Christian Art

Hi folks! I hope that you are fine. I haven’t written for a while as I have had to come to England urgently.

I just wanted to share with you one of the websites I follow daily, which is called Christian Art. It combines a painting (or sculpture or illuminated manuscript page) with the gospel reading of the day. Here is the description of the site (quoted from them).

Christian Art’s mission is to offer a pathway to grow closer to God through the beauty of art and the Gospel.

They offer a unique approach to daily Gospel readings. Each day, they select a work of art relevant to the day’s scripture passage and offer a short written reflection on the two.

With over 70,000 subscribers, their goal is to bridge the gap between the art world and the Catholic Church to facilitate a magnificent pairing of art and the Christian Faith.

Founded by Patrick van der Vorst, the Christian Art team brings together a global group of writers, translators, developers and artists who hope to bring people closer to the Christian faith using art and beauty.

Father Patrick van der Vorst, Christian Art Founder and Writer, is a Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of Westminster, London. Patrick was born and raised in Bruges, Belgium. He attended a Benedictine boarding school near Ghent, studying Latin-Greek before obtaining his Masters in Law at the University of Leuven. In 1995, at age 24, Patrick moved to London where has lived and worked ever since. Before being ordained to the priesthood in June 2023, Patrick was a former Director of Sotheby’s Europe and worked 25 years in the art world. He worked at Sotheby’s in Bond Street, London, from 1995 till 2010, as an auctioneer and Head of the Furniture Department, where he sold the collections of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, Elton John and Turn & Taxis. He is a specialist in 18th century French furniture. In 2010 Patrick van der Vorst left Sotheby’s to set up his own online art valuation company, ValueMyStuff.com, often referred to in the press as the Antiques Roadshow online. He secured investment from Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis on BBC’s Dragon’s Den. With over 500,000 customers, Patrick sold the company in 2018 to the Barneby’s Group, the world’s leading search engine for art & antiques. During this time Patrick also did some television work for Belgian TV. In September 2019 Patrick started seminary training at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome for the Diocese of Westminster, London. He launched the http://www.Christian.Art website in the period after having left the art-world and before starting seminary. In his daily reflections Patrick combines his knowledge of the arts with the Gospel, along with his personal journey to the priesthood. The website now has 70,000 daily readers. Patrick was ordained to the Diaconate at the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome in June 2022 and was ordained to the priesthood on 24 June 2023 at Westminster Cathedral in London by Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Patrick has been appointed Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St George in Enfield, North London.

You can click here to see the painting and representation for today’s gospel. Not all the paintings are religious:

many include modern street art:

or nature scenes:

— they are all inspiring, as so are Patrick’s reflections too! Subscription is free (you don’t need to be Catholic!), and it’s fun to be form part of the community that exchange their interesting views and comments on the above material.

I hope you do manage a visit!

Thank you for reading, and takte care! xxx

Renovating some very old, wooden windows

Hi folks! I hope this finds you well.

I’ve spent the first few days of the new year fixing the old wooden windows of my long-neglected art room (my den for inspiration and creativity). As you can see, this is entailing a good deal of work. Once this is finished, I’ll turn my attention to the terrace which lies outside it; this offers fantastic 360 degree views of the local Sierra Morena to the north and the low-lying agricultural lands of the Guadalquivir valley to the south. (Province of Cordova in Andalusia.)

If you’d like to know more about where I live, you can take a peak at my book (paperback or cheaper digital) here, at Amazon.

Thank you for visiting. Take care xxx

United Races Angels

Hi folks! I hope this finds you well.

I was busy over Christmas making these angels from wooden pegs and other paraphanalia such as material, lace, beads, ribbons, wool, feathers etc.

I have named them my United Races Angels.

You can view them via a video here on my Etsy online shop. (You can also see the surrounding countryside of where I live — Posadas, in the province of Cordova, Andalusia.)

Thank you for visiting — take care! xxx

If you’d like to know more about where I live, you can take a peak at my book (paperback or cheaper digital) here, at Amazon.

Praying for peace

Happy New Year to you all. I hope it will be a healthy one for you.

I’m praying for the end of these wars and conflicts.

Sunflowers in December

Hi folks! I hope you’re all well.

It’s December — and some of my sunflowers are already flowering here in the countryside of Cordova (Spain)!

And to finish, here’s a poem about these happy flowers by William Blake.

“Ah! Sun-flower” — William Blake (1757-1827, London)

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the Sun:

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the travellers journey is done.

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow:

Arise from their graves and aspire,

Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

Thank you for visiting — take care xxx

PS. If you’d like to read more about my life here in Cordova, as well as the culture, history and geography of this fascinating place, you can take a look at my fully-illustrated, humorous ‘alternative‘ guide to this historically-rich area, An English Lady in Cordova. Thank you!

Girasoles en diciembre

¡Hola amigos! Espero que estéis bien.

Es diciembre – y ¡algunos de mis girasoles ya están floreciendo aquí en el campo de Córdoba (España)!

Y para terminar, aquí hay un poema sobre estas flores felices de William Blake.

