I have contributed to an exhibition entitled The Emblem of My Work, which opened in Yorkshire yesterday.

The Emblem of My Work celebrates the 250th anniversary of the marbled page (page 169) in Volume III of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. You’ll find the book in the ‘Classics’ section. Approximately 169 contributors were asked to picture the emblem of their work on a blank template of the page (above). These 169 contributions will, over the next month or two, appear on a blog, and then be auctioned at the end of October. The names of the contributors appeared today, but, in a subtle twist, the names won’t be matched with the pictures. This is all a bit baffling, I know, but the blog or the Laurence Sterne Trust website should help to explain it and fill in the bits that I haven’t explained that well.

Others contributors include Quentin Blake, Mark Wallinger, Martin Rowson, Tom Gauld, Glen Baxter, to name a few I quite admire. The exhibition is part of Art in Yorkshire, supported by Tate. I’m hoping to make it up to Shandy Hall (15 miles north of York) at some point to see the exhibition, but no travel arrangements have yet been made.

My contribution? Well, you’ll have to work it out…

I have many files and boxes marked (usually not literally) ‘things that really should have been thrown out some time ago’. This is a postcard from one such box. Now recycled, but too good not to preserve in electronic form. I’d give credit to whoever made it, but I don’t know who that is.

There has been some interest in the choir hats discussed in my previous post. However, I am sure that these are not the most innovative choir hats that we could, as a group, come up with. I am therefore opening up the pages of this blog to your choir hat designs. If you think you can design a superior choir hat please do so and sent it to me, and I will endeavour to post all submissions on a future blog post. (Obviously were I to receive a huge number of entries I might have to be selective.)

The design can be sent in electronic form via the e-mail address on this page (or any other I’ve contacted you on) or via post to the PO Box address on the same page. Or you can post them on your blog and I will link. Shall we say by a week’s time, Tuesday 9 Nov? That way you can devote the weekend to the task. Non-UK readers might be best scanning or photographing their submissions. I can’t return artwork without an SAE (this is sounding a bit like Take Hart).

This is just a bit of fun rather than a competition, so there aren’t any prizes. That said if you were to include an address… you just never know. There is no requirement for the hats to be pointy.

If there are some good suggestions I may taken them along to General Synod and show them to anyone who will listen. The Queen will be there one of the days, so there is a small chance you could end up supplying choir hats by Royal Appointment to HM’s Choirs.

If there are no submissions I will do some myself, add fake names to them, and then post them to myself.

Bicycle chain on radiator

Mixed media, 2009

The artist explores themes of interconnectedness, detachment and warmth.

I have a number of the cartoon canvasses that I did for the Lambeth Conference sitting in my office. They are in the way. I have to dodge them in an awkward manner whenever I go from my computing and drawing area to my coffee-making, cat-feeding and procrastination areas, a journey that is undertaken frequently. Therefore I need to get rid of them.

The canvasses in question are some of the non Lambeth-specific cartoons – ‘Bishops meetings‘ and the Peace (pictured above), also How Christians can work together across the divide, Church Kitchen and the final panel of this cartoon, (‘Meanwhile, the vast majority…’).

I’d sell them on ebay, but my problem is knowing how to package them up and send them safely. They are 30 inches by 24 inches, or 762mm by 610mm in the metric. I’ve already had expressions of interest from overseas buyers (well.. one), but I fear the cost of packaging and sending safely might be prohibitive, if I can work out how to do it at all. I’ve done a search for cardboard boxes of the correct size, but no joy so far. Obviously people who could pick them up could pick them up (Near Basildon, 15 minutes from M25), but that would rule out most people who might be interested.

I do also have a lot of other blank canvasses, so might, if the interest is there, draw more cartoons on them in the future (it probably won’t happen before Christmas I’m afraid).

Any thoughts or expertise on the subject welcomed.

I’d like to give a quick mention to Paul, whose children’s comic book ‘Exile Road’ is being used by the Spring Harvest Christian holidays this year. Paul writes a ‘Wiblog’ on my other site (the one that was broken but is now less broken than it was). You can read information and discussion about it on the Spring Harvest Christian holidays site.

Just as an insignificant aside, is anyone who reads this weblog going to the Minehead Week 1 Spring Harvest Christian holiday from the 5th to the 10th of April this year? I have no particular reason for asking – it is just idle chatter.

The UCCF are encouraging Christian students to help illustrate the gospel of Mark using doodles. The scheme is called ‘oodles of doodles’ and is explained here. 400 000 copies of the doodled-upon gospels will then be given out to students this September.

An example of a good evangelistic doodle is shown above. One assumes that the three lightening bolts represent the wrath of God, the heart represents the human condition, and the five stars represent astrology. I don’t know about the seaweed – I haven’t worked that out yet.

The doodles must not use words or letters as explained in the downloadable instructions, reproduced below. It would appear that numbers are OK. Punctuation is a grey area, and therefore discouraged. Non-literal gospel drawings are encouraged, but not outside the box.

