Teacher of Visual Arts (Key Stage 3-5) to start September 2023. Visual Arts is a faculty which encompasses Fine Art, Photography and Film/Media, but offers an even wider range of extra-curricular activities, including ceramics, textiles, Manga and much more. All three courses are popular options at GCSE with exceptional outcomes, and both Visual Arts and Film are taught at IB with similar success. The department benefits from a range of external opportunities, including links to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Curwen Print Studio and a strong partnership with Cambridge TV. You will be joining us at an incredibly exciting time, as we embed the IB Middle Years Programme at Key Stage 3, and become one of the first state schools in the UK to offer three IB programmes. Part time candidates are very welcome, ECTs will be nurtured and developed. They would, however, particularly welcome applications from teachers with at least two or three years’ experience who are looking for a new challenge and for the support and coaching needed to prepare for middle and senior leadership roles. Apply by February 20, 2023
This weekend sees the start of a month long exhibition at Ely Cathedral for local artist Stephen Tromans. Amanda Borrill met up with him to discover more about the inspiration behind these unique works of art.
Tucked away in a quiet corner of Impington’s The Crescent you’ll find the studio of local artist Stephen Tromans. A barrister and King’s Counsel by profession, specialising in environmental and energy law, Stephen took up painting as a hobby around ten years ago and his work features regularly in the popular Open Studios events.
Trafalgar Square. One of Stephen’s very early works produced in 2014.
Climbing the stairs of his studio annex, it is clear to see this ‘hobby’ is an immensely productive one. In the hallway of the home he shares with his wife Caroline, art sits on floors leaning up against the walls and the studio itself displays an abundance of work from across the years, including an eye catching ‘Trafalgar Square’ with stunning black frame that wouldn’t look out of place in the National Gallery. This is one of Stephen’s very early works created in 2014, quite soon after he took up painting in oils and, he tells me, loosely based on a similar painting by the Norfolk painter Edward Seago.
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His wife Caroline, he confesses, is to be thanked for, “putting up with all the clutter, distraction and absent mindedness that seems to go with producing art” and as the wife of a ‘tech guy’, I can’t help thinking it’s infinitely preferable to the PC World feel that often dominates my own hallway.
A lifelong passion
A lifelong lover of art, like so many of his generation he was steered away from the subject in school – being viewed only as a rather frivolous way to spend your time – and encouraged to pursue what were considered ‘more productive’ academic avenues. A law degree followed with Stephen spending some time teaching law at Cambridge University. But the desire to paint never really diminished and in 2013 he took himself off on a beginner’s course at Norfolk Painting School, completing a Diploma in oil painting in 2018.
Grenfell Tower recreated in art from photos.
I was struck by the contrast between legal career and artist but Stephen was quick to point out that life as a barrister is nowhere near as exciting as it might appear on TV. Both activities involve long periods of solitude – in his legal world that time is spent working with words but in his artistic life it’s taken up creating images.
There are, however, occasional crossovers and it was through his legal firm’s involvement with the Grenfell Tower inquiry that Stephen created his painting of the Tower (pictured left). Recalling how it came about he told me: “A number of barristers in my Chambers were involved in the inquiry and when it came to an end I was asked if I would create a painting of the Tower as it was before the fire. It proved quite difficult to get a suitable image of the Tower before the fire and I wanted to give the building some nobility as a mark of respect for those who lived, and died, there”.
Making an impact
Stephen’s exhibition, which opens this coming Saturday, 18 February, is set to make quite an impact in Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel. Entitled GOLGOTHA 2022 Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Christ’s Passion, the work, which began almost immediately after the invasion began in 2022, sets the events in Ukraine against the Easter story which was unfolding at the same time. Taking his influence from some of the great artists of the past such as Goya, Picasso, Rubens, and Rembrandt – all of whom have themselves sought to depict both the horrors of war and the suffering of Christ – one year on Stephen is seeking to draw out the meaning of Christ’s Passion and what it has to say now in speaking of human suffering and human evil.
Stephen’s ‘Alien World’. One of a series of four images. Oil over collage on board. Photo: Amanda Borrill.
Stephen tells more: “On 24th February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. This profoundly shocking action was to give rise over the ensuing months to untold human misery in loss of life, injury, rapes and other war crimes, the separation of families, mental and physical trauma and loss of homes and possessions. It was the cause of the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
“In the period before Lent 2022 I had been working on a religious triptych, ‘Transfiguration, Crucifixion and Resurrection’, which was exhibited in my local parish church, St Andrew’s Impington. Oddly, much of the tone and colour of these works prefigured the images of war from Ukraine. The work then came in two main phases: an initial burst of activity over the Spring and early Summer, which resulted in a number of images which I was able to display at my Open Studios in 2022 with visitors including a number of Ukrainians who had been offered homes by people here in our community.
