Interview with God, and Competition time

Just found this competition for christian artists...just wish I had discovered a few months ago,would have been interesting to have entered. However I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibition :o)
http://www.theartofpersecution.com/compinfo/index.htm

O and please check out this link. It is a short presentation by a couple called Get Inspired Now!inc. It is so simple yet so powerful and beautiful. And seems to be spreading through the world of the internet reaching millions. I left I needed to share it as well. Great way to start and end the day.
http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/

relating research to my art work

The body of Christ - Hans Holbein the younger

I first came across this image whilst reading Tate etc. magazine. The article examines the painting, and tries to understand what Holbein was telling us through this painting. To me Jesus looks almost alive, that the last breath has not let his body, or the first breath is entering after defeating death. I've never seen a composition like this before, and would love to see it in person. Over all this is an unusual painting, even the dimensions of the painting are unusual. It was interesting reading in the article about the possible interpretation of Jesus' outstretched middle finger, that in old texts of christian symbolism, the middle finger means 'examine, weigh'.

Hands of God - Hannah Honeycombe (me!)

I started this blog not knowing what to look at or where to start. I decided to look at a subject that is close to my heart, but that I had yet to integrate into my own art work. This is why I decided to look into modern Christian art. There was many famous artist I could have looked at like Bill Viola, but I wanted to find someone who's work I actually liked and could relate to my own practice. I have found many artists how have worked on religious themes, but I wanted to be fussy, and find someone who stated clearly that their work was not just on christian themes, but they themselves were/are a christian. This distinction may not make sense, or have much meaning to most people, but something I feel is important. Anyone could technically paint or produce art work on a particular subject, but to truly believe in what you are creating is completely different. I feel that I have been able to achieve this, and my current work is based on Paul Hobb's idea to always start art work with the bible.

I've also been researching into old masters, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Hans Holbein looking to see how they depicted stories from the bible, and whether there is any culture change in how this is done or viewed. I've especially been interested in the use of hands, and whether they play any significant role in the imagery, as this is what I have been focusing on in my latest series of paintings.

To support my work further I have looked into what the bible says about colour, and then how this has then related to art work through out history. For example blue is depicted as a 'heavenly' colour, and is used within the old testament to describe wall hangings in holy places, and as the colour of the holy spirit. This combined with the fact blue was traditional a different colour to create was why Mary is generally shown to be wearing blue clothing, when in reality Mary would never have been able to afford blue cloth.

http://www.ridingthebeast.com/articles/colors/print

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/colors.htm

http://www.christcenteredmall.com/teachings/symbolism/colors.htm

Crucifixion - Grunewald

This is probably the best example of how a simple change in a hand gesture can completely change an image and add such depth to the painting, that I've been able to find. As with most painting from this era all the figures have dramatic hand gestures, but its the hands of Jesus that impress me most. To me they speak of great pain and suffering, more than I've known other artists to capture, and are extremely expressive.

As I've mentioned hands have been my main focus. I initially started my art work with the intention of creating a painting as a gift for my best-friend based on Issiah 49:15-16

'I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.'

Which has developed into a collection of work studying hands, and the use of text in my work, exploring how to express the love of God in a visual way. I decided to use hands as its something everyone has, but can be used to achieve so many different things, from creating, healing, comforting, to destroying and harming. There are many famous paintings that have strong relations of this idea. For example Michelangelo's depiction of God reaching down from the heavens to create Adam in the Sistine Chapel. As the most common christian imagery is that of the crucifixion and therefore Jesus' hands, I decided it was important to learn why the nails are always shown to go through the palms of his hands. We now know that it this would not have happened as the weight of the body would have ripped the hands in half if the nail was placed through the palm, and that the nail would have gone through the wrist where bone would have kept it, and the body in place on the cross. Therefore does the palm have any significance or meaning that I was unaware of? As far as I have been able to discover it does not. The earliest known painting of Jesus' crucifixion was painted in the early 5th century, which meant it was down to the artists own interpretation of the bible, and knowledge of the events rather than on historical facts or evidence. It was not until about 30 years ago that the first crucified body was discovered by archaeologists. Historical evidence shows that the Romans would always remove the nails from the body, so that they could be used, but little was known about what then happened to the bodies, whether they were buried, or maybe even fed to the animals. However unless the nail remained in the body, there would be little evidence to explain their death, as the crucifixion would have left no mark on the bones. The only signs would have been to the skin, which would be long gone, unless as in the case of the body the archaeologists found, the nail had bent resulting in the Romans being unable to remove it, or if the nail had caused the bones to fracture.

