Hope & Poverty Art Exhibition

SIDNEY DIONGZON

2012-02-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

I'm a filmmaker + photographer from california. I filmed a lot of things over there and did a bunch of photo shoots as well. Now I live in england because I tricked a beautiful english girl to marry me, and we're crazy in love. It's been a crazy life so far and I've loved every minute of it. YouTube my name and you'll see. I often travel and always take my camera with me where ever I go. It's my paintbrush. I love film. I love photography. I love telling stories. I've worked with hundreds of people since I first picked up a camera. I've worked with hollywood suits, celebrities, big corporations, small companies, non-profits, charities, and churches. But most of all, I love working with aspiring artists such as myself. Collaboration is the key in creating art, don't you think? We're all in this together. I just want to film. I just want to shoot. I just want to tell stories.

www.sidneydiongzon.com

Leaf in Hand

JENNIE GILLING

2012-02-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to the art of making paper whilst I was teaching crafts in London. I had previously studied textile design and found an affinity with the process of constructing and manipulating the surface. After several years' teaching, I had a period of working as a secretary in arts organisations and when redundancy appeared, I seized the opportunity to
return to a creative life, and paper has been my artistic focus since 1983. Apart from being an artist, I am a professional gardener and write poetry. I am a founder member of PaperWEIGHT, a National group of paper artists and I exhibit regularly with PaperWEIGHT and take part in the Wylye Valley Art Trail.

I currently use handmade paper for a technique I invented of applying and mixing liquid paper pulp, similar in method to painting. I carefully incorporate photographs that provide the sharp focal point and the pulp confuses the boundaries, creating a blurred, peripheral and out-of-focus
effect. These works are called Papographs.

The nineteenth century photographic method of Cyanotype, which uses sunlight to develop the paper, is another medium on paper that I continue to explore. The process has so many unexpected subtleties - often creating extraordinary detail as with a delicate x-ray, the deep blue having a dream-like quality. I add a little watercolour to imply the colour seeping into or leaving the image, also gold or silver leaf as a flash to certain pieces. To date I have used over 80 different kinds of plants with this technique. As it brings together gardens and art, it satisfies both aspects of my life!

My themes are always connected to the natural world and an idea can evolve into both written and art work. I draw on what is local - the fantastic Cley Hill, on the outskirts of Warminster, is an ever-changing landmark, one I will continue to use.

Nothing can replace the excitement once a piece of work is under way and it is, without doubt, a way for me to feel complete.

http://www.jenniegilling.co.uk/

Chevril Heart

CLARE DAY

2012-02-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Small lidded pot

There are many layers to my work. It is about surfaces, texture, and imprints, but it is also filled with memories of childhood; being on the beach and collecting curious found objects. There are also darker themes exploring an inner emotional world. The ceramic pieces are mainly made from red earthenware, imprinted using found objects and clay stamps that I have made. Layers are built up of glazes, oxides and small fragments of found glass. The work is mainly on a human scale; something you can hold in your hand. I also make mono prints using clay to print from. The clay gives a soft and richly textured feel to the prints.

http://www.claredayceramics.com/

DEBORAH KEILLER - VISUAL ARTIST & WILD GOOSE CHASER

2012-02-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

I developed a passion for the visual arts while on a two year Foundation Course in Art in my late teens. I then went on the take a degree in Textile Design at Winchester School of Art.

Having since raised 4 daughters, run a small business, organised events and trained others, I have come full circle and now practice my art full time.

The phrase 'Wild goose chase' commonly suggests being in pursuit of something fruitless or futile. However, in celtic tradition, the Wild Goose represents the Holy Spirit. Wild Geese are know for their untamable and capracious nature. They are intrinsically free!

I'm learning that by chasing the Great Wild Goose, my life is anything but fruitless!

http://www.deborahkeiller.co.uk/

Suspense

GILLIAN FLACK

2012-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Gillian has painted all her life and has been inspired by the changing light and mood of the countryside she paints, she uses the full richness and resonance of oil paints to create her well constructed and convincing compositions which typify and evoke the tranquility of our quiet landscapes in England.

