How do you encapsulate that feeling of discomfort and also longing that can be found in the in-between?

The Open to All Exhibition of my artwork is in partnership with the Open Table Network, a charity dedicated to helping churches open spaces for LGBTQI+ people. Peter Jones, one of the Trustees, came to the Coventry part of the tour to represent the charity. These are Peter’s words of experience of it, answering the question put in this blog title:

This was the central question in my mind when I encountered Elizabeth Gray-King's work at Coventry Cathedral through the Open To All exhibition in partnership with the Open Table Network, for whom I am a trustee. Elizabeth has put together a thought provoking collection of her artwork which reflects the diversity of human life, in subtle and yet exposing ways. Much of her work plays with materials and the idea of becoming, with several pieces (including the gorgeous and compelling "Nativity Tancred") showing visible signs of being 'in progress', whether it be through canvas stretched over window frames, or leaving parts exposed and unprimed. For me as a queer, trans man and Christian, encountering Elizabeth's work fostered in me a new and at times conflicted sense of visibility. I found her art inviting me to look at myself, my identity, and my current conflicts through this unfinished, becoming, in-progress and in-between way. Instead of feeling the pressure and demand to resolve things I found my time at Coventry Cathedral and encountering her work to be a space that held me tenderly as unresolved. To be in such an exposing and yet awe inspiring place as Coventry Cathedral, with its dedication to reconciliation (something I have a complex relationship to as for many years I was hounded to reconcile my queerness and my faith), I found myself invited in by Elizabeth's work. In between the space of the cathedral and the stretched canvas, I found myself unexpectedly and somehow tenderly held, with my inner conflicts acknowledged and seen, and yet also soothed for a while. For me this is the wonderful overlap between the art and vision of Elizabeth and the Open Table Network, that within these spaces of becoming, that are so often filled with discomfort, there is opportunity for connection; to find a sense of belonging as you are, without needing to be resolved or finished. Through Elizabeth's gentle and honest depictions of diversity, inclusivity, and becoming, I found a gentle encounter with the Spirit I had been longing for and I was invited to just be and see myself as I am. I felt seen. I am grateful to have spent a day encountering such a precious and tender form of genuine visibility and have been thinking about it ever since

Nativity Tancred and the Baptistry Windows speak colour to colour

The Baptisty windows in Coventry Cathedral are more than stunning. Designed by John Piper, they fill the space with light and pattern, a physical demonstration of the all encompasing love of God at Baptism. For this month in 2024, Nativity Tancred stands opposite, open armed outside of the Chapel of Unity, sharing the same all encompassing love. I am beyond amazed that my work is in this glorious place.

The Exhibition continues to make a difference

My apologies!  To those of you who don’t follow my newsletter, you won’t have heard details about how the exhibitions are going.  As we come to Christmas time, grateful for God in Person as Jesus, I express deep gratitude for how my artwork is speaking to people of God’s love for everyone.   A viewer in Newcastle saw a dance of the Trinity in Searching Knowing and another viewer said that simply being with the artwork made her feel loved and more peaceful in a stressful day.

 

Sunderland Minster’s pastor team danced and grinned, so excited to share Nativity Tancred for a month. Sacred Trinity Salford sang us in at the Launch with the Scholar’s choir. They stand in between Am I Free and Nativity Tancred, and in front of the rest of the artwork which hangs on the wall in a gallery style at the back of the Church. One viewer said that at last, they felt part of something bigger and they knew they were loved. In a few weeks, we collect from Salford and deliver to Liverpool Parish Church. We have already seen the perfect spot for One.

 

The best news is that we’ve already secured £240 for the Open Table Network, one of the purposes of the exhibition in addition to raising the profile of God’s inclusive love.   We have at least six more venues for 2024 and look forward to more financial support coming to the work of the network as we look forward to sharing the work with more and more communities. If you want to see the work in person, please visit the exhibition pages. Thanks to Andre, there is even an interactive map!

Until I write again, I send you my warmest wishes for a Holiday Season which moves your soul and brings you joy and laughter.

The Series, Points, gathered by the stained glass of Newcastle St James URC

Nativity Tancred graces the Altar in Sunderland Minster

Nativity Tancred graces the Altar of Sunderland Minster

The Scholars Choir launches the exhibition at Sacred Trinity Church Salford

The Scholars Choir sings us in to Sacred Trinity Salford

A privilege to tour

I’m on a train to Sunderland Minster for the Open To All tour second stop. What a privilege. I’m on a train, freely moving in my resident country. I have a data signal with the network working. There are storms howling and my train is active. Then I get to set up the exbition in a church which welcomes freedom of thought, radically challenging closed stereotypes. Then I get to talk about my own work and I’m an ordained woman who will be standing in a church which still struggles with who it will recognises as leaders. I have the freedom to talk about God's inclusive love whilst parts of the world fight against this very notion. I’m privileged by my background, my colour, my knowledge. I intend to use that privilege to break down doors and shout about love and forgiveness. If I change one heart and one set of behaviours, my mustard seed will bear fruit.

Releasing Prayer with hands

 

One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to move what is burdening us out of our bodies. Our bodies react before our conscious brain tells us what is happening and our bodies remember and hold much which we thought we might have intellectually moved on from.  If you want to know more, look up trauma work and the Vagas nerve system.

 

This little ritual is a way I have found to release to God the people and situations which are on my mind and heart, and therefore, which my body holds.  To hold less releases me to be, as much as possible, a non-anxious presence for other people.  This helps them.

 

Here it is:

 

I open my hands, palms up, the sides of my little fingers touching each other making a typical kind of offering shape.

 

I then speak into my hands and name the person or people weighing in my heart.  I may have just been struck by a comment in an email, or a note on the news, or simply a name popping into my head. I tell the story as I look into my hands.

 

Then, I take my right thumb and draw the vertical line of a cross, saying, “in the name of eternal God”, then cross from left to right saying, “incarnated Christ,” then rest my thumb at the cross intersection and say, “inhabiting Spirit”*.  I then change hands and with my left thumb make the cross shape and this time “may they be healed of all that harms them in body, mind and spirit” going from top to bottom on the word body, left to right with the word mind and held in the centre for the word spirit.

 

Next, I put my hands back together in the offering shape and fully extend and lift them, (to me) – to God. I say, “I release (the name, or ‘your children’ or the situation) to you oh God.”

 

I then close my hands to a typical prayer shape with my palms together and say, “in all of this, bring love, peace and justice.”

 

I finish by crossing my hands over my chest with the tips of my fingers to my shoulders and say, “I release (name, situation) to you Dear God and set myself aside as needed.”

 

I don’t do this perfectly each time.  But what this does for me is get my body involved in the appeal for God’s care.  This way my body remembers that I’ve done this, the worry does literally leave me, and I am ready to engage in the next thing on my list.

 

* Eternal God/Incarnated Christ/Inhabiting Sprit is my personal choice for naming the Trinity.  For you, choose whichever name of the Trinity fits best with your own theology and personality.

 

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.