The word Nave comes from the Latin “Navis” for ship, and is still the word used in some churches for the central portion of the building they meet in.

For my part, it was a privilege to work on a window designed by an artist I admire, for a contemporary church building. The building itself is a dynamic addition to the traditional Victorian church it abuts.

Making the window was a kind of spiritual journey itself –  with the highs and lows experienced by us all as we go through this earthly life!

Andy Brooke

Keep your eyes open for more work by Andy, and keep up with his current work in Lincluden by following his blog here. (visit his website to read more and about the making of the window here)

We have passed through Christmas. The season is a welcome break in the drich winters of Scotland. There is light on the streets, and many people take the opportunity to do something special – even during Covid times. In the public gaze, all eyes are drawn to the stable and the birth of Jesus.

Beyond Christmas, some people might let their gaze be drawn beyond the glittering tinsel and into the cave where Jesus hides with his family while the status quo searches to snuff out this spark of creative potential. What gifts wait to be unwrapped as the story of Jesus unfolds?

The ways in which the story of Christmas has been told have tended towards simplifying the story into one of a succession of visits to the stable. This is used to emphasise very important messages but has become a bottleneck. The story is displayed as a universal story of peace and hope. It becomes an allegorical tale of humility. It becomes a moral encouragement to be generous.

What is lost through? How often do we think about what did the shepherds did after they left the stable? It could have been around two years between the shepherds and the Magi visiting. Perhaps rumours of strange occurrences and civil unrest starting with the shepherds tales had reached the ears of the palace in this time. Perhaps recent politics in Scotland and the wider UK can help us imagine the extent to which some of those in power will go to hold on to power. I am glad that despite the polarisation in society there hasn’t been a return to the troubles and violent clashes that took place in my childhood. Living in an echo chamber both online of off it can encourage false confidence in ideas which seem good, but have evil long term consequences.

Sparks are the ignition of fires though. If we spend time in the stable, perhaps we can learn more about the character of Jesus and this can help us learn about the character we can unwrap. The story of the Magi reveals God placing a message in the stars and ways to read that message in human minds. Laying down kindling in which the spark can catch, for a fire which will illuminate the whole of time.

If we stand with Jesus and look out where he leads, what journeys have been prepared for us to find?

The following is a story of how one phrase led to a transformation in the way the teller saw everything. It is described as a cannonball moment to relate it to the life of Ignatius. Perhaps in the story I am telling in this post it could be described as a spark, or the process of unwrapping a present.

Take some time out to reflect.

What moments have you experienced this Christmas time?

If you pass through the bottleneck of Christmas, what potential do you see as your vision opens up?

In what ways might a treasure hidden in a Galloway field for around 1000 years be linked with gifts given in Bethlemhem 2000 years ago?

What could this mean for us in the present moment?

Find out some answers and more questions by coming along to the contemporary service in St John’s church 6pm of Sunday the 9th.

… you could also find more about the treasure – and particular the pot – by visiting the National Museum of Scotland website (or the Hoard exhibition in Kirkcudbright)

(Covid precautions will be in place, but please do a lateral flow before you go…)

This Sunday (the 19th of December) we have our monthly Forest Church meeting the Stove are creating an interesting installation called http://www.wordsmithcrafts.co.uk/quartz2024/activities/forest-church/#FCLooksLike

The Tower of Light

This seemed like just the sort of event that could be a shared spiritual space. It explores themes of light and darkeness that are core to the Christmas story. It is a public artwork that many would classify as “Secular” – and as it is one night only, it is certainly tied to the present moment!

However, a theme in #SensingSpirituality is recognising the potential for experiencing sacred moments in ordinary events. This blurs assumed boundaries, and breaks social rules. This also makes #SensingSpirituality a dangerous activity and so the way in which it is carried out, and talked about needs tui be rooted in love and carried out with care.

Light sources, however, illuminate rather than demanding that people look straight at them. The theme of becoming people of light in the gospel affirms a confidence that people know how to act, and can have the grace to be gentle in their actions. It may be difficult to find words, and that is one of the reasons Quartz uses the visual arts to communicate, but as a wider community we need to learn how to do this in way that can include everyone.