Main Areas of Focus

My interests are wide-ranging, primarily in how human beings affect and are affected by the natural world of which we are part, and the related theology and psychology of connectedness.

Artist

Creating beautiful and thought-provoking art as a means of supporting care for planet and people, nurturing a sense of place, and building community

Writer

Articles and blogs on economics, environment, nature, attentiveness, applied theology, arts, and anything that interests me

Consultant

» Website development and training
» Energy efficiency and renewable energy consultancy
» Research and reporting

Latest News and Produce

What I’ve recently produced. What I’m working on. What’s in the pipeline.

Performance/Event

"Compline: A contemplative journey through Lent" in St Olave's Church

The ancient close-of-the-day service of Compline, with plainchant and polyphony. Hosted by Margaret Aagesen Hughes (Soprano) and Clare Bryden (Alto). Featuring musicians Andrew Maries (Oboe), Sophie Brewer (Flute), Catherine Bradley (Cello), John Draisey (Keyboard) and the music of Andrew Wilson.

Article

Good Money Week: how to set up a social enterprise

Clare Bryden. Good Money Week: how to set up a social enterprise, Church Times, 29 September 2023.
Churches can express their faith and respond to community needs through social enterprises. Clare Bryden explains how to set one up

Blog

Springing eternal in autumn

In 2010 I wrote a series of four haiku spanning seven-year intervals in response to Deepwater Horizon: 1996, 2003, 2010, 2017. Now it's 2023, maybe an update that ignites the will to keep plugging on would be helpful...

Talk/Workshop

Prayer and Bible reading groups

As part of starting a new blog devoted to prayer and spiritual life, I have moved over the material on related workshops and group work.

Exhibition/Installation

"#NoticingNature"

10 October is World Mental Health Day. During the preceding two weeks I practised Noticing Nature from the Greater Good in Action website.

Academia

“Living the questions” again in 2023/24

Teaching on the Medical Humanities Special Studies Unit at Exeter Medical School, introducing fourth year students to conceptual and environmental art; looking at meaning-making and how we turn ideas into art; making art.

Recording

"...and the Greatest of these is Love"

In their second album, Antiphon presents world premiere recordings of three choral works by Michael Walsh: an unaccompanied Mass of the Holy Trinity; a full-scale Requiem Mass; and The Way of Love, a setting of five love poems by Rupert Brooke. We recorded it in July 2017 in the crossing and Lady Chapel in Exeter Cathedral.

News

“Living the questions” again in 2023/24

Teaching on the Medical Humanities Special Studies Unit at Exeter Medical School, introducing fourth year students to conceptual and environmental art; looking at meaning-making and how we turn ideas into art; making art.

Random Work Generator

There are a number of threads running through all my work. Here’s a random sample from each.

Attentiveness

A lane of two halves: one year on

Last year, I did the first half of a walk down the 1800s route of Woodwater Lane. I managed the western half as far as the Retail Park, before giving up due to the rain. Exactly one year later, I completed the journey.

Environment

"Particulart: Up in the Air" pop-up at the Fun Palace

"Fun Palaces is a movement campaigning for culture by, for and with all – with a firm belief that community belongs at the core of all culture – and an annual weekend of events... Everyone an Artist, Everyone a Scientist."

Making

"Particulart: Greenhouse Effect" at Low Carbon Oxford Week

The overall aim of Particulart is to engage people with environmental and social issues and challenge the status quo through the power of knitting, science, and public art. In addition, “Greenhouse Effect” aimed to promote public awareness and provoke reflection on climate change and the underlying science, through appealing to different ways of accessing information – words and numbers, sight and touch – and enabling playful interaction.

Place

How Place Shapes Prayer

Clare Bryden. How Place Shapes Prayer. Reform Magazine, November 2013.
Clare Bryden explores the spirituality of place in a Benedictine community in Worcestershire.

Play

"Climate Questing in Minecraft"

In which the UK Climate Projections 2018 meet Minecraft and "The Warlock of Firetop Mountain".

Public Engagement

"A Suburban Serenade"

It happened! Possibly not one of the daftest ideas I've had, but must be one of the dafter ideas I've pursued.

Science and Data

Game of Life

The Game of Life is a pretty standard coding exercise. But what if Life is no longer seen in black and white, and instead in shades of grey? Update: Or in technicolor? And what happens if we tweak the rules?

Social Justice

Values going viral

People don't make decisions based on rational assessment of facts; they make decisions according to how they fit with their values and identity. Psychologists classify values as either extrinsic, which concern status and success, or intrinsic, which concern relationships and benevolence. How can we make intrinsic values go viral?