Quaker Artists 3

Anne Knight (1792-1860) was a British writer and teacher. She is known for her children’s poetry and stories, including Mary Gray: a Tale for Little Girls and Mornings in the Library. As well, she edited School-Room Lyrics, a collection of verse. Knight was the headmistress and a teacher at Brook House, a school in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

Knight was born and raised a Friend at Woodbridge Meeting. Widowed early, she had been married to a Quaker cousin. She was friends with the poets Bernard Barton and Charles Lamb, the former a Friend and the latter a Friends fellow traveler. Barton also lived with her and her family, and his poetry was featured in her books. In the introduction to Mary Gray: a Tale for Little Girls, Knight echoed the old Quaker opposition to fiction, stating that she would leaven the stories with true anecdotes about animals, gardens and seasons. She is buried in the Woodbridge Friends cemetery.

Anne Knight is a charming writer, if a little didactic. Her concern was to teach moral lessons to children.

(Please note: Knight is not to be confused with Anne Knight, a contemporary Quaker feminist and abolitionist).

Gary Sandman

April 2026

Quaker Meeting is an oil painting residing in the British art collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  It shows a Meeting for Worship about 1790, depicted by an anonymous artist.  It is unknown which Meeting it represents.  A mixture of Friends, male and female, old and young, sit pensively.  Rather than Quaker gray or brown, they wear a variety of colors, including red, blue and purple.  Ministers and Overseers perch above on the facing bench.  His hat hanging on a peg above him, a Friend stands sharing a message.  (Quakers in those times removed their hats before speaking in Meeting). 

Quaker Meeting is an appealing portrait of Friends.  It looks like many Meetings for Worship in which I have participated.  I especially like the older gentleman in the blue coat, on the lower right, who is grinning. 

Gary Sandman

March 2026

Angela Manno (b. 1953) is an American painter, who has based much of her work on the environment.  A prolific artist, she has created in many mediums: pastel, oil and encaustic, egg tempera and gold leaf, batik on silk and cotton, mixed media and photography.  She is known especially for her icons, including the Sacred Biodiversity Oracle, a 36 card deck depicting threatened species.  She has also created numerous landscapes, especially of Colorado and Provence.  Manno’s aim is to elevate non-human species to their rightful and equal place in the community of being and to spark passion in people for the living world.  Conscious Evolution: The World At One, an exhibition collected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, focused on global unity and responsibility.  Responding to the Cry of the Earth, an audio-visual program commissioned by the Vatican, featured images of threatened species.  Manno is a three-time grant recipient from the Xerox Corporation. Among other places, her works have been exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and the American Museum of Natural History and reside in many private collections around the world.

Manno has been active with Friends since attending Friends Academy as a young person, a life-changing experience for her.  She has been an attender at Fifteenth Street Meeting in New York City and at Forres Meeting in Scotland.  The Sacred Biodiversity Oracle was inspired in part by Friends worship-sharing.  Among other Friendly organizations, she has been active with New York Yearly Meeting Friends in Unity with Nature and with the national Quaker Earthcare Witness.  For NYYM, she helped create the NYYM Earthcare curriculum, and she developed and presented “Eco-Spirituality & Action”, a course that led to the Peace with Earth Declaration.  She is a graduate of the School of the Spirit’s program “Quaker Ministry: On Being a Spiritual Nurturer”.

Angela Manno’s icons are exquisite, a deep and special view of all beings.

(Above is the icon “Apis, the Honey Bee” from her series Contemporary Icons of Threatened and Endangered Species).

Gary Sandman

February 2026

Dover, New Hampshire, Friends have created a Quaker Meetinghouse dollhouse called the “Dover Dollhouse Friends Meeting”. They use it in their First Day School to teach Young Friends about Quakerism. The dollhouse was constructed of cardboard boxes purchased at Staples, measuring 24” x 16” x 10”, while the dolls came from Habe Toy’s Happy Family sets. The children decided how to furnish the dollhouse, choosing first to create benches for the worship room, then a coffee hour table and pictures for the social space. They made food out of Sculpy. After discussion about the Quaker Meetinghouse dollhouse, the children wrote a traveling minute to Holguín Friends Church in Cuba, which was translated into Spanish and taken by a Friend who planned to visit there. Two dolls, a minister and a companion, went with the Friend. Through further discussion, they decided to send love and greetings to a Friend in the hospital. A Friend carried a doll, who delivered the message.

