#journey continues
In fact, the people helping me most recently with the compiling of #journey have not really been friends – since I do not know them well enough. Rather, they have been strangers met along the way who have shared their best.
Last week, as some will have read yesterday, I visited the ruins of Strata Florida monastery, tucked away in a beautiful valley nestling beneath the Cambrian mountains. Stepping out of the car on a bleak February afternoon, my eye was drawn to the crest of a distant hill where an enormous figure could be seen – back bent against the wind, staff in hand – striding as if towards the monastery. Maybe because of all the time I have spent editing #journey recently, the figure looked to my untrained eye just like a pilgrim, and I tried to take some photos. As you can see below, my attempts were not an unqualified success, since the figure was so far away.
CLICK for full size
On returning to my holiday cottage, I sent out the picture above on Tiwtter, with a request that someone should help me to identify it. Straight away, somebody told me that they thought it was called “pilgrim” and somebody else not only told me the name of the sculpture but the artist who created it – Glen Morris. Within a day, Glen Morris and I had been in touch with each other and he told me the sculpture’s story as well as sending me a set of beautiful photos of it which he had taken.
The piece was made in 2012 as part of an exhibition arranged by Professor David Austin of the University of Wales Trinity St. Davids. Sculptors from the Welsh Sculptors group, Sculpture Cymru, were asked to make a piece in as a response to the Abbey and its surroundings. Morris’ piece is huge, constructed out of old railway sleepers it stands tall and can be seen for miles around. There are little tufts of sheep’s embedded the wood – constantly tugged and buffeted by the winds. They stand a s a reminder of the importance of sheep in the Welsh landscape, and their importance for the monastery in particular. Commenting on his work, Glen Morris says:
The idea of a figure toiling against the weather, rugged landscape (and perhaps life..) appealed to me. I also like the idea that it was not immediately obvious and would be rather distant and perhaps come across rather by chance.
The piece was originally intended to be temporary, but thankfully it appears to have become a more permanent fixture.
To have come across such a figure,in such a way; and to have received such help with identifying and displaying it has been quite an experience. One of the key contentions of #journey is that every Christian is on the pilgrim’s journey – whether on their way to work or striding across the Cambrian mountains, staff in hand. Moments like these only serve to underline this particular truth.
Photo by Glen Morris – CLICK for full size
Watch this space for more news of #journey…