The Dead Christ - Mantegna

I have been unable to find one journal that I could relate to and that could be useful for this blog. Instead I have been searching for information and articles that are beneficial to my work, and reading these, along with a variety of books.

http://www.jesuswalk.com/lords-supper/4_body.htm
http://www.culham.ac.uk/sg/symposium/2001/hack01.html
http://www.biblelands.org.uk/presence/index.htm
http://jonnybaker.blogs.com/jonnybaker/
http://www.moot.uk.net/
http://communiquejournal.org/index.html
http://www.uccf.org.uk/yourcourse/artists/resources/index.php

support for fellow christian artists

At soul survivor, a christian festival which happens once a year, there is always a small art exhibition, which was curated by Paul Hobbs last year, and this year there was a book to enter your contact details to form a support, but as of yet I've had nothing in response, and am unsure of how to contact.
However I have found two sites which do provide support for christian artists. I am hoping that through these I can learn more about fellow artists, who are working on similar themes to what I'm attempting to explore through my art work, and to hopefully find out about current exhibiting artists.

http://www.artscentregroup.org.uk/blogs.htm
The Arts Centre Group, has been around for awhile, but are still in the process of expanding their online resources. I'm looking into the possibilities of being coming a member, but theres a cost involved. It looks like they are currently constructing an online magazine, and blog facilities, all sounds exciting.

http://www.uccf.org.uk/yourcourse/artists/links.php
The Christian Union has a part of their website dedicated to artists, offering support through events, and prayer, as well as providing resources and information about professional artists as encouragement.

wow!

The Prince of Peace

Akiane

http://www.artakiane.com/akiane_painting.htm

All I can say is wow! Not entirely sure how I came across this, but pleased that I did. Akiane is a 12 years old prodigy. At the age of four she experienced a life changing spiritual event, and ever since been given an outstanding gift for painting. The inspiration for her paintings comes from God. Akiane wants people to find hope in her paintings, and believes that she was given her gift for a reason, to inspire people as well as her paintings being a gift to God.
Akiane painted 'The Prince of Peace' when she was eight! The web link above will (should) take you a the page on her website which explains more about the painting and shows you photographs of the produce of painting it from start to finish.

'It is a miracle and it must come from God! There are no words to describe how a little 8-year-old girl could portray such wisdom, compassion and love in the eyes she painted. The technical and emotional details along with the visual strength in her paintings are astounding and stupendous!' - Jurij Sizenov Nikolaevich, Shabolovka (Russian television and mega radio network)

Pretty much sums up what I've been thinking ever since seeing her images, although I have not been fortunate enough to see them in person to be able to comment on the detail. Akiane's story that goes along side this painting is inspirational in its self. How she wanted to this painting, but after a couple of years, still could not find the right model. Then one day after praying with her family a carpenter arrived at their house looking for work...how perfect! Its worth reading in full (its on the link). I truly am in ore of what God is doing through her.

Dali - Jesus by Maya (stencil artist), Cambridge

Whilst randomly searching the interest for information on Charlie Mackesy, I came across this image on someones blog, hope they don't mind me pinching it! I love the fact someone is using graffiti in a good way...well I personally think its good. From what I've been able to find out, this image is a door way of a church in Cambridge. I'm not sure whether the artist had prior permission, but the church are delighted with it.

I have been researching into Dali's 'Christ of Saint John of the Cross'. I had not realised that the reason for the title is because Dali based this painting on sketches made by Saint John, a 16th century Spanish friar.

On the bottom of Dali's sketches for the painting, he explained his inspiration for it:

"In the first place, in 1950, I had a 'cosmic dream' in which I saw this image in color and which in my dream represented the 'nucleus of the atom.' This nucleus later took on a metaphysical sense; I considered it 'the very unity of the universe,' the Christ!"

The structure of the painting is also based on a triangle and a circle. The triangle, being the shape of Jesus' arms, are believed to represent the Trinity (three sides), and the circle may be an allusion to Platonic thought.

I've been wondering why he choose to paint Jesus over the water, and whether it had any biblical reference. I have been unable to find an answer to this, but I have learnt that the scene is of Bay of Port Lligat, Dali's home town. I like to think it does bear relation of the life of Jesus.

can a church be considered a public art space?

I like the idea that any space can be a public gallery, as long as it is showing a piece of art within a structure. For example is there any reason why a Church could not be a gallery? Most churches have art work displayed within them on a permanent bases, and have done this right from the beginning in some form or another, from paintings, wall hangings to stain glass windows. Even the earliest places of worship depicted in the bible describe having hangings covering the walls. I have found a few churches such as St Mary le Bow which from time to time have art exhibitions with in them, it seems especially around the time of lent, and St Pauls Cathedral housed an exhibition this summer by Yoko Ono. So technically a church owns art work on a permanent bases, and from time to time curate or have touring exhibitions which are then free for the public to view, or on occasion charge for admission as they did for the Yoko Ono exhibition.

I am still annoyed that I missed the opportunity to see Charlie Mackesy working within a church, but I am determined to try and find out whether he is still working on the piece, or it is currently being exhibited in the church. I would like to see more churches opening their doors to art, and feel this maybe happening more often as churches are trying to become more involved with their local communities.

I have exhibited with a church, and within a christian service which was held in a lecture theatre. Pershaps this is why I feel churches should be considered more often as a place of art exhibitions.

