Wesminster Cathedral

This is Westminster Cathedral where I was invited to exhibit on the 19th of November...in two weeks time. Not to be confused with the Abbey, Westminster Cathedral represents the center of the Roman Catholic faith in the UK. It is not anywhere near as ornate and spectacular as the Abbey...which was built as a Catholic Cathedral then converted by the Churches nemesis...good ol' 'Enery the eighth'.

Noreen and I felt the spirituality the minute we walked into it. An entirely different feel of familiarity, sanctity, veneration, calm and peace. This is no tourist attraction, except perhaps for Catholics...this is truly a house of God, with it's partially completed walls and domes...the starkness was initially a disappointment, but only because we had entered as artists. We attended the 9am mass and silently praised God for leading us home ...as Catholics...to the universal church...to be reminded who we are, who we should be and what this whole thing of 'Faith' is really all about.

We decided to tour afterwards...as we were obviously meant to, because while we were still inside, high mass started and the choir...apparently well known world wide,.. started singing.
I felt asif I had landed up in a small part of Heaven...we had never heard anything like this before and both Noreen and I were rendered immobile, speechless, and eventually, reluctantly, floated out the Cathedral with huge lumps in our throats.



This is the original architectural design which is to be found inside the tower. There's a lift which takes visitors up and down and although there's not a whole lot to be seen, (this is a relatively young cathedral which is still theoretically being 'built'), the views were worth the visit.







This is a view from one side of the tower. Wherever one goes in London...'Old' and 'New' is everywhere. It amazes me how the two eras have merged...this is what creates the interest, the drama, the fun, in visiting cities like London. Seeped in history but fully representative of the present and of course, with ample suggestions of the future visible everywhere too...some of the latter being quite worrying.


I had a bit of a laugh at Gods humor here.....this picture was taken with no intention of suggestion at all!!









This is the Last Supper, an oil on canvas... one of the two paintings that will be part of the one-day exhibition at the Cathedral. I painted it in 2008..It took a few years to complete with the research that I needed to do. It apparently got a lot of interest at the last exhibition in July this year, but when people heard the price, purses slammed shut. :o)





This one is called Peace in poverty and was voted the best painting of the exhibition in July. Nothing surprised me more as it was painted quickly and not in my usual style.
I thought this one had sold, but it was its 'twin', 'Blessed Hope' and I think one or two others.

Looking at these two pictures of mine...my 'super-critical' self slaps me on the back of my head and tells me:

"Girl you have a long way to go".

And I have. But the child in me...the dreamer who believes that dreams come true, that has endless hope and faith, has also said:

"Never lose faith. Belive in and visualise your dreams, because by faith and hope, they will become real"