Inspire - exhibition hang

Inspire: art as spiritual exploration

Inspire: art as spiritual exploration is a commission4mission exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook from 18th – 29th November (10.00am – 6.00pm, closed 24 November). Among the artists exhibiting are: Ross Ashmore, Ally Ashworth, Hayley Bowen, Harvey Bradley, Christopher Clack, Anne Creasey, Valerie Dean, Jonathan Evens, Clorinda Goodman, Alan Hitching, Mark Lewis, Pouka, Caroline Richardson, Janet Roberts, Francesca Ross, Henry Shelton and Peter Webb. Parish priest, Peter Delaney will also exhibit his work as part of the show.

A Private View will be held on the evening of Monday 18th November from 6.00pm – 8.30pm and will include a welcome from The Venerable Peter Delaney MBE. All are welcome.

Newsletter No. 17 - June 2013

 

c4m pops up at the Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival

commission4mission held a pop-up exhibition in Harlow Town Centre for the Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival in May. The exhibition, which included ceramics, drawings, fused glass, paintings, photographs, sculptures and wooden reliefs. featured work by Ross Ashmore, Harvey Bradley, Elizabeth Duncan Meyer, Jonathan Evens, Ken James, Mark Lewis, Caroline Richardson, Henry Shelton, Joy Rousell Stone and Peter Webb. 

A day on the visual arts was organised as part of the Festival with art talks, the Run with the Fire digital art exhibition and Harlow Seniors Photographic Society Exhibition at St Paul's Harlow plus a lunchtime reception at the commission4mission exhibition. The Rt Revd. Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford, outlined the background to Stanley Spencer's Christ in the Wilderness paintings before sharing meditations based on particular paintings in the series. c4m member Mark Lewis summarised the career of John Piper, highlighting his interest in abstraction, typographical content, war commissions, colour and contrast, stained glass commissions before ending with his murals including the Emmaus mosaic at St Paul's Harlow.
The final event in the Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival also featured c4m members. Performance was an evening of music and poetry at Holy Trinity Hatfield Heath. Jonathan Evens opened the evening with a selection of poems that included The Mark and Worthship. Colin Burns performed songs and instrumentals from his Emerald and Gold album, as well as new material. Jane Grell read from her newly published Collected Poems Praise Songs. The first half of the programme was brought to a resounding conclusion by the Brass of St Mary's (Sheering) that included both Be Still and Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. Mal Grosch made a humorous start to the second half of the programme with poems from his new collection entitled Blackfriars. A choir from Holy Trinity and St Mary's reprised songs from the Roger Jones musical David. The evening's varied and thoroughly enjoyable entertainment concluded with songs, a poem and a story by Jane Grell.

c4m @ St Paul’s Goodmayes

St Paul's Church Goodmayes (http://www.stpaulsgoodmayes.org.uk/) is to host an Art Exhibition for commission4mission - Monday to Sunday ~ 1st to 7th July 2013, open 10:00am to 4:00pm daily (Barley Lane, Goodmayes, Ilford, Essex IG3 8XE). Admission is free and light refreshments will be available.
The exhibition will begin with a launch night on Monday 1st July featuring artist presentations, Mark Lewis on the work of John Piper and c4m’s Annual General Meeting. Work by Ross Ashmore, Harvey Bradley, Anne Creasey, Michael Creasey, Valerie Dean, Elizabeth Duncan Meyer, Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Danielle Lovesey, Caroline Richardson, Joy Rousell Stone, Henry Shelton will be included and much of the work shown will be for sale.
Visitors will also be able to see an installation on the theme of peace plus the significant collection of permanent commissions housed at St Paul’s. St Paul's has been a generous patron of the arts through the generosity of the PCC and many ad memoria by it's loyal and faithful membership throughout its history. The church is home for a large selection of stained glass and is also proud to own a set of contemporary ‘Stations of the Crown of Thorns' a series of 14 individual pieces featuring a large Triptych and commissioned from c4m.

The last day of the exhibition will coincide with the 'Our Community Festival'; an annual event co-ordinated by the London Borough of Redbridge. This will take place in Barley Lane Recreation Ground directly opposite the church and will run from 12 noon to 4:00pm on Sunday 7th July 2013.

