Faith in the Community: We loved hosting ‘Art of Jesus’

IT was a great way for some of our local schoolchildren to focus on Jesus’s life – and then to portray it via some amazing artwork.

A dozen children from our local school – Hook-with-Warsash CofE Academy – spent 12 weeks learning how to be creative at some extra after-school art sessions.

They looked at different painting techniques and styles, and also looked at a different aspect of Jesus’s life each Tuesday afternoon.

So they heard the stories of Jesus’ baptism, the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus stilling the storm, the Last Supper, Jesus’s crucifixion, and his resurrection across the sessions.

And they then portrayed these stories using watercolour landscapes, charcoal drawings, abstract paintings and realistic portraits.

Our church was involved because the sessions were led by three talented artists from St Mary’s Church, Warsash.

Many of the paintings and drawings were then displayed within our church in order to inspire worshippers and visitors. The project was called ‘Art of Jesus’.

It was all inspired by one member of our church, Lesley Stevens, who was assisted by Lynn Buckle and Ian Downie from the congregation. The school asked for volunteers to take part and more than 70 pupils were interested in the 12 places on offer.

Each 90-minute session included a snack, a story about Jesus, prayer, some teaching of art techniques and then a chance to put them into practice.

In each case, those leading the session brought photos to show the children the scenery behind the story – places like the river Jordan, the village of Nazareth, or the Garden of Gethsemane, some of which haven’t changed much in 2,000 years. Our church provided the funding for brushes, paints and other equipment.

The enthusiasm among the children was really high, and they were very excited to see their work on display within the church. In time, you could see different children enjoyed different painting styles, and they all increased their confidence in art.

The school is interested in doing something similar next year. I’d definitely be keen for that to happen, and very happy for our church to be the place where the pupils’ artwork is displayed again.

ST MARY’S CHURCH, Church Road, Warsash, SO31 9GF

www.stmarywarsash.org.uk