My family church back home last to end lent had their own version of the stations of the cross, where different members of the church formed something to be put around the church to form allow for inspiration, encouragement, and for a chance to meditate or praying focusing on the verse for that particular station.

The Waterfall by Hannah Honeycombe

The waterfall has water coming through the painting, which then runs over the top of the perspex following the shape of the river on the painting, before falling over the first box, forming a waterfall onto the next level. This results in a quiet but calming sound of moving water, and if your close enough to the piece you may on occassion feel a free splashes as the water hits the bottom. This piece is meant to be a reflection on the beauty that exists in God's world.

too much text not enough images!(by Charlie Mackesy)

Mighty Trumpet

I like the comment underneath his image: "It seemed right to give him wings somehow.I think angels are often in the most unexpected guises." I love his use of colour, and how he has highlighted the trumpet player angel with gold, adding importance, and I like the subtly of the wings. They are only there if you look closey or know what your looking for.

Wax Prodigal

It would be good to see this in person, or be provided with the dimensions.

websites

Like most other Christian artists, or people producing art in relation to, its hard to find information. These are the best sources of references I've been able to find, other than my own personal first hand experience of Charlie Mackesy.
http://www.belgraviagallery.com/WorksBy30MACKESYCHARLIE.HTM
http://www.artnet.com/artist/132654/Charlie-mackesy.html
http://www.radley.org.uk/or/OldRadleian/2003/pdfs/Mackesy2003.pdf
http://charliemackesy.com/index.php
The last website is a site that Mackesy has constructed himself, but he has only recently published it. I was excited to see that he had included a journal talking about his last art work at St Pauls Church , Hammersmith, inviting people go to meet him there. Unfortunately I found this too late, and he has yet to post anything else, and as far as I can tell there is no method of leaving a note, or a message, other than emailing. If he does not post something soon, I may email him asking for more information on his latest work.
A quote that Mackesy has used on several websites is:
GK Chesterton-- 'At the back of our brains is a blaze of astonishment at our own existence. The object of the artistic and spiritual life is to dig for this sunrise of wonder'.
An interesting view.
According to one article I found, Mackesy first started painting angels, one of his most common themes, after his housemate was diagnosed with cancer. Macksey on his own website highlights his common themes but states he wished not to express his intentions behind so as not to deprive the viewer of their own thoughts and associations. I guess I'm glad I found this information out after seeing his work rather before, as I would have been evaluating the paintings from a completely different perspective. Ie did his friend survive, what happened, did he have a vision of an angel comforting him, or was the angel his friend?
A bazaar piece of information, apparently Charlie Mackesy ' rowed naked in a bath tub from Kew to Greenwich with Bear Grylls to raise money to buy a high-tech artificial leg for a friend.' (The Old Radleian, 2003 pg21).
I found out Charlie Mackesy's name after seeing a book by J John in a Christian bookshop which had the Prodigal Son painting as the front cover. I learning that the best information is simple found by constantly having our eyes open and payingf attention to the world around you. It is amazing how much is there if you just open your eyes.

Charlie Mackesy

Return of the Prodigal son - Charlie Mackesy

Forgiven - Charlie Mackesy

During my research I have been able to find out the name of an artist I have been searching for along time. Charlie Mackesy exhibited at the Art Shed, Soul Survivor, many years ago. I asked permission to photograph his paintings, but cleverly lost where I had written his name and the tiles. Mackesy is an artist who was born in 1962 in Northumberland. He has had no professional art training as he never seemed to last more than a couple of weeks at university. Mackesy started off by drawing cartoons and illustrating books, but since 1985 as had over 35 one man exhibitions in Galleries in New York, London and Edinburgh! He does not describe his work as religious, although a reoccurring theme is angels, and he has produced many paintings and sculptures based on the story of the prodigal son from the bible. I think he explains this well...

"I am cautious to explain what I think the work is saying for fear of taking away from you something you have seen and I have not. I could conclude by saying that life is precious and faith is a journey and sometimes art can give a small glimpse of these moments seen, and unseen." - Charlie Mackesy.

The prodigal Son was the first painting I saw of his work, and I was instantly captivated by it. I love how he uses a free and loose style in his paintings, allowing there to be little definition to the embraced figures. This allowed me the chance to elaborate on the image with my imagination, personalising it to my own life, and to become lost in the painting. I like how Mackesy has used the text to form a background, but that the words are also enveloping the figures, making them a vital part rather than just a background and at the same time not over powering or dominating. It has been interesting looking at his catalogue to see the development and variations of the prodigal son, for instance sculptures and adapting the concept to the prodigal daughter. I wonder whether this is for his own experimentation and development, or from the point of view to allow for a better selling ground?

Harald Duwe

Last Supper - Harald Duwe

I found an interesting book called 'Beyond Belief: Modern Art & the Religious Imagination' which has interesting essays at the beginning, as well as showing work by artists I had previously not heard of.

There is one particular artist that I wanted to highlight for this blog, but I've been unable to find a good copy of his painting on the interest to show, and currently have no access to a scanner, but I felt I should still mention him.