Additional Meetinghouse dollhouses exist. A c. 1870 Meetinghouse, painted to look like brick, with original glass, was found in the attic of the Bell family in Bellmawr, New Jersey. A Salem, Massachusetts, Meetinghouse, with a dog, tree, pumpkins and other harvest displayed around it, was created out of Legos by Jeff Chapman. Kelso Meetinghouse in Scotland was constructed out of Scale Scenes products by Chris Schuetz. Finally, an unattributed 19th century Meetinghouse is to be found on Pinterest.

All the Meetinghouse dollhouses are charming. The 19th century Meetinghouse is particularly exquisite.

Gary Sandman

(Below, in turn, are the Dover, Salem and 19th century Meetinghouses).

January 2026

Ian Serraillier (1912-1994) was a British novelist, poet, critic and teacher.  He was best-known for his children’s books, including the classic The Silver Sword.  He also re-told mythological legends from Greece, Rome and England in a modern idiom, often in verse.  His criticism included Chaucer and his World, a biography.  With his wife, he was an editor of the New Windmill Series for Heineman Educational Books, providing inexpensive editions for young people.  Serraillier was a teacher at Dudley Boys Grammar School, Midhurst Grammar School and Wycliffe College.  He was a nominee for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and a speaker for the Puffin Book Club at several Children’s Literature Summer Camps.

Serrraillier joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1939.  During the Second World War he became a conscientious objector, serving as an air warden in London in the Blitz and in the West Midlands.  He was also a longtime member of the Peace Pledge Union. In 1946 Serraillier became a member of Chichester (BrYM) Meeting.  The Silver Sword was inspired by reports in The Friend about the Friends Relief Service efforts with refugee children in the Second World War.

Ian Serraillier created remarkable works for young people, introducing them to difficult themes like war and acquainting them with traditional stories from history.

Gary Sandman

December 2025

Jane Lapotaire (b. 1944) is a British actor and author. She has appeared extensively on stage (Mrs. Warren’s Profession, The Merchant of Venice, Oedipus, Piaf, et. al.) as well as in film (Edward the King, Marie Curie, Surviving Picasso, Downtown Abbey, et. al.) Among the books she has written are Grace and Favour, Out of Order and Time Out of Mind. Her honors include a Variety Club of Great Britain Award, a Tony Award and an honorary doctorate from Bristol University.

Lapotaire participated in a Quaker retreat after she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 2000.  Feeling she had found a place to heal, she began to attend Friends Meeting.  Her Quaker community also became a source of new friends and a quieter life.  Lapotaire has said that she would like everyone to learn how to sit and be silent for an hour every day. She added that the trait she most admires is serenity.

Jane Lapotaire is one of the foremost actors of her generation. As Princess Alice, Prince Phillip’s mother, in the “Bubbiekins” episode of The Crown, she gave a magnificent performance. She is a remarkable artist.

Gary Sandman

November 2025

Peaky Blinders is a BBC television series about a gang in Birmingham (UK) in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Based on a real criminal organization, it tells the fictional story of the Shelbys, a gypsy family. Communists, Fascists and the American mafia as well as historical figures, like Winston Churchill and Oswald Mosley, also appear. A large ensemble cast, including Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson and Helen McCrory, depict the Shelbys. Tom Hardy, Sam Neill and Adrien Brody are also featured. Steven Knight created and wrote much of the show while “The Red Right Hand”, the series’ theme, was composed by Nick Cave. Nominated for several honors, the show won British Academy Television Awards and National Television Awards.

