SK Expressing herself !

There is nothing more pleasurable than seeing young people, with wide eyes and open hearts, dreaming big, expressing them selves resonantly  and making no apology for their free-thinking expressive and creative mindsets and attitudes to life! It was therefore with great pleasure that I attended the Thames Valley Collage end of year Art Exhibition. I was invited by one such young person, a truly inspirational 'up and coming' artist in her own right and a dear friend. She exhibited a full spread of artistic delights which I captured and now share with you here, enjoy!

A woman by SK

An art/craft/poetry/prose project inspired by The Diary of Ann Frank by SK

An interesting artistic presentation contrasting the hardness of Shylock, (a character from Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice'  with his softer side represented by the flowers. By SK

A really imaginative and interesting piece with a backdrop of words from Shylock's speech in a scene from the play where he shows his softer side.

This piece is a combination of dance moves from a routine SK taught a group of children at the 

Reading Youth Theatre which was incorporated into a  play this week. The theme is;

  'Life, Death, Heaven & Hell' by SK

She did not specify which image represented each one, it was for the individual to interpret it in their own way after reading the words written on each body. The words talk of how one can not make it to heaven without Christ, a powerful evangelism and artistic piece. 

SK is really coming into her own, finding her voice and it shows! She is a fairly new Christian who got saved through and evangelistic event that my Church carried out last September at her collage and she has held strong and faithful to God ever since. Her salvation in Christ has really had a complete impact on her life and strongly influences her art which gives a refreshing way to view the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her work poses questions and is thought provoking without forcing a answer on the viewer which is nice as it therefore allows one a lot of artistic room to see for oneself rather than being told what to think which I like. She thinks out of the box simply because she has never been in proverbial 'box' which shows in her work and the subjects she chooses. Her Ann Frank's diary inspired project was done to contrast the Forest of Dean with Ann Frank's life, not an easy assignment which was self chosen. She contrasted the two well which you can see as you look through the book she made out of her old Dutch passport, a nationality she shares with Ann Frank and bringing a personal touch to her work. 

Overall I think that she has amazing talent and a really great outlook on life and art. She is bold and wears her heart in her art for all to see; with each piece you almost feel like you get a peek through the window to her soul. She does somehow seem to be holding herself back a little, this may be due more to her not quite deciding what form of art she wants to pursue specifically or maybe a little lacking in confidence? At the tender age of 17 she has achieved much already and as far as I can see has a bright future ahead of her! 

The road less travelled

The tree lined street

This is one of my favourite poems by Robert Frost, I hope you like it too...

The Road Less Travelled

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

A moment of clarity

It was mid October 2009 when I realised that my life was going to change forever and that I was at a turning point in my life as a result of an inexplicable illness that befell me earlier that summer...

My passion for life, people and capturing the moments that make you smile as you remember days gone by started some five years earlier so it was a natural thing to pick up my camera and decide to capture how I saw the world to share (with anyone who would care!). So I did simply pick it up and go out into the world and soon enough I bumped into Peter, a lovely man with a fantastic snow white beard. I stopped him and asked if I could take his picture, right there on the street! And as i begun to take several shots as he told me of his life, "A moment of clarity" was born, a priceless look on his face as he looked up to the heavens...

At that moment I had a moment of clarity... everything does happen for a reason, even sickness of the inexplicable kind!

Up until that moment, I looked but I did not see nor appreciate the beauty of all creation around me which sings of its creator... so my journey began...