A few months ago I wrote about meeting an artist named Patrick Blythe, in my blog: Peace in the Hands of an Artist Amidst the Beauty of Sunnylands. I believe our meeting was bashert, meant to be. He is the Director of the Art of Reconciliation for the Coventry Cathedral, in England. “Coventry Cathedral is one of the world’s oldest religious-based centers for reconciliation,”1 inspiring healing since World War II. “Following the destruction of the Cathedral in 1940, Provost Howard made a commitment not to revenge, but to forgiveness and reconciliation with those responsible.”2 Those responsible? What a deep, soul wrenching commitment that was. Yet, it reminded me that by not forgiving someone, the only person you hurt is yourself. Being filled with strong negative emotions wreaks havoc on your wellbeing and can destroy your health. “Coventry Cathedral chose six themes to guide its focus: aerial bombing, refugees, sexual violence as a result of war, land mines, child soldiers, and the environmental impact of war.”3 They sought to tackle immense, world-wide problems that must be faced with courage, strength of character and persistence.
One of the structures on the property is the ruins of the medieval Cathedral of St Michael, the featured image at the top of this blog. From their reconciliation ministry they advise, “This special place reminds us of our human capacity both to destroy and to reach out to our enemies in friendship and reconciliation. The ruins speak so powerfully of this message that they have become a place of pilgrimage for people of all cultures and faiths. We are seeking to give focus and further purpose to the ruins in the 21st Century by designating them as a memorial to all civilians killed, injured or traumatized by war and violent conflict worldwide.”4
Filling the newly formed position of Director of The Art of Reconciliation at the Coventry Cathedral, Mr. Blythe is helping develop a collaborative vision that will feature art as a mode to reach beyond and touch our hearts and souls with the spirit of reconciliation. It is their objective to broaden awareness of their mission of reconciliation using art as a means of communication. He believes “art communicates in ways words cannot, and often touches people more deeply. We will convene art makers around the world in myriad ways, including art exhibitions, performance art, and art installations to create awareness and move people to positive action toward reconciliation.”
Patrick Blythe’s art has a near and global reach featuring pieces like Harvest, permanently exhibited in
front of City Hall in Indio, Desert Dawn III, currently exhibited at the California State Senate Contemporary Art Collection until September, as well as other pieces in museums and other collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. The scale of his artworks range from tabletop sculptures to monumental public art.
He recently invited me to his studio to spend some time with him. I was both honored and intrigued. If you recall when I met Mr. Blythe, he was finishing up his work carved in stone called, Reconciliation. As you know I have a vested interest in working on Peace ever since our Israeli vacation – touring incredible sights, interspersed with hiding in bomb shelters. It was quite a synchronistic meeting that sunny day in Palm Springs when we met at the art show, and I looked forward to meeting with him amidst his womb of creation.
The sculpture, Reconciliation, is completed now and I was privileged to be able to see its magnificence in his studio. He was getting ready to pack it up to send it to its new home in Coventry Cathedral where it will be displayed for visitors to enjoy, promoting understanding for years to come. “The placement of my work here is a small part of a much larger idea to engage art, curators, collectors and artists in a global effort to
nurture new awareness of the need for, and paths to, reconciliation in all its forms.” The sculpture is of two robed figures coming together in an embrace. The flowing folds of their robes made me think about the layered, hidden (sometimes even from ourselves), secret stories of perhaps shame, anger or rejection that cried out to make Peace with one another. Mr. Blythe described some of the robes’ folds as being “shaped like an ear.” Perhaps if they could only truly listen and hear each other with compassion, the breach between them could be crossed.
The opalescent white stone comes from Carrara, Italy, the same place where Michelangelo got his marble. The stone of the dark figure comes from Morocco and it is infused with a myriad of fossils that are 250 million years old. The stone’s ancient evolution befits this age-old issue of human spiritual development which now finds comfort in its new home. His excitement was palpable at the thought of his work being in this sacred place of healing. He says, “My work, and my heart, have found a home on the hallowed grounds that have been a storied place of worship, where hopes have been expressed for more than a millennium.”
His connection with Coventry Cathedral had begun 10 years prior and began to expand and deepen, last year. In fact when I met with him, he was also leaving on his own quest to Coventry in a few days to further his journey in his new position, and he is there now. I’m enjoying reading his ecstatic Facebook posts – his joy at being there bursts forth off the page. “Whether I’m in the ruins of the ancient cathedral, or within the glorious modern cathedral filled with contemporary art, I am sublimely happy.”
Mr. Blythe is a very kind, brilliant and humble man and given his love of Ireland, where he maintains a studio, in my opinion, he’s a “wee bit” of a genius : ) He comes from humble beginnings on a farm in
Illinois. An upbringing that he says placed a great emphasis on work and “considered art, play.” In the early 1970s he was quite obsessive about his art, feeling his dedication at times wasn’t quite healthy and so he “quit art cold turkey for 30 years.” He had a very successful business career in the public finance and investment industry. When he retired in 2000, he went back to his first passion – art.
It was a joy-filled day for me. Have you ever been to an artist’s studio? It’s packed with wonders of imagination, creativity, hard effort and emotion. After all, when you look at art, aren’t you inspired to feel something? He works in a number of mediums including glass, stone, metal, wood and fiber. I was surprised at the physicality of his art and the different processes that were involved to birth his masterpieces. Beyond the conception of the idea and preliminary drawings, there were pneumatic chisels, silicon molds, wax, refractory plaster, and belts to hold the whole thing together during
certain phases of design. He described one artistic method that he was working on that would require firing up his glass piece in a kiln heating it up to 1500 degrees which would take several days and then a computer programmed cooling process that would take 6 months to cool down. I previously had absolutely no idea how long some of these methods could take and I found it fascinating.
Also of interest to me was the number of times that a piece would be made in various sizes (starting small to work out the details) and sometimes differing mediums. At times it seemed like his studio was a magical science lab filled with trials and sometimes errors as he pointed out some painful failed attempts still in the studio. Those were agonizing to look at even for me, having seen the finished art. It felt as if I was seeing an art piece that had been fatally wounded. He confided to me that he thinks in 3-D, and I laughed thinking that science was just now catching up to his mind : )
There were so many beautiful art pieces being worked on, I was just stunned looking around the studio. I’m very curious where this new venture will take Mr. Blythe, his art and the collaboration with other artists. Only time will give us that answer. For now he and Coventry Cathedral live with the faith that they are on a blessed path of discovery. I know for sure wherever they are led, the World will be a better place because of it and so I thank them. If you’re planning a trip to England, I know I would plan to put a visit to Coventry Cathedral on my itinerary, how about you? Do you have someone that you ache to reconcile with? There’s no time like the present – if for no other reason than healing yourself and purifying your own heart. It will lead to a lightening of your soul so you can soar with the angels. Live with Love and Peace. I invite you to Join Me On My Journey…
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Footnotes:
1 http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/wpsite/our-reconciliation-ministry/
2 http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/wpsite/our-reconciliation-ministry/
3 http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/wpsite/our-reconciliation-ministry/
4 http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/wpsite/our-reconciliation-ministry/