Fra Lippo Lippi, in Robert Browning's poem of the same name, struggles with being an artist and being bound by the vows he has taken as a Christian. Drawn to the images and the people around him, he feels compelled to portray this in his paintings, but is constrained by what the Church of his time considers proper art. Though removed from Lippi in centuries of time, Thunder Bay poet Marianne Jones can resonate with his frustration.

"A Christian artist sometimes feels that they don't have a place in either the church as a whole, or in the secular world--as an artist," she says.

Jones, a published poet , novelist and Christian, feels that despite centuries of Church-sponsored art in Europe, for example, Christianity is generally uneasy with the world of art, especially in North America. She is not alone, and in the course of convening a writing workshop three years ago, discovered artists who felt the same way.

"I was blown away by the talent I saw there. I hoped someone else would create a writers group from it," Jones remembers. "That didn't happen, so I formed Inkwell."

Unique among the half dozen writers groups in Thunder Bay, Inkwell is made up of writers and artists who share a Christian faith base, although they do not necessarily write devotional material.

"The name comes from C. S. Lewis' writers group," Jones says.

Lewis, whose Narnia series of novels still sell briskly decades after his death, had formed the Inklings at Oxford University for many of the same reasons that saw Inkwell's genesis.

"We let our artistic sense override our Christian sense," says musician and poet Rick Three. "As artists, we want the same freedom to portray the negative as well as the positive in life. We try to put ourselves in other peoples' places, to have an artist's eye. We want to see things as God sees them."

While Inkwell members have a common spiritual outlook, the eight-member group functions in similar ways to other writers groups.

"It gives you initiative, a motive to write," says journalist Jenny Abell, who joined two years ago. "I enjoy being here because there isn't a lot of criticism, unless I ask for it from the others."

"Criticism may have a place, but new writers can be easily crushed by it," Jones agrees. "We've chosen to leave the matter of criticism up to the individual writer. We're also here to socialize, and encourage friendships in a nurturing environment. Not every writer is 'all business'."

Equally important to each monthly meeting is a writing exercise.

"The writing exercises encourage you to expand. They're for enjoyment, but also reflection," says Three. "But Inkwell doesn't put you in a particular direction, you're encouraged to try other things."

For her part, Abell has also worked with plays, monologues and short fiction. "This group has helped me explore other genres a little bit," says singer-songwriter Richard Pepper. "I like the diversity of the people and talents here."

Inkwell's coffeehouse readings and other public performances in the city have been well received. Another is planned for Duluth within a couple of months. The group has sometimes discussed publishing a collection of members' writings.

"We certainly have enough material," says Jones. "But a group like Inkwell, which consciously values relationship as well as art, isn't for everyone."

Inkwell can be contacted through Marianne Jones at 767-6281.

Copyright 2000 Peter Fergus-Moore (P F-M),
512 Castlegreen Drive,
Thunder Bay ON Canada P7A 7M1
fergs"at symbol"tbaytel.net

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Last Update: May 9, 2004

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