Quartz
Have you been to visit the high cross at Ruthwell yet? It is one of several crosses which were raised in the area between Whithorn and Bamburgh at the hight of Anglian power. This cross is particularly famous because it has words from a poem called “The Dream of the Rood” engraved on it. The […]
The Rev Oliver Brewer-Lennon, Rector of St Michael and All Saints, Edinburgh took to the airwaves this Sunday morning as a guest panellist on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sunday Morning programme with Tony Kearney. The programme, which is available to listen to here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002g2v covered a variety of topics. Rev Oliver joined Ravi Ladva, a member […]
In 2018 St Johns held a festival of talents. Not a competition! But an opportunity to recognise all the wonderful talents congregation members had.
Reflecting whilst Felting Quartz members contribute to using visual arts at the contemporary service in St John’s. Most church goers are used to using music and singing to aid their worship. Some of us learn as we figit, and find meaning in visualisation too. On Sunday the 11th of May we were led in a […]
On the first Saturday in May people worldwide will be thinking, and walking, about labyrinths. These are a very ancient tool which we have used in a lot of Quartz activities! This video gives an idea of just how global labyrinths are: The closest to Dumfries in I saw in the video was Renfrew. Ann […]
A picture, or a poem, is the death of possibility. A great and terrifying cloud of potential, collapses. The dead scales of art are experienced, while the artist struggles to shed skin. To hold a cloud of unknowing in tension, and sense the moment of rain. All are able, Some have skill, Make the time.
Artists can help us stretch our minds. This exersize can take effort. Making the effort has rewards though. Just as a runner trains for a race, we can train our minds to be flexible and resiliant. There is Truth in the solidness of stone, but a skilled artist can make it look like a pillow. […]
Without relying on artificial light and clocks, does the new day start at sunset or sunrise? The Banners we have been working on will be unveiled at an Easter Vigil this Friday. It will be held at 8.30 pm on the Saturday before Easter Sunday in St Johns. There is also a Dumfries Christian Network […]
Easter is a time of contrasts. We will be exploring themes of stone and vegetation, structure and chaos, overflowing of life and containers that hold things together. Help make a banner after the 11 O’clock service on Palm Sunday (13th of April) in St Johns. We will also be working on it at the contemporary […]
Monday the 14th of April 10.30 to 12.30 Stories have been plucked from the wind and passed down to us from ancient days, with the aid of goose feathers. The quills of scribes fluttered over a thousand years ago to record tales that were much older. Come and experience storyteller Simon Lidwell bringing a selection […]