¡Ah girasol! — William Blake ((1757-1827, Londres)

¡Ah, girasol! Hastiado del tiempo

Contaste las pisadas del Sol,
Y buscaste aquel clima dulce y dorado
Donde concluye el rumbo del viajero:

Allí donde la juventud ardiente de deseos,
Y donde la Virgen joven amortajada en nieve,
Se levantan de sus tumbas y anhelan ir
Hacia donde mi girasol desea llegar.

Gracias por visitarme – cuidaros xxx

PS. Si deseas leer más sobre mi vida aquí en Córdoba, así como la cultura, la historia y la geografía de este fascinante lugar, puede echar un vistazo a mi guía ‘alternativa’, An English Lady in Cordova, completamente ilustrada y escrito con humor, de esta zona tan rica. ¡Gracias!

7 photos of three churches in Granada – San Nicolás, el Sagrario and San Gregorio.

Hi folks! I hope you’re all well.

I’d like to share with you some photos I took last Sunday in Granada: they are of some paintings and parts of the interior of three churches.

These paintings are inside the Church of San Nicolás in the Albaizín. The church was built in Mudejar style, in 1525, but then suffered significant damage. It was the first church in Granada to suffer the effects of the anti-clerical revolts during the Second Spanish Republic. Shortly after the military coup of General Sanjurjo on 12 August 1931, it was completely sacked and burned. It was rebuilt in 1947. The mural was decorated by José García Guerrero.

And this little chapel and altar with the Blessed Sacrament is in the parish church of the Tabernacle next to the cathedral. A curtain separates this part from the rest of the church. The deep silence that reigned was punctuated only by some whispered words of prayers that escaped the lips of the devotees.

And here is the Church of Saint Gregory. During the occupation of the Moors, it was a prison and a place of torture and later a brothel. It was also destroyed by the Republican communists. At the front, there were the Clarisa nuns, 10 there in total. They are of closed order: they do not even talk to each other — they devote all their time to God, including their voices. They were impeccably dressed in bright white – whiter it could not be – even their faces were covered with a thin veil of white muslin. They glided silently, like heavenly bodies carried by a mystical breeze… It was fascinating.

The priest said something in his homily that I did not know and was quite surprised to hear: that when Jesus returns, he will judge EVERYBODY, including Muslims, Jews, Hindus etc., because He does not judge religion, but our practices and the way we live. Interesting…

Thank you for visiting! Take care xxx

PS: To read more about my life in Cordova, you can see my book that is available at Amazon on the following link: https://www.amazon.com/English-Lady-Cordova-alternative-Guide/dp/B0CMXYBF4G/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=an+english+lady+in+cordova+the+alternative+guide&qid=1701256828&sr=8-1&asin=B0CMXYBF4G&revisionId=&format=4&depth=2

7 fotos de tres iglesias en Granada — San Nicolás, el Sagrario y San Gregorio.

Buenos días, espero que estéis todos bien.

Comparto con vosotros algunas fotos que hice el domingo pasado en Granada: son de algunos cuadros y partes del interior de tres iglesias.

Estos cuadros están en el interior de la Iglesia de San Nicolás en el Albaizín. La iglesia fue construida en estilo mudéjar, en 1525, pero luego sufrió daños importantes. Fue la primera iglesia granadina en sufrir los efectos de las revueltas anticlericales durante la II República Española. Poco después del golpe militar del general Sanjurjo, el 12 de agosto de 1931, fue completamente saqueada e incendiada. Fue reconstruida en 1947. La decoración mural estaba a cargo de José García Guerrero.

Y esta pequeña capilla y altar con el Santísimo está en la iglesia Parroquial del Sagrario al lado de la catedral. Una cortina separa esta parte del resto de la iglesia. El profundo silencio que reinaba fue puntuado sólo por algunas susurradas palabras de oraciones que escaparon de los labios de las devotas.

Y aquí está la Iglesia de San Gregorio. Durante la ocupación de los Moros, fue un prisión y un lugar de torturas y más tarde un burdel. También fue destruida por los comunistas Republicanos. En la parte delantera, estaban las monjas Clarisa, 10 hay en total, son de orden cerrado, ni siquiera se hablan entre sí, dedican todo su tiempo a Dios, incluso sus voces. Estaban vestidas impecablemente de un blanco luminoso – más blanco no podía ser – incluso sus rostros estaban cubiertos con un fino velo de muselina blanca. Se deslizaban silenciosamente, como cuerpos celestiales llevadas por una brisa mística… Fue fascinante.

El sacerdote dijo algo en su homilía que no lo sabía yo y estaba bastante sorprendida: que cuando Jesús regrese, va a juzgar a TODOS, incluso los musulmanes, los judíos, hindúes etc., porque no juzga la religión, sino nuestras prácticas, la forma en como vivimos. Interesante…

¡Gracias por visitar!

My hand-painted roof tiles from the hills of Cordova, Andalusia

Hi folks!

I hope this finds you all well.

I’ve been quite busy with the olive picking and painting. We got over a hundred and fifty litres of pure, ecological, first pressing olive oil from the trees around our house! Delicious! You can see some photos of the process and also a couple of recipes for herby marinated and Greek-style salted olives in my last blog (click on the blue words).

And the other day, I finished painting some Spanish terracotta roof tiles. Here is the result. (You can see more photos and a video on my Etsy shop at this link.)