Gillian Lever

Norfolk garden drawings

This August I spent a week in a tangled garden in a very quiet Norfolk village. The light was beautiful and the colours of the sprawling late Summer plants were magical. I worked outside with chalk pastels on a series of abstract drawings inspired by the colour palette of the garden. It was a grounding and healing experience to spend long days in such a nurturing space and it reminded me of this poem.

The Gardener by Mary Oliver

Have I lived enough?
Have I loved enough?
Have I considered Right Action enough, have I come to any conclusion?
Have I experienced happiness with sufficient gratitude?
Have I endured loneliness with grace?

I say this, or perhaps I’m just thinking it.
Actually, I probably think too much.

Then I step out into the garden,
where the gardener, who is said to be a simple man,
is tending his children, the roses.

Jake Lever

Festival Season 2023

This Summer I have had some involvement with a few festivals. For a number of years Lever Arts has contributed to Greenbelt Festival where artistry meets activism, the secular meets the spiritual and politics meets positivity. This year we offered textiles workshops at Greenbelt with ‘Sew Far Sew Good’ a family art collective. Greenbelt Festival is powered by a group of passionate and dedicated people who lovingly create a festival that strives to be an inter-generational celebration, inclusive and accepting of all, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, background or belief and we love being part of it.

Alongside workshops at Greenbelt some of my cyanotype work appeared at Reading and Leeds Festival 2023 over the same August Bank Holiday weekend.