The Big Draw @ Norsey Wood
The Big Draw will be an event featuring drawing, printing and digital images at Norsey Wood, Billericay on Saturday 20th July, 10am - 3 pm. This free event will be a drawing opportunity for all who wish to come and is being organised by c4m member Harvey Bradley as part of the Billericay Art Trail. Artist leaders will be c4m members Mark Lewis and Peter Webb. Trail artists - Julia Tanner, Dezadie (digital artist), Lesley Cartwright. Meet by the Visitor centre. Children are to be accompanied by an adult. This event is associated with the national Big Draw movement - www.campaignfordrawing.org. The Campaign for Drawing has one aim: to get everyone drawing! The Big Draw will be followed by an Arts Evening at St. Mary Magdalen Billericay with Tim Cunningham and Jonathan Evens (poetry), Colin Burns (music) and Dezadie (animations) plus a dance group and projected images from the Big Draw (Saturday 20th July, 7:30pm - 10pm).

Stations of the Cross

An exhibition of 'Stations of the Cross' by Valerie Dean is currently at the Diocesan Office for the Chelmsford Diocese  (53 New Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1AT) in the Boardroom at Guy Harlings until Friday 26th June. Visits are by arrangement during normal office hours, as the boardroom is in regular use. Please check access before you visit by ringing 01245 294400. Valerie is also exhibiting in Brussels during June.

Member's update

An exhibition of 'Stations of the Cross' by Valerie Dean is currently at the Diocesan Office for the Chelmsford Diocese (53 New Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1AT). Valerie's 'Stations' will be in the Boardroom at Guy Harlings until Friday 26th June. Visits are by arrangement during normal office hours, as the boardroom is in regular use. Please check access before you visit by ringing 01245 294400. Valerie is also exhibiting in Brussels during June.

Harvey Bradley is planning this year's Billericay Art Trail (http://www.billericayarttrail.co.uk/) and has included input from various c4m members.  The Big Draw is at Norsey Wood (http://www.basildon.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2410) with Mark Lewis and Peter Webb plus Joanna Bradley, Harvey Bradley, Dezadie and Julia Tanner (Saturday 20th July, 10am - 3pm). Arts Evening at St. Mary Magdalen (http://www.billericaychurches.org/html/st_mary_magdalen.html) with Tim Cunningham & Jonathan Evens (poetry), Colin Burns (music) and Dezadie (animations) plus a dance group and projected images from the Big Draw (Saturday 20th July, 7:30pm - 10pm).

Harvey is currently showing in an exhibition of work by selected members of ‘Anglian Potters’ at the Dolby Gallery Oundle (http://www.dolby-gallery.com/anglian-potters-selected-members-show-5-20-june-2013/) - until 29th June. 

The current show at the Tokarska Gallery (http://tokarskagallery.co.uk/current-exhibitions) has paintings by Sharon Drew which are modern-day Abstract Expressionism reinvented for the 21st Century. Imagine repeat-patterns disrupted by the gestural brushwork of American Artist De Kooning and the vivid hues of St Ives School British Painter, Patrick Heron. This show continues until 30th June.

Art in the Boardroom: Valerie Dean

Following exhibitions by The Ven. Martin Webster and Andrea Farmer, the Art in the Boardroom programme at Chelmsford Diocesan Office now features the work of commission4mission artist Valerie Dean.

The set of Stations of the Cross paintings which Valerie is currently showing in the Boardroom at Guy Harlings (Chelmsford Diocesan Office) have a very clear and intense focus on details which are evocative of the whole, as can be seen from the photographs she has taken of the set which can be viewed here. Valerie is keen to discuss ways of making these Stations available for any church that would be interested in having them. 


Valerie Dean's Stations of the Cross can be seen in the Boardroom at Guy Harlings (Diocesan Office, 53 New Road, Chelmsford CM1 1AT) from Monday 20th May – Friday 28th June 2013 during office hours. However, because the Boardroom is in regular use it is best to ring 01245 294400 before visiting to check boardroom access.


