Jan Pienkowski at St Peter's, Acton

You know what's it like. Most churches in the UK are more often locked than not. Today I was lucky to cycle past St Peter's in South Acton and see the door wide open, unlike last Sunday afternoon:

I entered the porch, left my bike inside and started exploring.
To the left of the main entrance stood a statue of St Francis of Assisi holding a... rabbit:

 Here you could read a story about the saint and the long-eared animal:

Then I came into the church...

 It looked a bit plain, but at the same time inviting.

 The very first thing that captured my attention was this scene from The Stations of the Cross.

It made me think of something I saw earlier. Here it is:

Yes, again and on purpose I cycled past the Acton mosaic studio. This time the sun was shining, unlike last time. And yes, I took more pictures of Carrie Reichardt's workshop, and yes, I will go there again!

Back to exploring St Peter's... Inside, on the door, among texts and maps to do with the church history, I saw a Polish name: Jan Pienkowski.
 
It's a London-based artist, most famous for children's books illustrations, especially the popular Meg and Mog series.. He developed a quite unique style, but the painting he made for the church is rather different. He painted The Fisherman on an old door and then added a few small scenes in his usual style at the bottom of the painting. To me the combination works very well:

The Call by Jan Pienkowski, St Peter's, S Acton

I learned much more from a kind and helpful lady met at the church. She turned out to be Parish Manager and invited me to come again, with or without friends. We could look around, take as many pictures as we wish and enjoy its tranquility.

 Arts and Crafts chair?

Imposing organs:

...
I've just come across an article which shows another painting by Jan Pienkowski: Virgin Mary.
But here is something even more interesting: children's books by my compatriot available for free.
His landscapes can be seen here.

...

Seven years on, I'm revisiting this post. This afternoon, I was near St Peter's Church with a group of Polish people who live in North London. It was too cold, too wet and too far to go to the church today but I'd like them to visit it one day and to tell them about the artist, Jan Pienkowski. Unfortunately, he is no more with us. May he rest in peace.