My latest stained glass panel has a theme of sand and concrete. Sand is a precious natural resource which takes millions of years to refine into what we know as beach sand. But the sand suitable for construction and concrete is known as river sand is being used faster than it can be naturally replenished….
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Between Death and Resurrection – Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday Brooding over the deep, the loss hardly understood in the silence of what has been. Darkness not black, aquamarine and streaks of blue-grey, glints of purple, claret-red. A ribbon of green light finds movement like plunging into water and drawing out, dripping, mixing elements. Come, see the place. Gloria Brooke Holy Week 2025
What is Infinity?
I recently had two very different but connected experiences. The first was encountering ancient rocks in the geology exhibit at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The second was watching a film about concrete at The Robert Burns Centre in Dumfries. In Italy, the land of Carrara marble and Michealangelo, there is a rock…
Faith in Art or Art in Faith?
How can we make sense of the spiritual side of ourselves within our own creativity? And how can we connect with a fully sensory God who has made the world though an act of creation? And can anyone do this in the context of an enjoyable afternoon workshop? What would that feel like? These are…
The Art Cabin lives and a new community arrives…
By means of an update to the Stove Network’s What We Do Now project, the ArtLab as it is now known is finally complete with power and plumbing and just needs a final sign-off from the town Council. Alice and Rosie have shown vision and resilience and true social engagement by hanging in with the…
Easter Cross – heaven meets earth through an empty tomb
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;…
Lent Cross – through glass shapes, darkly
My latest glass commission is to create two crosses for the Lent/Easter festivals at St John’s Scottish Episcopal church in Dumfries, SW Scotland. One for the period leading up to Passion Week, culminating in Good Friday, and a second one to celebrate the Resurrection of Easter Day. The Lent Cross – to hang in the…
Stories of Haneen – a human sense of longing
There is currently an exhibition at Gracefield Art Gallery in Dumfries, Scotland, of works by Edinburgh-based Palestinian artist Leena Nammari. She is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD and this selection of her work explores universal themes of yearning, longing and myth-making that resonates across borders and cultures. But Leena is quick to point out that…
Too much information
While on a recent holiday on the isle of Skye in Scotland, we had exceptionally “good” weather, ie 24C with clear blue skies. This is very enjoyable until you think of the climate change reasons for it and even then it’s still pretty good. However, after a while I started to feel some visual overload…
The present is the key to the past
This famous saying by James Hutton (1726-97) is the theme of my latest glass work currently on show in Glasgow as part of the Scottish Glass Society annual exhibition – National Icons. James Hutton was a Scottish geologist, naturalist and physician (and disgraced cleric) among other things, and is often referred to as the father…
Transformation – a church community project
Working with a different community over the Lent period leading to Easter, I was part of a project to bring symbolism and mystery into the worship setting at St John’s church, Dumfries. Working with other members of the Quartz creative group attached to the church, my job was to create a fitting conclusion to the…
Art as activism
“Everything you can imagine is real.” Picasso. To counter the evil emanating from Putin’s brain, and many others like him right now, we must keep believing that as artists we can counter this force with an oppositional creative and positive energy which is ultimately stronger. Otherwise, why bother to do anything as an artist? Just…
AndyLJBrooke 