The painting is called Abendmanhisbild (Last Supper) by Harald Duwe. He was a German artist and painted this image eight years before he died. This painting apparently was a result of a discussion with a group of his friends about whether it was still possible to paint christian subjects in modern society.

The Last Supper depicts twelve men dressed smartly in suits behind the table, which is in the foreground. What I like about this painting is that the meal on the table consists of Jesus' body parts in various bowls, and is blood within the cups, turning the Last Supper into a literal translation, but because the image is so busy, it is not until you look at the painting carefully that you see Jesus' head appearing out of the bowl, with his various body parts such as his heart scattered around the table.

From what I have been able to read about Duwe, he was not a christian, and did not want to paint this image to be inspiring and encouraging fellow Christians, but instead to shock his audience and make them question their own opinion and reaction to the crucifixion. The figure in the middle of the painting holding a spoon is a self portrait of Duwe, and the other eleven are portraits of his friends. Each person is a different explain to how people react to the table before them and the sacrifice Jesus made.

I like the fact that there a little details that I am still finding within the image. For example I did not notice until reading an article on this painting, that the group a crowded around the table which has an empty seat..maybe the empty presence of Jesus, or where he once sat?

http://www.rutgerschurch.com/Sermons/sermon022501.html

update

It's been awhile since my last blog...Unfortunately I have no had access to the internet for the last 3months. Well I have at uni, but to do my health problems, I can not sit at a computer for any lenght of time, which is why I've been able to do any more research until now. It also means I have missed a couple exhibitions that would have been useful for this. (I have only just found out about them through internet research).

This is one exhibition I would have liked to see....

Bridge, by Michael Cross

(if you click on the above it will take to you a site with a review of the exhibition)

This was a site-specific piece in a former church, where two thirds of the inside of the church was in water. Michael Cross designed a series of 30 steps which rose out of the water for you to walk across the 'lake', as if walking on water.

'Each step emerges one step in front of you and disappears back underneath behind you as you go. This ‘bridge’ is purely mechanical, the weight of the person on it depresses each step a little, this force activates a submerged mechanism which raises the next step. '

The 3oth step leaves you standing in the middle of the water, 12 meters from shore. The viewer could then apparently stand in the middle until they wished to return the way they had come. Michael Cross aim is to 'invite a feeling or physical sensation to surround what otherwise might be purely function objects'.

As far as I know Cross had no religious intention behind this piece, other than using the story of Jesus walking across the water as inspiration, but I feel it would have been a powerful spiritual expression for myself, and other christians.

Cross used black dye in the water, so as to make it seem bottomless, when in fact it was only 65cm deep..now knowing this I am a little confusing as I thought the man in the image above was walking across wearing what appeared to be a light jacket. Maybe its not, or they are just extremely scared of water, or maybe to make the illusion more complete the exhibition did not state the depth, and proved life jackets for those who wished?!

Paul Hobbs was at Soul Survivor again this year. He was the creator of the Art Shed, as well as exhibiting some of his own work, and leading workshops. I was luckily enough to attend one of the workshops. It was interesting to finally meet the man I have been researching and to learn more first hand about how he approaches his work, as well as being able to see his work again in person. One positive lesson I learnt was to look more closely at the bible for my inspiration. It has so much to offer, and something I should have been doing. The workshop became with Hobbs reading psalm 19 and 103, asking us to high light keywords, and to note down any thoughts on the passages. These were then the bases of the art work we created during the afternoon. I focused on the imagery of hands on the verses, the sense that we were created by God. The image I produced was every different to what I usually paint, but I enjoyed the freedom and encouragement I that I got whilst working there. It was great to be able to talk to other christians all all ages that enjoyed art.
On another day, Paul Hobbs lead a discussion about the art work being exhibited. Unfortunately he was the only artist exhibiting present, but he knew all the fellow artists and their work, so he was still able to tell us the artists intension after our discussions.
Paul gave a small talk on his work, but unfortunately I have been unable to find an image of the painting he spoke about. It was interesting learning how many layers there are to his paintings, and that there's found hidden images and meanings within the work, some of which still took a while to find even after I knew they were their. I like how his work has a clear message, and is clearly a religious piece of art, but at the same time it is discrete, focusing the viewer to delve into the work and wanting to find out more.
I have how ever found a video clip of Paul Hobbs giving a similar workshop to a group of teachers. Hobbs often takes workshops and discussions as well as exhibiting his work, so as to help people explore art as a method of worship, to teach people of the word of God through a different way, and to help people understand modern art. This is one reason way I admire Hobbs, as he is using his skills to work within the community.
http://www.teachers.tv/video/3074

Paul Hobbs: biography

Exhibtions:

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Greenbelt Arts Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse, 2005.
Coventry Cathedral, 2005.Guildford Cathedral, 2005.
Ripon Cathedral, 2005.
Bradford Cathedral, 2004.
St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks, 2004.
University of Gloucestershire, 2003.
Teddington Baptist Church, 2002.
St. Michael’s Church, Bath, 2002.
Gloucester Cathedral, 2002.
St. Stephen’s Church, Westbourne Pk, London 2001.
Bath Abbey, 1999.
Christchurch, Abingdon, 1998.
Holy Trinity, Cambridge, 1998.
L’Arc-en-Ciel Galerie, Poitiers, France, 1997.
Winchester Cathedral, 1997.
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Gallery, London 1997.
St. Mary’s Church, Nottingham 1996.
The Black Swan Art Centre, Frome, 1996.
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Gallery, London 1995.
The Gallery, 74 South Audley St., London, 1994.
St. Mary’s Church, Nottingham 1994.
Cooper’s Gallery, Bristol Old Vic, 1994.
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Gallery, London 1994.
St. Thomas’s Hospital, London, 1989.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Presence, St.Paul’s Cathedral, London, 2004.
Holy Trinity, Cheltenham, 2003.
Edinburgh City Art Centre, 1999.
International Festival of Arts, Kunming, China, 1999.
Starlight Gallery, Southampton, 1996.
Soul Survivor Festival, 1996 - 2003 (Also Curating).
Poole Arts Centre, 1996.
Greenbelt Arts Festival, 1993.
Coventry Gallery, London, June 1993.
Coventry Gallery, London, May 1993.
London Group Open Exhibition, Barbican, 1992.
Johnson Wax Kiln Gallery, Farnham, 1992.
Portsmouth Cathedral, 1992.
Milton Keynes Exhibition Gallery, 1991.

Residencies:
Shrewsbury School, 2002.
Dean Close School, Cheltenham, 2002.
St. John’s School, Leatherhead, 2000.
Dauntsey’s School, Devizes, 2000.
Clifton College, Bristol, 1997.
St. Mary’s School, Ascot, 1997.
Oundle School, Northants, 1997.
Denstone College, Uttoxeter, 1997.
Dean Close School, Cheltenham, 1996.
Uppingham School, Leicestershire, 1996.
Stowe School, Buckingham, 1995.
St. Gregory’s School, Bath, 1994.
Canford School, 1994.

Commissions:
Lambeth Palace, 2002, "Dream Dreams".
St. Mary’s School, Ascot, 1998, "Our Lady Protectress of the Unborn Child".

Paul Hobbs

Three in One: Body of Christ Details by Paul Hobbs

Right...well I just wrote a post of Paul Hobbs, even saved it as a draft, but some how its managed to disappear into thin air, and I have no idea why, or how to get it back...doing well!(and yes tried to use the 'recover post' button, but all it recovered was a blank page...)
Ok let’s try again...
After not getting very far with researching into Doug Jaques I decided to attempt something else. I'm still determined to find a Christian, whose work I actually like, that I can find information on. Although I did discover a website for an artist called Doug Jaques, but it had no reference to the exhibitions I was aware of him participating in, or display any of the paintings I’ve found. So I have decided there could possible be to artists with the same name, which is unusual, but can not seen to find a link been the two.
I originally inspired to have this as my mission after visiting the stations of a cross exhibition at St Mary Le Bow Church. Through attempting to research into that exhibition I discovered that was a popular topic for Christian artists, something that I was completely not aware of until then. My research lead me to many interesting artists, but it seems that you can never find out more than one exhibition a Christian artist has appeared in, and certainly can not find out about the actual artist. This has been extremely frustrating but I'm ever hopeful that my hours and hours of research will eventually pay off.
Whilst looking through some old sketch books I came across a post card by an artist called Paul Hobbs, which triggered my memory and has started this phase in my exploration. Over the past few years I have been attending a Christian festival at Bath and West show ground called Soul Survivor, strongly recommend it to anyone…
http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/homepage.asp
At Soul Survivor they often have a venue called the Art Shed, which has a small exhibition of Christian artists, holds workshops, and is just open for people to go sit inside and paint. One of the artist’s who has often exhibited there, and where I got the post card from, is Paul Hobbs.

Paul Hobbs is a Christian British artist born in 1964. He began by studying for his during in 1983 at Pembroke College, Cambridge, for a B.A. Hons. Degree in Social & Political Science. After which in 1986 he attend The Byam Shaw School of Art, London, and studied for a Diploma in Fine Art. In 1989 Hobbs become a assistant art teacher at Canford School, in Dorset, where he stayed for three years. Since 1991 Paul Hobbs has been producing his own art work, participating in group exhibitions as well as sole shows, holding workshops for people, carrying out commission pieces and becoming involved with public projects. He has also been teaching as a Sixth Form art tutor at Dean Close School, Cheltenham.
I more I’ve been researching into Paul Hobbs, the more I like and admire his attitude and work. He believes God has provided him with the opportunity to use art as a form of worship and a method to communicate with people God’s love for us and the world. Hobbs is a great example of the type of artist I admire and who I’ve been searching to present for this assessment. He is committed to producing art that can publicly be used to benefit society.

