Watercolours of Fulham Palace - Ken Ashby

An exhibition of watercolours of Fulham Palace can be viewed until 22nd December 2013 in the Gallery at Fulham Palace. The artist, commission4mission member Ken Ashby, is a volunteer at Fulham Palace and sales of the paintings and prints will raise funds for the Fulham Palace Charitable Trust.

Those attending Ken's exhibition will also enjoy the Tudor building and paintings at this Palace which was the Bishop of London's summer residence on the River Thames at Putney Bridge from 700AD.

Art for Art's Sake

commission4mission member Danielle Lovesey is organising the Art for Art's Sake sale at St Peter's Aldborough Hatch on Saturday 7th December from 10.00am to 4.00pm.

commission4mission will have a stall at the sale including books, cards, Christmas cards, jewellery, notebooks, prints and t shirts produced by our members.

Members' update: Andrew Vessey and Ken James

Andrew Vessey is part of an exhibition at the Aldeburgh Gallery from 21-27 November. The  group of artists showing together had a successful show in the Pears Galley earlier in the Autumn and this is another chance to tap into that town's celebration of the Britten Anniversary Year.

Ken James has a watercolour exhibition through December at the Bishop of London's old residence, Fulham Palace, on the River Thames at Putney Bridge. Many attending will also enjoy the Tudor building and paintings at this Palace which was the Bishop of London's summer residence from 700AD. The Private View is on Sunday 24th November, 2-4pm, and 50% of all sales go to the Palace's charitable trust. Prints will be available too.

Members update: Clack & Pavliv-Tokarska

Christopher Clack will be showing two pieces of work at the 5th annual Urban Dialogues exhibition from 2 - 14 October at Red Gallery, 3 Rivington St, London EC2A 3DT. The private view is on the evening of 1st October. All are welcome. 

 

"Clack’s work examines the relationship between art and religion and the part this relationship plays in the contemporary world. 

 

Part of a larger series of work, both In God We Are Imagined and God Is Dead Now Pray are influenced by the central ideas of Negative Theological thinking. Negative Theology attempts to describe God by negation; to think only in terms of what may not be said of God. Fundamentally, negative theology is an attempt to overcome the confines of language, it is a recognition that ideas of God and the Divine cannot be sufficiently addressed by human expression. Furthermore, it argues that attempts to do otherwise have been the cause of individual and inter-group conflict. The negative way is a process of removing that which causes conflict,

so that we can look beyond and behind the words. " 

 

The annual Campaign for Drawing has one aim, namely to get everyone drawing! Drawing helps us understand the world, see, feel, shape and communicate ideas. It is fun, accessible and an invaluable way to learn and enjoy daily life’s blessings.

 

To celebrate this medium, Tokarska Gallery in collaboration with Frank Gambino’s Life Drawing Class has organised a drawing event which will coincide with duration of The Big Draw exhibition at the Gallery. The show runs: 3 – 19 October 2013, Thur - Sat, 12 - 7 pm. Private View: Thur 3 October 2013, 6pm - 8pm. 

 

Additionally, Frank has arranged for an extra drawing class with a clothed model on Thur 10 October 2013, 6.30 – 9.30 pm. This is open to all age groups. Frank’s drawing classes provide an excellent platform for professional, beginner or amateur artists. Book your free place or just drop in and discover your hidden drawing talents.

Members update: Christopher Clack

Christopher Clack has a print included in the current exhibition at Esbjerg Art Museum. Entitled 'What am I doing here?' this exhibition explores art and human existence.

Members update

The Menier Gallery will be hosting the 80th annual exhibition of The National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers from Tuesday 10 - Saturday 21 September.

This is an opportunity for the public to see a broad range of work encompassing a dynamic mixture of contemporary paintings, sculpture and printmaking by well established artists from around the UK. Not only will there be hung work to view but also works on paper in browsers and artist cards. Don’t miss this opportunity to support one of London’s premier contemporary art exhibitions and the chance to purchase innovative art at realistic prices.

