c4m artists update

Our most recently completed commission - etched windows by Henry Shelton and Richard Paton at All Saints Hutton - is to be dedicated this Sunday.

Janet Roberts is to have an exhibition at South Woodford Library from 3rd to 12th December.

Our next commission - a holy water stoup by Mark Lewis at St Margarets Great Ilford - has been granted a faculty.

Dedication of mosaics

The Rt Revd David Hawkins, Bishop of Barking and patron of commission4mission, dedicated new mosaics, commissioned through commission4mission, at St John's Seven Kings today. The dedication took place at the end of the Patronal Festival service for St John's.

The two mosaics were commissioned as part of the development of the community garden at St Johns. They were envisaged as bold, bright works to catch the eye of passers by and draw them into the green space of the garden. Viki Isherwood Metzler has re-created her Graffiti Love design for display on the East wall of the church, while Sergiy Shkanov has added a mosaic to the Trinity sculpture in the remembrance area of the garden. This design of circular and triangular lines connecting three granite shapes is intended to symbolise the constant exchange and interconnections within the Godhead.

Dedication of completed commission

Memorial windows designed by Henry Shelton and etched by Richard Paton will be dedicated at All Saints Hutton on Sunday 27th March.

The windows which are set within a screen and depict symbolically a variety of saints have been commissioned in memory of Patricia Harries and will be dedicated by the Archdeacon of Southend during an 11.15am Service of Holy Communion. A small reception will follow the service.

A further commission for windows in the opposite screen is also under discussion.

Dedication: Windows by Caroline Richardson

The second dedication in a week of a completed commission4mission commission took place this evening at St Peter's Harold Wood when two fused glass windows created by Caroline Richardson were dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Revd. Stephen Cottrell.

Caroline has created a flowing complementary design focussing on light and water for the two windows in the north transept of the church which incorporates in one the text of John 8. 12 and in the other of John 10. 10. In both, the design has darker colours at the base grading upwards to lighter and finally plain glass at the apex. As the photos above were taken after the Evening Service, they do not show the colour of the windows to their best effect.

The windows were created using glass panels which were cut to pattern and fired in a kiln in order to fuse the glass before being placed into stainless steel frame designed to fit into the window arches thereby sitting in front of the existing glass. 

The north transept is opposite what is now the main entrance to the church following an extensive building project on the south side of the church. The windows and their texts are intended as vibrant and welcoming visual statements of faith for all who enter the church and this element of the commission was used by Bishop Stephen in his prayer of dedication.

An earlier commission by David Henningham of the Henningham Family Press - a set of four linked screenprints - can also be found at St Peter's Harold Wood in the newly built Hub which is now the entrance to the church, its facilities and services. It is of real encouragement to see a church integrating artistic commissions into what has been an ambitious and stretching redevelopment.

Dedication of 'The Baptism of Jesus'

Yesterday, Revd. Jonathan Evens dedicated 'The Baptism of Jesus' by Rosalind Hore which his family have donated to St Edmunds Tyseley, through commission4mission, in memory of his father, Revd. Phil Evens, Vicar of Tyseley from 1989 - 1999.

Jonathan introduced the painting and its donation to the congregation as follows:

"The painting that is to be dedicated today has come to be here through commission4mission, a Christian Arts organization which aims to encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a means of fundraising for charities and as a mission opportunity for the churches involved. commission4mission promotes the purchase of works of art by churches through donations given in memory of loved ones. This painting has been donated by our family in memory of the Revd. Phil Evens, in remembrance of his ministry here as your Vicar.

The artist who created this painting, Rosalind Hore, is a sculptor and painter of Christian subjects – Christ figures, nativity sets, Ecce Homo, Stations of the Cross etc. She works in clay, plaster, concrete (figures can also be bronze cast at the foundry). Her paintings are mostly in acrylic of the events in the life of Christ. She has been an art teacher throughout her working life, has taken part in the Cambridge Open Studios (creating a sculpture garden and art gallery at her home) and has led art groups and projects in the parishes where she has lived. She has a sculpture in the Bible Garden at St Mary's Goring-by-Sea and another currently displayed at St Laurence Upminister, where her husband is Rector.

Rosalind’s painting of ‘The Baptism of Jesus’ sees water, fish, cross, crown, dove, fire and light – all the signs and symbols of Jesus’ future ministry – swept up together to coalesce around the baptised Jesus. Vigorous movement and vibrant colour combine to depict the glory of the Son who is here commissioned by the Father and empowered by the Spirit."

Jonathan then reflected on those two aspects of Jesus’ baptism – the Father’s call and the Spirit’s empowering – using thoughts and prayers from material that his father had in his ministry at Tyseley. Click here to read the full sermon given by Jonathan.

The prayer of dedication used was as follows: Lord Jesus, we thank you for the vision of you which we see in this painting. We pray that, as we see it week in, week out here in St Edmunds, it may inspire us to respond to the call of God on our lives and to pray to be filled with the Spirit in order that we live out that call in our daily lives. We thank you for Rosalind Hore and for her response to you which created this painting. We thank you too for Phil Evens, in whose memory it is given to this church, and for his example of following your call in his life. Lord Jesus, we dedicate this painting of your baptism to you and your glory in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The next dedication of a commission4mission commission will be a thanksgiving for the creation and witness of Caroline Richardson's fused glass windows at St Peter's Harold Wood as part of the Evening Service at the church on Sunday 9th January 2011 at 6.30pm. The preacher at the service will be Rt. Revd. Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford.

c4m networking event & 'Stations' dedication

The Stations of the Crown of Thorns, a series of 'Stations of the Cross' created by Henry Shelton for St Paul's Goodmayes as a commission gained through commission4mission, are to be blessed and dedicated by the Bishop of Barking on Saturday 17th July at 4.00pm.

The tryptich, which forms the centrepiece of the Stations of the Crown of Thorns, includes Stations 11, 12 and 13 and has inventively incorporated an existing metal crucifix into its design to form the 12th Station; 'Jesus dies on the cross'. There are 15 'Stations' as the scheme includes a resurrection 'Station' depicting Christ present in the Eucharistic elements.

The scheme as a whole is unusual in that, as part of its semi-abstract imagery, Christ is depicted throughout only by the Crown of Thorns. Shelton's trademark flowing lines, which create images through minimal means and with maximum facility, are in evidence throughout the scheme. However, as an artist who often paints with the tones and harmonies of the Dutch Masters, this commission represents a considerable lightening of his palette in order that the colour scheme of these 'Stations' harmonizes with the existing stained glass.

Shelton's 'Stations' complement other existing work at St Pauls Goodmayes, including stained glass by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, and Leonard Evetts plus a Madonna and Child by Jane Quail, to create a feast of visual art for worshipper and visitor alike. Parish priest, Fr. Benjamin Rutt-Field, has written a set of meditations in order to pray the new 'Stations'.

Preceding the dedication of the 'Stations' will be a commission4mission networking event also at St Paul's Goodmayes beginning at 2.00pm on Saturday 17th July.

This will be a 20x20 networking event where commission4mission members will be giving presentations of their work (or an aspect of it). The presentation format is contained in the name, as each presentation will involve showing 20 images at 20 second intervals. Each member therefore has a seven minute slot in which to make their presentation.

PechaKucha 20x20 Nights were first devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as events for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. They have turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing their name from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit chat"), it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

All are welcome to both the networking event and the dedication of the 'Stations'.