Artful Advent Calendar

Start each morning this December rediscovering the true meaning of Christmas through twenty-four artworks, each offering a unique perspective on the events surrounding Jesus's birth.

Twenty-four days, twenty-four works of art

The Artful Advent Calendar introduces the art of celebrated historic artists into your Advent rhythms, helping you to see the Christmas story in ways you've never seen before.

Each day a new art card is revealed and with it a moment to appreciate beautiful art as we reflect on the scripture which inspired it, and the miraculous events that took place 2,000 years ago.

A familiar story

I'm Pete, the creator of Artful. As a practising Christian, I can often fall into an uncomfortable cycle of guilt and apathy regarding reading the scriptures each year. I love Christmas, and have done since I was a child. Time with family, cosy vibes and ALL THE FOOD! But amongst all the festivities I know I'm missing out on an opportunity to connect with the story and person of Jesus.

Perhaps it's overfamiliarity, having grown up in church and heard the nativity story every year for the past forty years of my life. Because when I do slow down and take a moment to properly connect with the extraordinary, poignant and world-changing story, there is something powerful and deeply moving to be uncovered whatever faith background you are from.

Art is for all

I'm relatively new to the world of art myself. I've always loved beauty and good design, but I didn't grow up around galleries, and the first few times I went, I felt bored, frustrated, and honestly a bit stupid. It felt like everyone else was in on something I wasn't.

Living in London at this time in my life I felt I owed it to myself to appreciate what we have here. This has led me to discover artists I'd never and it's now uncommon that a weekend goes by without a visit to a local exhibition or visit to one of London's world-renowned galleries.

I still have such a lot to learn, but with all that I've picked up about appreciating and sitting with art, I decided to bring that to my reading of the bible. I'd long overlooked religious art, assuming it was all stiff, dark and a little morbid. But when I actually started looking properly, I found art and artists across centuries who'd wrestled with the exact same story I'd grown numb to, and each of them had found something in it worth stopping for.

Building daily rhythms

I'm now presenting this simple approach to you through a simple advent experience. For each day I've recorded short devotions on that day's artwork, accessible via the Artful app. Every card offers gentle nudges to help refocus on the part of the story it's telling. Nothing long, nothing that requires you to 'understand', or know anything about art.

With just enough context to draw your attention to the details to facilitate a quiet moment with the Christmas story, whether on your own with a morning coffee, or gathered round the table at dinner with family.

Designed to last

This advent calendar isn't supposed to be forgotten once Christmas comes and goes. Not only will the discoveries and the connections live on long as memories, but the album and the cards themselves are designed to live on long after advent itself.

Designed, manufactured and hand-assembled here in the UK, each album is a labour of love using the finest materials, and packed by a family team of supporters who believe this has the potential to make this an advent to remember.