Nativity Tancred

My son helped me stretch this canvas on an old window frame. I had an idea what it would contain. As he helped, he told me of his friend, Tancred. Each time I took up a brush and looked at this friend emerging in front of me, I thought of my boy’s friend; Tancred’s story of tragedy and joy. Tancred passed a road accident on the way to school one day and in the course of the day, was told that his mother had died in it. His family fell apart and Tancred became homeless. The church where I ministered gathered around, found him a home, helped him furnish it and cared practically with no demand to confess a faith. This, to me, was a very practical new birth, a Nativity of a vulnerable one born into a web of care. I thought of life emerging from life, light shocking the darkness and of fire, which does not destroy. I thought of the vine in which courses life through us all. Jesus’ face arrived with me, no pictures copied for him. He gave me that penetrating stare from an intensely alive person on a cross, seeing through all and still deepening friendship with those caught in that sight. We read that his body is the Temple of God, and in this image, people of all hues and types stream, welcome, into that locus of Love. The title is Nativity (Tancred) reminding us that the Nativity revealed the presence of God in humanity, who grew to an adult (not stuck in the ‘sweet’ Nativity narrative) and who as he grew, welcomed all to the temple and to the eternal place of God. There are none stuck on the outside in this temple.

oil on canvas stretched to discarded mahogany window frame

1999/2022

120 x 104cm

Original Painting in private collection

Limited edition 1/2 size mounted and wrapped Giclee print £875

Limited edition 1/4 size mounted and wrapped Giclee print £ 260

Print Availability

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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.