The in-between time

For many Christians across the planet we are moving inside Holy Week. We worshipped at Palm Sunday last week, tomorrow we remember in Maundy Thursday, Holy Week Friday tradition asks us to call it Good, we wait in Holy Saturday and arrive at Easter. I can’t stop and tell you what all of these dwelling places in Holy Week mean because each one is fraught with religious and political re-interpretation though the history of this much layered faith. Instead, I give you this painting, done 35 years ago (!). It is called Holy Saturday.

It began life as a piece of stretched sheeting on an old picture frame. It’s back depicts military personnel wearily walking and was created for a Churches Together reflection service on Remembrance Day in a suburban Oxford shopping centre. After then, I was having a deep conversation with a hymn writer friend. He told me kindly yet in no uncertain terms, that I wasn’t painting because I could. Essentially, I was taking my talent and skill for granted. I almost whined - “I don’t know what to paint!”. He gently replied to paint what I was angry at. This painting is the first painting I ever did where I painted what was in my head, not in a landscape, still life or of a person in front of me. I’ve not painted other than this inspirational way since.

Here she is, hand, out-stretched and touching a rainbow of fabric. She’s tight in some kind of agony, but her hand could not be painted closed in to the body, no matter how much I tried. The sheer process of trying to close it in while it tried to reach the light was hard work indeed. So I gave up and let it do what it wanted - touch the rainbow.

The name indicates the time between the death and resurrection of Jesus on the Holy Saturday we will remember and live in this week. Death is known and life is not quite there yet, but there is a hint somewhere. This is my version of that in-between time.

I give it to you now, because the in-between time is what we know best. We see living hell around our planet, much of it human caused by greed and arrogance. We know that peaceful human companionship is a passion for many of us. We are in-between. Please let this woman’s compulsion to touch rainbows help you to stretch out to your light.

Please contact me if you would like prints. The following formats are available. All prints on paper are sold on ivory mounting board. Frames may be ordered. Prints on canvas are stretched on wood.

Art Prints: Art Prints are created with laser printers onto quality wood pulp art paper.

Gallery Poster: Gallery Poster is a typical art gallery format with laser printer on poster paper, supplied rolled in a tube.

Giclee Prints: Giclee Prints are inkjet sprayed onto quality cotton rag paper. They’re known for their vibrant colours, fine details, and archival quality. The term "giclee" comes from the French word meaning "to spray," referring to the precise inkjet spraying process used in their production. They’re guaranteed to last at least 100 years (though no one’s been alive long enough since development to know…)

Embellished Giclee Prints: Embellished Giclee Prints are customised by me adding details, textures, or hand-drawn elements to make each cotton paper print unique. The result is a print that combines the advantages of digital printing with a personal touch.

Giclee Prints on Canvas: Giclee Prints are inkjet sprayed onto artist canvas material. This gives the print a texture and appearance similar to a traditional painting on canvas so that they resemble original paintings.

Embellished Giclee Prints on Canvas: Embellished Giclee Prints on Canvas are customised by me adding details, textures, or hand-painted elements to make each print unique. Embellishments added on top of canvas give the print a more three-dimensional painterly effect.