An increasing number of commission4mission members are also becoming part of the National Society, so look out for some familiar faces if you are able to see the show.

Oxford Journals have recently published the latest book review by Jonathan Evens in The Journal of Theological Studies: The Sacred Community: Art, Sacrament, and the People of God. By DAVID JASPER. Jonathan Evens The Journal of Theological Studies 2013; doi: 10.1093/jts/flt127.

Jonathan's earlier book reviews for the Journal of Theological Studies can also be found by clicking here, here and here.

commission4mission's Greenbelt market stall

Many thanks to everyone who contributed at short notice to our market stall at this year's Greenbelt Festival, in particular Barbara and Harvey Bradley and Jonathan Evens who staffed the stall for us. As well as sales of work and general publicity, the stall also generated new contacts and useful conversations about aspects of our work.

We showed a selection of original work from Hayley Bowen, Harvey Bradley, Ally Clarke, Elizabeth Duncan Meyer, Jonathan Evens, Mark Lewis, Caroline Richardson, Joy Rousell Stone, Henry Shelton and Peter Webb. This included cards, jewellery, meditations, notebooks, prints and t-shirts produced by our artists for sale, as well as information about our work on commissions, exhibitions, events and publications.

Member's update: Elizabeth Duncan Meyer

Elizabeth Duncan Meyer, sculptor, painter and print-maker, has a new website. Do visit the site in particular for an excellent gallery of Elizabeth's work. 

As stated on the site, "Although a colorist, with a natural tendency towards abstraction and simplification, Elizabeth’s work remains subtle and at a times mystical, interwoven with images reflecting aspects of her soul."

Update: member's exhibitions

Valerie Dean is exhibiting with the Canterbury Christian Art Group in their Summer Exhibition at the Chapter House, Canterbury Cathedral until Monday 29th August. The exhibition is open 10.00am - 5.00pm daily and is free (although normal Precinct charges apply).

Christopher Clack currently has a large print in artsdepot Open, an exhibition which runs until 4 September.

 

Stations of the Cross by Henry Shelton will be at St Saviour's Walthamstow for the E17 Art Trail, 2 - 11 September.

Christopher Clack

Christopher Clack says, "I have been making images for as long as I can remember and for as long as I can remember there has always been an element of religious imagery or content in the work I have produced. Why this should be, I do not really know.

What I do know is that the connection between religion and art is for me a profound one, one that I think has implications for the way we think about religion as well as art."

He trained as a painter, studied at Camberwell School of Art and then at the Royal College of Art. His main medium was oil paint, but he also loved etching and making sculptures. One very important aspect of all his work was the physical, tactile nature of whatever he made, so it seems very strange to him now that he works almost completely on computer. His images are produced using scanners, cameras, and software such as Photoshop and paint programs like Coral painter. The product of all this is then turned into an object by printing it out using large format printers, using the best quality materials he can lay his hands on.

It’s now become a sort of challenge for him to bring into this medium a sense of the physicality of things that is generally felt to be lost in the digital production.

Ally Clarke

out there

held

Ally Clarke studied Sculpture and is inclined to create installation works complimented by photography, drawing, collage and print. Enjoying creative collaborations, she has recently worked with a Sculptor / Performance Artist producing film, sculptural and performance works.

Ally views her creative work as a means of investigating the world and engaging with others in the consideration and wonder of it, intending that the work communicate something of the value and uniqueness of us as individuals and stimulate consideration by the viewer of the particular, precious contribution each makes to their world. She presents evocative, personal creations that produce opportunities for reflection and refreshment.

The materials used in her installations are selected largely because of their symbolic nature and their inherent textural composition. Oftentimes the materials are collected from particular people - the forging of new friendships in this process is frequently an important aspect of the work.

Ally has installed a number of 3D works in 'sacred' spaces as an aid to worship and contemplation and loves to create artwork to compliment a particular sermon series or study theme. She has several installations which could be recreated on request in churches and other spaces. See Chosen Stones and Agony for Hope for more information.