“There was then a second burst of activity in the period after November 2022 by which time I had the opportunity to have read and reflected further on events”.
A labour of love
Stephen has really had his work cut out for this upcoming exhibition. He was offered space for 25 pieces and, at Christmas last year, had completed just 11! So things have really moved on these last few months. “I suffered a detached retina last year” Stephen reveals “and much of the work I have produced was done using only my remaining working eye. Things are gradually easing but, yes, it has certainly presented me with a few challenges along the way.”
Thanking those involved in getting this off the ground, Stephen shared: “I am most grateful to the Dean and Chapter of Ely Cathedral for permission for this exhibition in the calm and beautiful setting of the Lady Chapel, and to Jocelyn Palmer and Caroline Harrison of the Events Team at the Cathedral for facilitating it. I am also grateful to my friend Peter Garside, a guide at the Cathedral, for the initial suggestion of an exhibition there”.
Much support from our local businesses here in Histon & Impington has gone into the exhibition too, with the photography of many of the paintings for the catalogue undertaken by Stuart Norris of Outdoor Imaging Impington and the brochure itself produced by Histon’s Print-Out.
Praying for peace
It is hoped that the exhibition will boost Stephen’s fundraising for the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund. Already, in 2022, Stephen has raised £6000 from the sale of his artwork and this event will give further opportunity to support the appeal with 75% of the money raised through sales of his work going directly to the Humanitarian Fund and the remaining 25% to Ely Cathedral.
I asked Stephen what visitors to the Lady Chapel can expect when they visit and his message was this: “Those visiting the beautiful and calm surroundings of the Lady Chapel at Ely will find over two dozen paintings exploring these themes. Whether or not you have Christian faith, I hope that you will find here food for reflection as we again approach Easter, and that you will be prompted to pray for the people of Ukraine, and for peace in that country and in our world.”
Unqualified Teacher of Design Technology to train as part of the CTSN SCITT programme. They are looking for a candidate who is keen to train to teach both DT and Food up to KS5, and who will contribute to the full life of the College, starting in September 2023. Apply by 31 December 2022
Teacher of Visual Arts (Key Stage 3-5) to start in Jan 2023 and is suitable for NQTs (ECTs). Closing Date: 9am Monday 17 October 2022. Interviews to take place w/b 17 October 2022.
Histon and Impington Community Land Trust has been exploring the idea of a Makerspace for the community and is holding a creative afternoon at Histon and Impington Park Primary School on Saturday 22nd October between 3pm and 5pm.
A Makerspace would be a place with shared resources that you can use to do creative work, share your skills and meet other creative people. There will be some demonstrations, talks and fun activities as well as a Q&A session. We’ll talk about opportunities to get involved and how to volunteer to help make this project a reality.
This is a family friendly event and there will be refreshments available. Parents will be responsible for their children while on school premises.
Painting Passions have an evening on Monday 3rd October from 7-9pm at the Saint Andrew’s Centre.
Come and join in a fun creative night while enjoying a drink or two with friends. All the supplies (not alcohol) are provided for your two hour paint class and you will be talked through each stage step by step.
There will be a Pop up Art Gallery on 27th November from 1-6pm at the Saint Andrew’s Centre showing the work of 12 local artists. The following artists will be bringing their works:
Abi Cochran, Becky Convey, Helena Perry, Rachel Dormor, Daniela Stief, Kerstin Richter-Catling, Dario Fisher, Mark Evans, Sue Smith, Angie Wocha, Roxana de Rond, Carmen Renwick,
There is a mix of jewellers, ceramicists, painters, printmakers and illustrators, glass and sculpture. It promises to be a lovely show, a great opportunity to buy unique, beautifully made gifts, from a sustainably local economy.
The gallery is brought to Histon by local arts organisation Half Moon Creative Arts CIC. The event is designed with social distancing in mind, so plenty of space and ventilation. Masks to be worn if possible.
With a little help from her friend Kilo, Histon & Impington’s Graffiti Granny, Moira Neal, has her entry for this year’s Festival of Quilts all sewn up. Amanda Borrill asked her about how it all began and the challenges she has faced getting to the finish line.
Never has the saying ‘you are never too old to try something new’ been truer than in the case of Moira Neal whose visit to an event organised by local graffiti artist Kilo (aka William Pengelly), back in the summer of 2017, would introduce her to a whole new art form and assign her with the tag ‘Graffiti Granny’.