Guy Harlings is a Grade II listed building, constructed in about 1716-1721 by John Comyns, later a Baron of the Exchequer, and re-fronted at the beginning of the 19th century. Three parts of the building will be open: the front hall, containing 16th century linenfold panelling with a frieze of carved heads, made of timber probably from the Tudor house on this site; the board room; and the resources centre (bookshop). The rooms overlook an expansive lawned garden. The name of the building comes from Guy Harlings who inherited a brewery on the site in 1453. The building has housed the offices of Chelmsford Diocese since 1951.

Member's update: Henry Shelton and Jonathan Evens

The Passion: Reflections and Prayers with images by Henry Shelton and words by Jonathan Evens is now available from The Seed as a pdf, powerpoint presentation and as individual images.

These pictures, poems and prayers enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. With this series Henry and Jonathan have aimed to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but they hope in a way that makes maximum impact.

The Passion is the second series by Henry and Jonathan to be available through The Seed. The first, Mark of the Cross, was described by Steve Santry on Revster's Ramblings as "Stunning artwork and thought provoking words [which] open up the events around Easter in a new and imaginative way."

The Seed and seedresources.com is a collaboration between the Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust (LWPT) and Twelvebaskets Ltd.

In 2010 Henry Shelton completed a commission for Stations of the Crown of Thorns at St Paul's Goodmayes. Parish priest Fr. Benjamin Rutt-Field wrote meditations for this set of Stations and has now published these together with photographs of Henry's Stations. Copies of this booklet can be obtained from Fr. Ben on b.ruttfield@btinternet.com.

In addition to Henry Shelton, other commission4mission members with completed sets of Stations of the Cross include Valerie Dean and Rosalind Hore. Valerie's Stations have a very clear and intense focus on details which are evocative of the whole, as can be seen from the photographs she has taken of the set which can be viewed here. Click here and here for photographs of exhibitions featuring Rosalind's Stations. Henry, Valerie and Rosalind are all keen to discuss ways of making these Stations available for any church that would be interested in having them. Contact Jonathan Evens on jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for more information. 

Member's updates

Nadiya Pavliv-Tokarska's Contemporary Cityscapes: After E Hopper and D Hepher is currently at the Tokarska Gallery and runs until 25th August, Wed - Sat, 12.00pm - 7.00pm.

For the last few years Nadiya has been captivated by the complexity and splendour of houses forming Finsbury Circus, near Moorgate in central London. The magnificent quartet of Victorian buildings, formed in an oval, stands today as an understated tribute to human endeavour. It is only natural that we respond to some places and settings more than others. The ways the buildings are grouped and located often forms the sole and visual aesthetics of that very site, capturing our attention and prompting emotional responses as a result. In this exhibition Nadiya takes the viewer on the visual journey through London’s streets. Inspired by the greats, she keeps the past beautifully present.

Valerie Dean will be showing at the 83rd annual exhibition of member's work organised by the Society of Catholic Artists. This year's exhibition will be at St Joseph's Hall, Brompton Oratory, Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London SW7 2RP from 5th - 12th August from 10.00a.m. to 8.00p.m., except for last day (5.30p.m.).

Valerie has also notified us that there will be an exhibition of Christian art in the chapter house of Canterbury Cathedral from 6th - 26th August, 10.00a.m. to 5.30p.m. The entry fee to the cathedral needs to be paid in order to see this exhibition.

Members update

Valerie Dean has recently completed the set of Stations of the Cross on which she has been working. They have a very clear and intense focus on details which are evocative of the whole, as can be seen from the photographs she has taken of the set which can be viewed here. Valerie is keen to discuss ways of making these Stations available for any church that would be interested in having them. 

Nadiya Pavliv Tokarska has sent information about the next exhibition at the Tokarska Gallery. Mythology in London by Anna Alcock runs from 15th - 31st March. The Private View is on 15th March from 6 - 9pm. Anna Alcock uses Greek and Roman mythological images and populates them with modern day narratives that are of significance to her living in London now. The exhibition will also include an exclusive bound suite of 15 etchings, which will be exhibited alongside etching collages and tabloids of myths with personal modern day stories that she imbues with her unique style and bold colours.