'I keep going because, however difficult, this work is the most fulfilling and particular contribution that I believe I can make. Showing one’s work to others is a great thrill, and seeing people open up to art and faith is a great reward. ' Hobbs
(http://www.uccf.org.uk/yourcourse/artists/professionalprofiles/index.php?artistid=2)
For example Paul Hobbs has worked within schools, both with the students and producing commission pieces, as well as offering workshops to challenge and encourage other artists to express their faith with in their work.

A project that Hobbs is most famous for is called 'Holy Ground', which was first shown at Greenbelt Festival. He spent two years collecting testimonies and shoes from Christians around the world. This has then been used to form an installation that has been touring the country. It has been shown in a number of churches, cathedrals as well as universities.

left:Holy Ground installation at University of Gloucester.

right: The shoes of New York model, Laura Calenberg.

It has been shown in a number of churches, cathedrals as well as universities.
The shoes are from a variety of people, from Hitler’s god daughter, to Muslim woman, who as had to remain anonymous, as in her society she is not allowed to voice her faith. Hobbs intention was to give people a sense of “excitement as to who God's people are” and to combine it with the “stories of transformation” relating to each of the owners shoes. Hobbs has explained that this project was challenging as for some cultures “Handling and valuing shoes in the way I’m doing is like asking somebody to give me their dirty handkerchief, somebody told me." Where as “For other people it was a delight and a joy and a way of thanking God for what he’s done”.
Paul Hobbs titled the exhibition 'Holy Ground' as he was impressed by the story of Moses, when he first encounters God, Moses is asked to take off his shoes to recognise God's holiness. The story of each of the shoes relates to this action, and most people described their encounters with God and talk of how he has shaped, protected and influenced their lives.
I feel this installation is a great example of how Paul Hobbs uses his skills to not only educate people on different social cultures, but to show them a real world with inspirational stories of a variety of believers voicing their strengths in God despite hardships, and their joy in worshiping Him. Unfortunately I have been unable to view this exhibition for myself, but after reading many articles about it and viewing photographs I feel I have gained a sense of what it is.

Below are a few links of arcticles for some of the different locations 'Holy Ground' has visited.
http://www.cms-uk.org/news/2005/art_and_sole_240805.htm
http://www.glos.ac.uk/departments/chaplaincy/arts.cfm
http://www.freshworship.org/zine/lent06.php
http://www.cms-uk.org/fuzzyedges/resources/holy_ground_booking_guidelines.pdf

http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/index.php?p=133

pics (doug jaques)

(Left) Untitled (Prostrate Petitioner) by Doug Jaques Charcoal with Enamel

I like the sense of movement in this drawing. The figure on the ground looks lost in his thoughts, maybe the image behind is his thoughts...I would love to see this on a large scale so that I could view the detail, and so that the markings were more visuable. I've so been unable to read the writing underneath the image, which is extremely intriguing. If any is awhere of how I can enlarge the image without it pixilation, or where I can find it on a larger scale, please let me know.



(Right) Detail: XII Jesus Dies on the Cross by Doug Jaques
This is the image I was trying to load to my last post, typical computer decided that it would like to load my image, but JUST after I'd posted it...ah well hopefully its working now...
I feel as though there's a great strenght and power in this about of the painting, I like how Doug Jaques has used the light and transparence of the paint to suggest the glory and spiritual side of the crucixation, which a suggestion of the cross behind him., which is made of a vairety of colours which is stated in scriptures...
There in heaven stood a throne and on the throne sat one whose appearance was like the gleam of jasper and cornelian: and round the throne was a rainbow. bright as an emerald. (Revelation 4:2-3)
were as the cross with his human body on is black and would be non-existant if it wasnt for the light of Jesus shining over it.
The light shines in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it. (John 1:5)"I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall wander in the dark; he shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)
This is something I feel Doug Jaques has managed to convey in this painting.

Doug Jaques

I've been attempting to research into the previous image I posted by Doug Jaques but with success. It appears that in the art world every so often a Christian artist will appear, but it is then impossible to find out any farther information on the artist in question or their work, which is extremely frustrating to be contently heading dead ends. I have been able to find a little about him and during my search discovered a few other interesting artists.

http://www.communiquejournal.org/081203_stationsgallery/pages/station_12_1.html

Doug Jaques took part in a Stations of the Cross exhibition over in America, the image I found on my last post formed part of this exhibition. I was attracted to it because of the colour and light bursting out of the darkness, I love the sense of pain and emotion in the painting, and how there are two images of Jesus, his dying human form and the victorious spiritual body looking up towards the heavens. I was also able to find a few pencil drawing by him, which I was like. It feels like there’s a sense of care and passion in his work, with fine careful details adding depth and awe to the images. The link above explains better than I could about the image using verses from the bible that Jaques must have inspired by. (I've been attempting for about three hours to attach images to go with this, but still having no joy, I'll attempt to post them later.)
Whilst looking for images by Doug Jaques I came across a website called CIVA: Christians In Visual Art, which is an American based web site that was created to explore the relationship between the art world and the Christian faith. It was founded in 1979 and has continued to grow. Their purpose is to encourage Christian artists to explore their faith through visual means, and to support people in the many problems that arise in the art world without compromising their faith. CIVA regularly had touring exhibitions, which unfortunately have yet to reach England, an online gallery, as well as recommending reading material, holding conferences and workshops to help develop skills.
http://www.civa.org/

oo0o0o

Jesus dies on the cross - Doug Jaques

Just found this artist and love it! Felt I needed to share right away!Hope you like it. I will try return soon with more information and hopefully will have researched into Doug Jaques and his work...enjoy

its me again...

