Station 1: “He is not here, for He has been raised”
Matthew: Chapter 28 v 6
Following on from the fourteenth Station of the Cross (Jesus is laid in the tomb) I wanted to capture something of the shock of the final image of that series now radically changed in this first Station of the Resurrection. What was only previously a thin red line on a black square has become dominant and broken through revealing an empty tomb, only an imprint of a body is left.
Station 2: “Do not hold onto me” John: Chapter 20 vv 11 -
Out of the darkness at dawn, mistaking Jesus for the gardener, Mary Magdalene, (the first person to meet the Risen Jesus, and a woman at that!) is overjoyed when she recognizes Him as he speaks her name “Mary”. She longs to embrace and hold onto him, but he bids her to “let go“. Something we must all learn to do in order to have life more abundantly and to enter into the mystery of eternity itself. I wanted to convey a sense of looking out from the tomb, to focus on the tender encounter between Jesus and Mary, and beyond that to the horizon -
Station 9: “The Ascension” Acts: Chapter 1 vv 6 -
Here there is still the sense of the presence of Jesus but now as if gone from our sight. How could I convey a sense of mystery about this, as if in a stained glass window? Too mysterious to comprehend and yet we are taken up in the experience.
Station 10: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”
Matthew: Chapter 28 v 20
This is the first time I have used gold leaf but it seems to work well conveying something of the glorified nature of Christ risen as to the heavens and with the Father, and yet very much reflected in the earth as seen in the intense hues of sky, the hills, the blue of the lake with a gold thread running through it representing life-
Station 11: Pentecost Acts: Chapter 2 vv 1 -
I wanted to keep the suggestion of this event very simple. The risen Christ figure and the cross together with the tongues of fire entwined as if around our hearts and full of desire.
The Stations Of The Resurrection
Station 3: “Why do you look for the living among the dead”
Luke: Chapter 24 vv 1 -
Three distraught women at the tomb bringing spices to anoint Jesus’ body -
Station 4: “What are you discussing with each other
while you walk along?” Luke: Chapter 24 v 17
At dusk two disciples are walking home, shocked, confused at what’s been happening this past week. A stranger joins them on the road and they tell him about all the events. It’s getting late and they invite him to stay over and join them for supper. This recalls my painting from the Stations of the Cross “Jesus is taken down from the cross” where there are three stark black crosses on a bleak, arid landscape with a surging fiery sky. This picture now has three figures against a similar sky radiant with life, light and colour at sunset, and a blue stream of life-
Station 5: “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him”
Luke: Chapter 24 v 31
In this supper scene I wanted to convey in a simple way the immediacy of looking, seeing and being seen, primarily in the eyes of Jesus Himself. He is a Risen Jesus but he is also a wounded and crucified Jesus, note he still bears the wounds. He is looking at you and me and inviting us to join him at the table. The end nearest you is vacant ready for you to sit and eat with Him as he blesses and breaks bread.
Station 6: “My Lord and my God” John: Chapter 20 vv 24 -
In this picture I wanted to show only the extended hands of Jesus with the marks of the nails in his wrists (the Romans crucified with nails through the wrists not the hands, as often depicted in religious art). In Jesus is the experience of God wounded and suffering, but also risen He is God who is Present, who is Here, and who is Now, not some fancy pie-
Station 7: “It is the Lord” John: Chapter 21 vv 8
Another appearance of Jesus to those disciples who were ordinary fishermen. This time after fishing all night and catching nothing this stranger on the shore tells them to try again. I wanted to convey this amazing surge of activity in a huge catch of fish, fit to break the nets. When they recognize the stranger is Jesus Peter as usual leaps overboard and reaches out to Him. Notice there is a huge fish (painted as an early Christian symbol -
Station 8: “Come and have breakfast” John: Chapter 21 vv 9 -
We are on the sea shore at dawn just as the sun tips over the horizon. The boat is moored and we are gathered around Jesus who has invited us to join Him. He is cooking our breakfast, bread and fish. I wanted just to hint at the figures. I thought of the flames of the fire and the fire of the sun as a foretaste of what is to come for these followers, the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Station 12: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Acts: Chapter 9 vv 1 -
I think we can assume that Saul met the Risen Lord and that it was a life-