Jake Lever
Tree of Life
The pupils and staff of Emscote Infant School and All Saints’ C of E Junior School, Warwick are working with me to create a free-standing Tree of Life comprised of hundreds of drawings, collages and cyanotypes. I have been invited by Rev Diane Thompson, Team Vicar of All Saints’ Church in Emscote, to design and deliver a project exploring the theme of the ‘Tree of Life’.
The children’s artwork is really vibrant and we are looking forward to installing the tree in All Saints Church on 14th October.
“Over its 150 year history, worship has always been at the heart of All Saints. I am also very proud that Emscote’s parish church continues to be the setting for many community events and activities: a reminder for me that God’s love is with us always and everywhere.”
Revd. Diane Thompson
Gillian Lever
Open Studio Event
Jake and I are working towards an Open Studio weekend at our home and studio in Birmingham on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th November. If you would like to visit please contact us.
I am working on a series of new oil paintings.
50% of sales from the Open Studio weekend will go to All Saints Youth Project . All Saints Youth Project is an inclusive youth project providing recreational and informal educational opportunities and individual support in Kings Heath, Birmingham.
Gillian Lever
Northumberland
”I arise today through the strength of heaven, light of the sun, radiance of the moon, splendour of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock.”
John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
Jake and I spent time in August exploring the wild beauty of Northumberland. We both loved painting outside.
Jake Lever
Northumberland
”If you go out for several hours into a place that is wild, your mind begins to slow down, down, down. What is happening is that the clay of your body is retrieving its own sense of sisterhood with the great clay of the landscape.”
John O’Donohue, Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World
During our time in Northumberland we visited The Holy Island of Lindisfarne on foot. Lindisfarne is an island that can be reached by car but we chose to walk. At low tide, a two mile causeway attaches the island twice daily to the Northumbrian coast. Earlier travellers sometimes crossed by coracle.
At the end of the seventh century, one of the greatest works of English art was created in the damp and draughty scriptorium of Lindisfarne. One man, Eadfrith, copied out the four gospels in beautiful manuscript and illustrated them with decorated pages of amazing intricacy. He used 258 pages of calfskin vellum, ink made from soot bound with egg white, quills from seagulls’ feathers and materials that included green malachite, blue lapis lazuli and red dye from insects. The ‘carpet’ pages before each gospel are made of abstract patterns, spirals, ribbons, animals and birds, the whole design in the form of a cross. I loved exploring the history of the island and enjoyed developing a series of paintings whilst in the area.
Jake Lever
Tree of Life
I have been invited by Rev Diane Thompson, Team Vicar of All Saints’ Church in Emscote, Warwick, to design and deliver a project exploring the theme of the ‘Tree of Life’. The pupils and staff of Emscote Infant School and All Saints’ C of E Junior School will work with me to create a free-standing Tree of Life comprised of hundreds of drawings, collages and cyanotypes. This will be displayed in October as an installation in the church for the whole community to see, along with documentation recording the children’s ideas, feelings and reflections on the importance of trees in our lives. Since my own childhood I have been deeply inspired by trees, and, along with the children, hope to learn from taking time to stop and reflect upon their beauty and significance in our lives.
Gillian Lever
Summer Sale
This Summer I have been clearing out the studio and have put some small works on paper and a few oil paintings into the Lever Arts Shop. Several pieces have already sold but some are still available.
”The call to the creative life is a call to dignity, to a life of vulnerability and adventure and the call to a life that exquisite excitement and indeed ecstasy will often visit.”
John O’ Donohue
