The (very artistic) Rev.

By Phil Falle

The Rev. Graham Leworthy with his latest painting, featuring that slice of bread. (0610207)

SEVERAL years ago I was privileged to be asked to help the children of Sark School to produce a newspaper. That is history, but it might explain why the success the present pupils achieved in the Guernsey Press’s recent Design-an-ad competition was not a surprise to me, for they were a talented bunch then and remain so.

The pupils of the senior school received no fewer than nine ‘mentions in despatches’ and also came away with the Lloyds TSB Trophy for the most deserving school – a real feather in the cap for those involved.

Given that this is a competition – just as all pupils will find out that for most people, earning a living is a competition – I think it fair to mention that when compared with pupils from Alderney, which has a much larger population and a larger number of pupils, those representing Sark School did extremely well.

The pupils who received those ‘mentions’ were Kerry Couldridge, Lucy de Carteret, Jack Doyle and Grace Nicolle. They have brought credit not only to themselves but also to their school and island and deserve congratulations. Indeed, a reference to their success at the next meeting of Chief Pleas would not go amiss.

I think it’s worth pointing out, in case anyone who is not from Sark thinks I’ve gone over the top in praise, that the senior school here all take most of their lessons in one classroom – irrespective of age – and have just one form teacher for the lot of them. No doubt other teachers were probably involved in this also, so they too should be thanked and congratulated.

Continuing in an artistic vein – and I can think of no one less artistically minded than me – Graham Leworthy will tomorrow be conducting a wedding. On Sunday he will be in the pulpit of St Peter’s Church giving vent to whatever takes his fancy in his sermon and next week he may well be seen strimming the grass in the graveyard.

He is also an artist – indeed, so much so that he asked that anything I write should focus predominantly on that rather than his role as an Anglican minister.

He has lived in Sark for the last 35 years – he and his wife, Sue, ran a cafe/ restaurant for many years – but has painted all his life, having studied at London’s Camberwell School of Art and the Department of Fine Art at Reading University.

However, as he warns everyone, his pictures are not the scenic views of Sark that many visitors to the island take home with them.

‘I’ve always enjoyed painting abstracts,’ he told me, pointing to what looked like a slice of wholemeal bread in the current work in progress. As it happens, it was a slice of bread and he showed me the magazine advertisement which gave

him that particular idea.

‘I find it challenging, exciting and actually it’s quite a thrill if what you produce has gone well,’ he said. ‘If I don’t paint for three or four days, I miss it terribly.’

Graham has just opened the Baleine Studio at his home – which overlooks the east coast bay of that name – and its walls show many examples of what he describes as still life – ‘in that they depict objects, real or invented, arranged on a surface in a particular and intended manner’.

It’s well worth a visit.