The Tokarska Gallery are also publicising their annual 'Drawing the Culture' competition for children and young people (see http://tokarskagallery.co.uk/drawing-the-culture). This is a juried open exhibition of children's drawings.
The next exhibition by the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers, of which c4m artists Michael Creasey and Peter Webb are members, will be held at Launderdale House from 13th - 25th March.

Andrew Vessey has set up a website for his art and poetry. He writes that the website offers:

"the chance for making sensible and clear witness to my own Christian values, which have always determined how one paints as much as what I have been trying to achieve. To do theology on line in a website and give voice to the motivation which lies behind many of my ideas is a new challenge. I hope you'll be able to discern more than passing reference to having been a parish priest, or an art teacher for that matter, as the connections I am looking for, and the aspiration for thinking and then developing them as avenues of prayer and reflection, is one I welcome as a very exciting new form of ministry. I trust that my art will help move people on from the very tired language and inadequate symbolism that constitutes so much church art, to one that is rooted in the incarnation within us and divine glory around us."

Andrew will be exhibiting from 29th May - 17th June at Gallery Two, Wingfield Barns, Wingfield, Suffolk. This solo show of 60+ works will have new oil paintings "Looking into Glory" as the major focus, constituting a series of Stations on the Post-Resurrection as described in St John 21.

Jonathan Evens will be speaking on commission4mission and understandings of Christian Art at the February Learning Supper for West Mersea Parish Church (6.30pm, Sunday 26th February). Learning Suppers on Mersea Island include a time of worship, teaching, prayer and a convivial supper of soup, cheese and wine on the 4th Sunday in the month. Jonathan will also be using his Mark of the Cross and Seven Words from the Cross meditations in the three hour devotional which he will be leading at St Margaret's Barking on Good Friday from 12 noon to 3.00pm.

Tokarska Gallery: commission4mission exhibition

Our Christmas exhibition at the Tokarska Gallery opened today and features a variety of c4m artists working in a variety of media (ceramics, concept drawings, fused glass, paintings, painted wooden reliefs), styles (abstract, conceptual, figurative, semi-abstract) and content (biblical scenes, landscapes, portraits, still life, symbolic scenes).

Contributing artists include Harvey Bradley, Colin Burns, Christopher Clack, Ally Clarke, Valerie Dean, Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Nadiya Pavliv-Tokarska, Janet Roberts, Caroline Richardson, Henry Shelton, Joy Rousell Stone, Andrew Vessey and Peter Webb.

1 - 31 December 2011, Thursday - Saturday, 12 noon - 7.00pm.

PRIVATE VIEW 3 December 2011, 6pm - 9pm.

Tokarska Gallery 163 Forest Rd., Walthamstow, London E17 6HE Tel: 020 8531 5419. Email: info@tokarskagallery.co.uk.

How to find Tokarska Gallery: Victoria Line to Blackhorse Road Station. Buses: 123, 158. Map.

Opening Hours Thursday - Saturday, 12pm - 7pm or by appointment.

Tokarska hang: Day 1 photographs

_ commission4mission _ 1 - 31 December 2011   PRIVATE VIEW 3 December 2011 6pm - 9pm

Contributing artists include Harvey Bradley, Colin Burns, Christopher Clack, Ally Clarke, Valerie Dean, Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Nadiya Pavliv-Tokarska, Janet Roberts, Caroline Richardson, Henry Shelton, Joy Rousell Stone, Andrew Vessey and Peter Webb.

An exhibition designed to encourage the commissioning of contemporary Christian art opens in the Tokarska Gallery on Thursday 1st December 2011. commission4mission artists will show work in a variety of media, including concept drawings, fused glass, paintings, pottery and reliefs. With much of the work exploring Christian themes, this exhibition will be of particular relevance and interest in the preparations for Christmas. Jonathan Evens, secretary of commission4mission, explains: ‘This exhibition demonstrates some of the ways commissioned art can be used to enhance a place of worship and add another dimension to a church’s mission.’

Tokarska Gallery 163 Forest Rd., Walthamstow, London E17 6HE Tel.: +44 (0) 20 8531 5419 info@tokarskagallery.co.uk   How to find us Victoria Line to Blackhorse Road Station Buses: 123, 158 Map Opening Hours Thursday - Saturday 12pm - 7pm or by appointment Follow us on: