Joy Wolfenden Brown 'Song from the Garden'

J o y Wo l f e n d e n B r o w n Song from the Garden

I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small field for a while, and gone my way and forgotten it. But that was the pearl of great price, the one field that had the treasure in it. I realise now that I must give all that I have to possess it. Life is not hurrying on to a receding future, nor hankering after an imagined past. It is the turning aside like Moses to the miracle of the lit bush, to a brightness that seemed as transitory as your youth once, but is the eternity that awaits you

‘ T h e B r i g h t Fi e l d ’ b y R . S . T h o m a s

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Adrian Howells 1962 - 2014 who had a gentle spirit and an unguarded heart

There have been times this year when my ears and eyes have been closed to ‘the song from the garden’. The figures in my paintings have stood face on, solid, still and suspended; clothed with layers and accessories, maybe to deflect or to invite the gaze of the viewer. They have been found hidden in shady corners or waiting on stage as if for a play to unfold. Along the way the figures have also turned aside, naked as if stripped back to Eden and tuning in for the call of spring.

As humans there is great temptation to complicate ourselves, perhaps for fear that ‘unclothed’ we are nothing. Painting has a way of stripping away layers, opening doors and tapping at walls as it records each step back to a forgotten path.

John Main said “The light which enlightens us bathes the whole of creation but it enters us through a narrow aperture”.

Painting this year has reminded me that the almond tree still blossoms whether we awaken to see it or not and the song from the garden calls unceasingly, waiting for us to turn aside and listen.

Joy Wolfenden Brown . August 2014

She Sits on Her Hands 122 x 86 cm . oil on board

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Girls with Tears 26 x 20 cm . oil on paper 4

The Silver Chain 43 x 36 cm . oil on board 5

She Listens for Morning 16 x 34 cm . oil on paper 6

Dawn Chorus 21 x 46 cm . oil on paper 7

Faint Glimmer 102 x 82 cm . oil on board

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The Clock 23 x 24 cm . oil on paper 10

The Table 18 x 26 cm . oil on paper 11

Boy in Girls Pants 96 x 61 cm . oil on board

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Deep Voice 104 x 109 cm . oil on board

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Ceramic Dress, Clay Skin, Water Eyes 102 x 114 cm . oil on board

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Poem for Her Family 122 x 61 cm . oil on board

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Light 8 x 30 cm . oil on paper

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Song from the Garden I 10 x 28 cm . oil on paper 22

Song from the Garden II 23 x 18 cm . oil on paper 23

When the Almond Tree Blossoms 15 x 23 cm . oil on paper 24

The Walled Garden 21 x 19 cm . oil on paper 25

Refugee 15 x 23 cm . oil on paper

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Small Child 13 x 14 cm . oil on paper 28

Glasses 23 x 14 cm . oil on paper 29

Spring 13 x 46 cm . oil on paper 30

The Forgotten Path 16 x 34 cm . oil on paper 31

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He Faces the Sun 86 x 122 cm . oil on board

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A Time for Everything I 25 x 12 cm . oil on paper 34

A Time for Everything II 25 x 12 cm . oil on paper 35

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The Orchard 14 x 62 cm . oil on paper

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Strangers 10 x 14 cm . oil on paper 38

The Wall 18 x 11 cm . oil on paper 39

The Garden Wall 25 x 11 cm . oil on paper 40

Love 56 x 28 cm . oil on board 41

Song from the Garden III 104 x 110 cm . oil on board

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Silent Song 110 x 104 cm . oil on board 44

The Good Father 110 x 104 cm . oil on board 45

The Pied Blackbird 101 x 47 cm . oil on board 46

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Song from the Garden’ by Joy Wolfenden Brown All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers

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