Linda Shelby is the wife of Arthur Shelby, one of the Shelby brothers. She is a Quaker, though not identified as such until later in the series. She attempts to rescue the troubled, addicted Arthur from himself, using her religious faith. In Season Three, Episode One, Arthur finds her sitting silently in worship in a chapel. In Season Four, Episode Four, Linda inspires the other Shelby women to join a women’s strike. When asked what led them to do this, one of the Shelby men notes, “Quakers (Linda) put ‘em up to it….” Linda, however, is drawn into the violence and drug use of the Shelby family and finally flees the Shelbys. In the Season Five, “Strategy” episode, Linda speaks with a male Friend at the local Bournville Meeting about Arthur. Arthur confronts the Friend, beating him and slashing his face savagely. Ultimately, Linda is bribed to return to Arthur after being offered a huge donation for her mission work.

Linda Shelby’s story arc in Peaky Blinders contrasts her Quaker faith with the Shelby evil. It is troubling that she ends up losing her way. Peaky Blinders is, by the way, an extraordinary television series. Though extremely violent and displaying sexual and drug scenes, it is a riveting show. It is available on Netflix.

(Above is Kate Phillips as Linda Shelby).

Gary Sandman

October 2025

Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817) was an American poet and revolutionary. A member of a prominent Philadelphia family, she vigorously advocated for independence from Britain. She was active in the Daughters of Liberty, who supported boycotts against the British. When the American revolutionary movement became violent, she continued to support a negotiated settlement. Griffitts wrote prolifically about resistance to the British, including The Female Patriots and the Battle of Long Island, as well as on peace and women’s rights. She also composed elegies for parents who had lost their children. During her lifetime, with a few exceptions, her verse was unpublished and shared only with her women friends. About 60 of her poems were preserved in Milcah Martha Moore’s commonplace book, under the pen name “Fidelia”.

Griffitts came from an old Quaker family, her grandfather the well-known Friend Isaac Norris. Due to her Quakerism, she supported peace, and she was raised to believe women were the equals of men. As a child of 10, she dedicated herself to poetry, vowing to God that she would write about “no trifling themes”. Several of her poems were addressed to Quaker friends.

Hannah Griffitts was a good poet, writing at a time when Quakers opposed poetry.

From The Battle of Long Island:

“Oh! Speak contending brethren into Peace,
Bid the sweet Cherub bless our weeping Shores,
And friends again in her soft Bands unite.”

Gary Sandman

September 2025

Kirsten Hills (b. 1977) is a British/Italian videographer based in Florence, Italy.  A former BBC journalist, she works now as a solo filmmaker.  Her work includes documentaries (Uffizi Galleries, Public Broadcasting Service), and promotional films and event coverage for clients (the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Region of Tuscany, Clarks, Carvela and Avava).  Her main project is “Souls of Italy”, a blog and films about Italian culture.

Hills was raised a Friend in Canterbury Meeting.  She attended summer sessions at Saffron Walden Friends School as well as the Geneva Quaker United Nations Office School.  She worships now with the small Florence Worship Group.  Hills has created several Quaker videos, (Bethesda Joyland Centre, Woodbrooke Centre and Ramallah School).  She has also made videos about Quakers in Italy (https://quaccheriinitalia.wordpress.com/chi-siamo/video-interviste/).  With her work, she hopes that she reflects Quaker values: seeing the good in people and letting their stories speak for themselves.  She would like to film British Friends Meetinghouses and interview American Quakers in the future.

Kirsten Hills’s videos are gorgeous and lively.  They tell heartfelt stories.  I especially enjoyed the one about “Porcellino’s New Nose”.  She is a gifted artist! Please check out her website at https://www.kirstenhills.com for her wonderful videos.

Gary Sandman

August 2025

An ink drawing of minister and abolitionist John Woolman appeared as the frontispiece of the 1970 Gehenna Press edition of John Woolman’s Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes. It depicts a gaunt, intense figure. Painter and sculptor Leonard Baskin created it. In addition, he illustrated the cover of John Woolman’s Dream of the Fox and the Cat.

The portrait of Woolman, attributed to Robert Smith III, was Baskin’s inspiration. The Smith picture, however, most likely does not show Woolman. Instead, his sketch may have portrayed Friend Anthony Benezet.

The John Woolman drawing is haunting. Though it is probably not based on what Woolman looked like, it does capture his ethereal spirit.

Gary Sandman

July 2025