'Angel' picture that inspired charity's art therapy workshops'
Henley Standard ~ January 14th 2011
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'A CLOUD resembling an angel provided a photographer with the inspiration for a charity.
CJ Holding was in a car travelling through Somerset when she noticed the "image" in the sky. As soon as she had taken of it, the cloud vanished.
Some people have told her the image resembles an angel with scarlet hair, glowing body and blue trail.
Miss Holding, 33, who owns the Studio Gallery at Manor Farm, Peppard, took the photograph in June 2003 and called it 'Angel'. The image, which was developed from a 35mm film and has not been enhanced in any way, was first published in the Standard’s Diary page in April 2009.
Miss Holding said: “I saw this strikingly shaped cloud at a sad moment in my life but it has been a hopeful and inspiring image to many people ever since. It certainly sparks the most interesting responses. It means different things to different people but can be whatever people want it to be. Contrary to interesting and popular debate, its title of 'Angel' is not intended to be a description — it is a cloud.”
Miss Holding contacted the Met Office, which said the cloud was probably the result of light refracting in ice crystals. The picture was the inspiration for the key [446522] doesn't existThe Angel Trust, which will provide funding for art therapy workshops for people with learning difficulties and the disabled.
Miss Holding said: “Because it has had such an amazing response I decided that perhaps it could do some good, hence the decision to begin the charity.There’s no question that art can be a tremendously valuable means of expression. My fiancé Jason Bishop is a support worker for Oxfordshire County Council and initiated a creative arts group two years ago at the daytime support centre where he works. By staging exhibitions of the artwork that is produced, he wishes to promote more widespread understanding of disability.”
'Journeys', the latest exhibition of their creative artworks through the council, is showing until next Saturday at the Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage.
The charity’s aim is to provide funding for materials and venues where more workshops can take place.'