I for one am in favour of encouraging people to doodle so I think this scheme has my hearty backing. It is my opinion that pens and paper should be given out on the way into all church services. If everyone did more drawing the problems in this world would be cut by about 10-12%.

Monks have been illustrating gospels since early times. This is also relevant, but I forget why.

Background information: The UCCF is a conservative evangelical university Christian Unions organisation. See here to see the posts I’ve written about them in the past.

The following e-mail has been both circulating and doing the rounds:

‘Royal Mail has traditionally alternated between sacred and secular designs for their Christmas stamps and this year it is the turn for a religious image. Royal Mail has issued two sets of designs this year. The main set of designs, available in all the main denominations is of angels, which is vaguely Christian but not explicitly so and certainly not specifically Christmassy. They have also issued a ‘Madonna and Child’ design for first and second class only. Post Office staff have been instructed to only sell this design if people specifically request it, but obviously people can’t request it if they don’t know it exists! If people don’t buy these stamps, Royal Mail will claim there is no demand for religious Christmas stamps and not produce them in future. Please therefore ask for ‘Madonna and Child’ stamps when you do your Christmas posting and also tell your friends, contacts etc. to do the same. Thank You.’

I have seen it on a number of blogs, including Richard’s Connexions (here and here), David Faulkner’s (here and here), Anglican Main Stream (here and here) as well as a Facebook group which I joined because Ruth Gledhill joined it and I am easily led and I didn’t want to be missing out. The Ship of Foolsers are discussing it too. Some of these sources are sceptical, but some aren’t.

The BBC reported on a related story a month ago. To see these stamps in greater detail I’d recommend this site which has in-depth analysis, pictures and (if that wasn’t enough) some commemorative postmarks. As you will note the angel stamps commemorate the tercentenary of Charles Wesley, ‘Anglican priest, co-founder of the Methodist movement and hymn-writer’.

Well, I don’t know. I, like this blogger, think the e-mail is all a lot of nonsense. If you are a Royal Mail employee who has been instructed to hide the ‘Madonna and Child’ stamps behind the driving-licence-change-of-address forms, then please do write in. Please, I am willing to be proved wrong if there is evidence to the contrary. But until that happens we should do what we should do with all forwarded e-mails with no verifying source – ignore them. Unless you’d like the ‘Madonna and Child’ stamps of course, in which case feel free ask for them – just don’t take too long about it as I and all the other readers of this blog will be waiting in the queue behind you.

The rest of us will have to make do with the John Wesley series. We’ll just have to live with the fact that commemorating one of the best hymn writers in the world (ever) is ‘vaguely Christian but not explicitly so’.

Update: From the comments section of the Blue Anorak site:

Royal Mail has been pleased to clarify the situation which is that no such instruction has been made, but that with 14,000 post offices around the country practice might vary as to what customers are offered. They have made the following statement:

“There is absolutely no intention on our part to suppress sales of the Madonna and Child stamps in order to be able to claim there is low demand for religious stamps in future years. Indeed, we have produced tens of millions of them, and we want to sell them!! We have given publicity to both types of Christmas stamps, and the availability of both has been widely covered in the national and local press. Furthermore we plan to have the Madonna and Child stamps available every Christmas in future, alongside each year’s “special” set, which will continue to alternate between religious and secular themes.”

I’m waiting to hear whether this has been posted anywhere ‘official’ so we can squash this thing once and for all.

See also Nicthevic’s post in the comments below:

Revd Paula Vennells, who is a non-stipendiary minister in the Diocese of St Albans, and Network Director for the Post Office says this:

“The rumour that the Royal Mail may be encouraged to stop printing religious stamps at Christmas is completely unfounded; and the request to circulate it has been extraordinarily unhelpful…No-one in Royal Mail group gets up in the morning with the negative motivation implied.”

This e-mail is almost certainly a hoax. Let’s try to get the word out, but by contacting webmasters etc, not forwarding on e-mails.

One of my cartoons is being used as part of an exhibition in the Hereford Cathedral library. I was unaware of the fact until Simon, of Thinking Anglicans website fame, saw it there and reported the fact to me. I am flattered of course, as I am rarely exhibited, although it might have been nice to have been told.

The exhibition is called Distorted Image, and…

It explores how distorted images throughout history have resulted in prejudice, discrimination and enslavement.

…which is encouraging.

I’d like to apologise now for all of the prejudice, discrimination and enslavement that my work has caused. The cartoon in question, which is in a display case along with several old books including Amazing Grace originals and suchlike, is this one:

Any Anglican Episcopal church with an image of The Transfiguration is asked to send a photo (scan) ASAP to the Editor, for use in our magazine.

Just to repeat, a photo of the Transfiguration is required by the Anglican Communion Office. If you were present at the Transfiguration and managed to get a photo then please do send it in to them. I appreciate that most of those present at the Transfiguration would not have had a camera, so a photo from a mobile phone will do just fine. If you were present at the aforementioned event Jim Rosenthal would like to hear from you.

Thank you.