Christ of St. John of the Cross
Salvador Dali, 1951

After seeing the 'stations at the cross' exhibition, I attempted to search the internet for images of Jim Latter's work. I was unable able to find many, but I found a lot of sites relating to exhibitions called 'station of/at the cross' . I've attempted to research into Christian artists before but always had very little success, or I was excited at the prospect of finding a new link to the Christian art world!

So here I am to inform you of my findings. I've put on a Christian mix CD, might as well get into the right mood, and sat comfortable so here goes...

After Jesus died many people started to go Jerusalem to follow the final foot steps of Jesus. These roads became known as Via Dolorosa, the way of pain, and to this day are called that that. The stations of/at the cross allows people to reflect on Jesus' journey and his love for us. It seems to be a strong part of the Catholic faith, and many statues, paintings etc have been created to depict specific points of the journey for reflection and meditation. Nearly every Catholic church will have a representation of the stations of the cross. Topically there are fourteen stages, although some include a fifteenth. The exhibition I visited contained fifteen paintings. The stages are:

1. Christ condemned to death;
2. The cross is laid upon him;
3. His first fall;
4. Jesus meets his Mother;
5. Simon of Cyrene helped him the cross;
6. Christ's face is wiped by Veronica;
7. He falls for the second time;
8. He meets a crying women of Jerusalem;
9. His third fall;

10. His clothes are removed;
11. He is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross;
13. His body is taken down from the cross; and
14. laid in the tomb.

15. Jesus is risen!

http://www.cptryon.org/prayer/child/stations/index.html

The link is to a site the explains each step, its a little cheesey and designed for children but the explanations are good.

I've found many different interpretations, Jim Latter's being the first of course! All ranging in different styles from different countries as well as centuries.

Christ is stripped of his garments

http://www.mainchance.org/upward/read/december2002/stations.html

One of my favourite interpretations is a community project called 14 stations, which took place in 2002 in New York. It was a collaboration between a freelance photographer and Interfaith on Homelessness and Housing (IAHH), which is located at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The IAHH group choose to take the less topical depiction of the stations of the cross, and choose to enact each scene drawing on their personal experiences of life living on the streets. Each station uses a different male or female member to represent Jesus. The image above is one of the stations. They are all black and white photographs. I've always admired black and white photography, I guess it has a stronger sense of importance, almost historical, and allows your imagination to be creative as you have no concept of colour. It also allows there to be a greater variety of depth and tone. I feel some of the images as stronger than others, I really like the last five images. I think its the fact that they could be real life images and be anywhere, which would be powerful on their own, but combined together and given the heading of the stations of the cross adds to the impact. God is everywhere and part of our daily lives, even though Jesus was alive more than 2000 yrs ago, his life is still relevant to todays society. I also like how the fourteenth station is a portrait of everyone in the group, not only does it use who they all are, but for me its a reminder that Jesus defeated death and is alive! He is with in us!

Station 2: Jesus Prays in the Garden- Oil on Canvas by Dorothy Walker

'I have tried to portray the anguish of Jesus felt in facing death and separation from God and the weight of self inflicted human grief that he bore. I can't come close to achieving this but have in some way come a little closer to understanding his suffering myself'

This is another image I found whilst searching. I like the use of colour, the Jesus is struggling with the darkness but still has light reflecting from his skin. I am a little puzzled to why the artist choose to paint him naked in the garden. Perhaps is in relation to the fact he is being striped bare of everything, and levenerableble.

http://www.tcweb.co.uk/stationsofthecross/

'The Journey' -Station 15, The Resurrection

by Penny Warden

I added this image as its an example of the fifteenth station which most of the other websitI've've linked do not include, but I feel this station is important, if not possibly the most important. But that comes down to my faith whether than art. I believe that its important that the resurrection is shown, because thats the whole point to thEasterter' story, he died for our sins so we could have eternal life, but thats not possible unless he rose from the dead. I feel some dominations of Christianity skip over that part. I find it interesting that Penny Warden choose to use a grey scale, I think I probably would have gone for bright eye catching colours so show the importance of his actions, but I guess its the action its self that should be focused on and not the colour of it. I love the movement in the paintings, and the sense he's human, but theres something else to him, something spiritual and not solid.

ooooo Religion!

'Stations of the Cross' Jim Latter

http://www.stmarylebow.co.uk/?Home

My mind is all over the place at the moment, and I guess its having an affect on my work or vise versa. I seem to keep drifting onto to different projects, so I now have many started projects. Whilst looking through the New Exhibition website (link at the side!) I discovered a link to a small exhibition within a church. The exhibition doesn't have much relevance to my current but I am always interested in discovering Christian artists, and as its lent I felt it would be prefect.