As part of a public art collaboration between our Parish and County councils, aimed at encouraging engagement with the youth of our villages, artist Kilo had arranged for a television film crew to watch as they set about transforming a concrete underpass along the guided busway into a colourful wall of graffiti art.
The Bridge project in action July 2017. Where Moira first met Kilo. Photo Aga Cahn.
Moira takes up the story: “My meeting Kilo, at the Graffiti Dabble day in 2017, inspired me immensely. I went home and bought £100 worth of spray paints and had fun creating my own wall at home. I was tagged the ‘graffiti granny’ on our local community Facebook page, with people finding it highly amusing to see a woman of my more advanced years having a go at this hip young art form.
Left to right, Kilo, Penelope Keith and Moira during filming of Village of the Year. Photo Moira’s own.
“Then, when our village featured in Channel 4’s Village of the Year with Penelope Keith, my involvement with the graffiti wall was picked up by the producers and I was invited for an interview. Our village made it all the way to the semi-finals and it was an incredible achievement to get that far.
Original sheet sprayed with Kilo’s tag. Photo Moira Neal.
“Having loved the experience so much, I commissioned Kilo to spray an old white sheet for me and, this year, I finally got round to making it into a quilt which will be entered into an exhibition at The Festival of Quilts. Kilo sprayed his tag and some fluorescent pink paint around it. I love to re-use and up-cycle and the entire quilt is made from old cotton sheeting which has been either painted or dyed in lovely bright colours.
“I painted the sky, wall and pavement and then had fun adding the appliqué and free machine embroidery to it, stitched at speed with black thread to really make the colours pop. I added the graffiti granny with her purple hair in a bun, spraying flowers on the wall. Beside her is a basket containing her spray paints and mobile phone and on her other side, her flask of earl grey tea.
Graffiti Granny’s basket with her spray paints. Photo Moira Neal.
Graffiti Granny adorned with purple bun. Photo Moira Neal.
Discarded chips and cigarette butts. Photo Moira Neal.
“In her bag, which has been stitched on separately, is a letter with the story of the quilt and what happened while I was making it. All my quilts are journal quilts and document my life.
“The pavement is littered with cigarette butts and chewing gum all made using pelmet Vilene and free machine stitch. There is a bag of discarded chips and a tomato sauce sachet stitched into it. On the right is a dog peeing against the water and in the foreground there are other things to find! (A dog poo and slug, ladybirds, worms and a snail!)”
Dog and wall. Photo Moira Neal.
While working on this quilt for the competition, Moira unfortunately became acutely ill and was diagnosed with a devastating condition called Polymyalgia Rhematica. This condition causes intense pain and weakness in the shoulders and rendered Moira unable to finish the quilting.
Moira continued: “As it had been entered in the ‘two person’ category, the only person who could help me was Kilo, although my daughter Claire also kindly offered her help. A quick call to Kilo and, to my amazement, he agreed to come and help me free machine the graffiti areas of the quilt. I had left them until the end as was unsure how to quilt them without imposing my design on his original work. After all, Kilo is the true graffiti artist… I was just there to have fun.
“In the end, I decided echo quilting would work well. Kilo was brilliant! As an artist, he took to the free machining really quickly and came over for two afternoons to finish the quilt for me. I took some time lapse film of him at work. He is a natural”
Moira and Kilo’s finished quilt is on exhibition in the Two Person category at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC from 29th July until 1st August.
Greetings cards of the whole design as well as three close ups are currently awaited from the printers. Moira will post news when available on local social media or, alternatively, you can email her personally at moira@moiraneal.com
Cambridge Open Studios is a flourishing community of around 500 artists, craftspeople and designer-makers working throughout Cambridge.
July Open Studios 2021 will be back during July weekends with artists from Histon and Impington opening their doors to visitors. For more information please visit: www.camopenstudios.co.uk
HI Artists to visit include: Sue Smith, Daniela Stief, Andrew Oliver, Andrew Goyder, Clive Dawson, Angie Wocha, Matthew Dando, Clare Crouchman and Janet Hathiramani. Please check the website for individual opening times and days as they may differ. Some artists may require pre-booking.
Join Histon artist and HIJS parent, Preeti Deshpande, for a Spring Art Workshop to raise funds for the school. Suitable for pairs or small family groups (age 7 and over) the workshop will guide you over Zoom to create your own spring-themed masterpiece.
Please have a quiet room to work in if possible.
You’ll need watercolour paints and brushes (or acrylics), thick A4 paper, a pencil, a rubber and a black sharpie.
