Richard Shone

Darren Clarke

Hana Leaper

First published to accompany the exhibition From Omega to Charleston: The Art of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, 1910-1934, this fully illustrated publication explores the life and works of two of the most innovative and influential British artists of the twentieth century. With a substantial essay and catalogue entries by Richard Shone (author of Bloomsbury Portraits, 1993 and curator of The Art of Bloomsbury, Tate, 1999), the catalogue explores the unique creative relationship shared by Bell (1879-1961) and Grant (1885-1978). It traces their move from the early years flush with post-impressionist experimentation to their later work at Charleston, their shared Sussex home. Whether working in fine painting or decorative schemes, together they emerge as consistently radical practitioners at the very heart of their cultural milieu. Drawing from private collections and a substantial group of works from The Charleston Trust, the second half of the publication focusses exclusively on one of Bell and Grant's most spectacular joint commissions: The Famous Women Dinner Service. Begun in 1932 at the request of the art historian and director of the National Gallery Kenneth Clark and his wife Jane, its fifty plates were decorated with images of famous women through the ages, from Sappho to Greta Garbo. Considered lost for nearly forty years, and first publically exhibited at this exhibition, this set of plates forms an impressive testament to Bell and Grant's close working partnership. A significant essay by Hana leaper (Charleston scholar, Fellow of the Paul Mellon Centre, and Senior Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University) is succeeded by closer scholarship dedicated to the individual plates and the women that inspired them. The catalogue also has introductions from both Frances Spalding (Biographer of Bell and Grant) and Darren Clarke (Rausing Head of Collections, Research and Exhibitions at the Charleston Trust).

The Art of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant 1910- 1934

From Omega to Charleston

"Jesus is the answer," goes a stereotypical claim of an evangelical preacher. To this statement, nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and twentieth-century American author Flannery O'Connor would likely have a similar response: "No, Jesus is the problem." Using Wise Blood as the central text, I discuss how these two writers seek to problematize faith by challenging a widespread, modern perception that faith is an easily "obtained," simple answer to the difficulties of life. The writers' attempts to accomplish this task intersect regularly as they show the multitude of ways that faith can become atrophied or misdirected and as they discuss the obstacles facing a person who chooses to live faithfully.

A Kierkegaardian Analysis of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood

Making Faith Harder

Dr. Karl Morris

This is the definitive guide to the mental side of golf, written by the popular, multiple tournament-winning Ryder Cup golfer Darren Clarke. He dispenses clear, practical advice on everything from tackling stress and combatting fear, to maintaining positive thoughts and avoiding the dreaded 'yips'.

Golf - the Mind Factor

A golfer loved for his courage and charisma, Darren Clarke has the crowds behind him. They know he is a warm, funny raconteur who likes a Guinness, who both works hard and plays hard. More important, they know that this man pulled himself up by his bootstraps, having lost his wife Heather to cancer, to triumph at the 2006 Ryder Cup. Just days before the start of the 2011 Open at Royal St George's, Darren's game had once again deserted him, leaving him 'putting like a man with blurred vision'. A month before his 43rd birthday he was not in a good place. But Heather was 'watching from above', the crowd were roaring him on, golf guru Dr Bob Rotella was telling him to 'go unconscious' - and something sparked inside him. The rest is golfing history. Born in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, Darren caddied for his golf course greenkeeper father, turning pro in 1990. He has played in four victorious Ryder Cup sides and beat his close friend Tiger Woods in the 36-hole final of the 2000 WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play. In 2002 he became the only player to win the English Open three times. In An Open Book he speaks candidly about fellow-players, coaches and golfing psychologists; about how he was bullied at school, narrowly missed and IRA bomb and eventually set up a foundation to develop junior golf in Ireland; and about how he found personal happiness again, marrying Alison Campbell in April 2012. Most vividly of all, he takes the reader down those rainswept fairways to the ecstasy of that final putt when, at his 20th attempt, he lifted the silver claret jug.

Darren Clarke

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