So last week I went to see the exhibition at St Mary Le-Bow Church, which is close to St Pauls Cathedral. The exhibition is called 'Stations of the Cross' by Jim Latter. It consists of 15 paintings which take a contemporary look at Jesus' journey to cross. The paintings are hung on typical church noticeboards, which were placed around the church. It was a simple exhibition but it suited the subject matter. The work was more concerned with the meaning behind it, than presenting it on the pristine whitewashed walls within an art gallery. For me the purple church noticeboards added to the impact of the work, as it reminded me of church back home. This combined with the silent stillness added to the peaceful atmosphere within the church, which allowed you to feel free and at ease. Each painting consisted of a strong thick cross that dominated a square of colour, which occasionally contained a slight pattern. Underneath each cross was written in pencil the station of the Cross. The exhibition will remain in the church during lent.

Whilst within the church my attention was caught by the contemporary crucifix above the altar. St Mary le Bow Church, Cheapside London, was founded in Norman times. The church has been destroyed on several occasions but it has always been rebuilt, and remains a beautiful historical building, with a few modern influences contained within. An example of this is the image above, the comtempory crucifix which fascinates me. The scultpure takes the familar structure of Jesus on the cross, but has removed any physical representations of the actual cross, allowing the viewer imagine it. The sculpture is constructed of bend metal, with the centre hollow, and the surface incomplete, and has a wirey thorn crown above his head. I was not expecting to see such a modern image of Jesus within such a historical church, this may be why it had such an effect on me. The way the metals folded allowing the reflective shiny side to be on the outside suggests God's light shining out, with our sins being defeated and send/remaining in darkness within him, as he defeats death and allows us to have eternal life. I guess you could say the metal may also be representative of God's protective armour, having greater power and strength but modeled and shaped into the flesh of human form. The only information I've been able to gain about the crucifix is: ' The crucifix before which the Priest celebrates the Eucharist, the central act of Christian worship' (from the 'a guided tour' leaflet) which doesn't exactly explain a lot! I wish to go back to the church and possibly do a few sketches of the crucifix and hopefully find someone within the church to ask more about it.

monkeys!

Well...time seems to be flying by, and a lot has been happening. I've started my art in the community practice module, which involves at placement at a local college working with students with special needs. We're currently joining in with their art sessions, which will lead to us organizing a workshop for the students to take part in. We will also be going on a gallery visit. It felt so great to finally be out of the studio and my room, and out into the public, working with REAL people! The group is small, but but they all seem very friendly, and are all extremely individual! I'm looking forward to getting to know the students better.
We decided to go visit the chosen gallery, Tate Britain, to plan ahead and see if there was anything in particular we wanted to show the students. The tutor suggested we could go to see the Tate Triennial 2006 exhibition. This was a varied exhibition, with a varied of work from new British artists. I've just realized that I got so absorbed in focusing whether the art work would be suitable for the students and in finding the different rooms around the gallery, that I forgot to take notes on the artists I liked and hated! I'll have to go back and have a second look. There were a few pieces I enjoyed, but really disliked the fact there were pornographic and slighty disturbing images spread through out the exhibition. The worst was in a side room with warnings, so that was ok in the sense it could be avoided, but one of the larger paintings within the main exhibition space was of a similar nature. I guess the style and what the artist was attempting to express about the dullness of ordinary life was interesting, but in the relation to taking the students or young children to the exhibition it makes it difficult and challenging. I know art is meant to provoke reaction and isn't always pleasing, but where do you draw the line between porn and art?!

Chris OfiliThe Upper Room 1999-2002

During our visit we also looked at the Upper Room exhibition by Chris O'fili. I have seen a few pieces of his work before, and love the depth involved in his work. Chris O'fili uses lays of build up the image, and often has hidden images with in the work. A great example of this is 'No Woman, No Cry' which was a tribute to the murdered teenager, Stephen Lawrence. On close examination his portrait can be seen in the tear drops of the woman, and within the first layer Chris O'fili painted the words 'Rest in peace Stephen Lawrence' and his dates. Chris O'fili uses a variety of material and sources to influence his work, from photography to the bible, and includes references of different cultures. The enter 'The Upper Room' you are led through a wooden passage with the only light source coming from slits along the bottom of the wall. This instantly sets the mood and atmopshere for the paintings. With in the room there was thirteen large paintings, with the largest at the end of the room. They are all identical in respect that the image is of a monkey with the painting set on top of two pieces of elephant dung, but each painting varies in the colours used. The canvases are said to represent the twelve Apostles, and the larger monkey being symbolic of Jesus. The spot lights used in the celling and the room being covered in wood, helps to create a peaceful environment almost similar to a chapel, adding to the suggestive nature of the paintings. The exhibition is a little difficult to find with in the Tate Britain, but its real worth a visit, and its free!