Much of her work is inspied by her surroundings in East Bedfordshire, but the opportunities presented by her frequent travels to Europe and beyond have given her the chance to adjust her palette and present the variations in light so different from the English environment.

Gillian exhibits regularly in london at the Royal Institute for Oil Painters as well as other major and more local exhibitions throughout the country. Gillian had a picture hung in the Summer Exhibition 2010 at the Royal Academy.

Gillian is passionate about painting and seizes every opportunity to pick up her paints and 'get out there' for her next project.

http://www.gillianflack.co.uk/

ILENE BERMAN

2012-02-05T00:01:00.001-08:00

Ilene has recently re-located to Bristol from St Louis, Missouri where she was awarded numerous community-based public art commissions. Trained as a sculptor, she uses the sculptor's emphasis on material to create her work. Her understanding of 'material' has evolved to include whatever process or media is necessary to express the idea. In recent works, this expression has taken the form of textile, concrete, poetry and negotiation.

Ilene's studio practice is based on the belief that art can (and should) change the world. No matter the form, each site specific work is the result of respectfully formed relationships and is designed through the careful listening to people speak about and the patient watching of people move through a specific place. Each engagement is different as she works to develop an understanding of that place and an insight into what is to be challenged or celebrated within it. These challenges or celebrations may take the form of an object, an experience or a series of events. This type of practice is referred to as relational, situational or durational. All three fit.

www.nodhouse.com

VANESSA FERRETT

2012-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Vanessa is a children’s portrait photographer from Bath. She recently took a three month sabbatical with her partner and their two young children to travel through South East Asia and Japan. They spent just under a month at the Home and Life Foundation in Thai Muang Province, Thailand; an orphanage set up in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.

The primary objective of their time at the orphanage was to help the management team improve and enhance a small cafe business they operated to help sustain themselves. It was an incredibly humbling and enlightening experience for the whole family and one they will treasure forever.

All proceeds from the sale of these items will be split between Mercy in Action and Home and Life Foundation.

East meets West

Brewing storm on Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand

Hula Hula Girl
This little girl is called Rice Milk, it is all she would eat until she was two!

Family Portrait
Meet twins Bum and Bim and their little sister Beer. Their mother was killed in the Tsunami and their father lost his fishing boat and therefore his income. He is almost blind and works long hours in the paddy field for little money and he cannot support his children.

Temple of the Golden Pavillion, Kyoto, Japan

TONY PICK

2012-02-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Board Walk

Tony Pick is one of the leading landscape photographers with an international client base. He runs his successful 'Coastal Images' and 'Tony Pick Photography' business from his fine art gallery and studio in the beautiful seaside town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

Tony Pick is passionate about photography and his business and strives to inspire others to ignite their passion for photography.

The landscapes and seascapes which drew Tony to Suffolk are still a huge inspiration to him who is never happier than when he is on the beach with his camera either on his own or inspiring others.

http://www.coastalimages.co.uk/

KAY LEWIS-BELL

2012-02-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Listen

Following a career in Education, Kay Lewis-Bell studied Fine Art Painting in Bath Spa School of Art. Since graduating in 2004 she has worked mainly from her studio at Shave Farm South Brewham. There she has the space to paint and explore other mediums and concepts. She has established herself as a figurative painter in Wessex and has exhibited in England and France.

Lewis-Bell is a painter who moves the paint around the canvas like words on a page. She does not paint portraits but is caught by the glint of an eye, the smudge of a lip or the slope of a shoulder. From these beginnings she strives to capture the essence of the images she has collected. The paintings are imaginative, physical, colourful and unexpected.

SUE FLOOD

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

Minke Pass

Sue Flood is a photographer and wildlife filmmaker, whose speciality is polar and marine environments, as well as other documentary subjects.

After graduating from Durham University in 1986 with a degree in Zoology, Sue joined wildlife production company 'Survival Anglia'. Then in 1993 she moved on to the BBC and spent 11 years working for their world renound Natural History Unit in Bristol. She was an Associate Producer on the award-winning BBC series 'The Blue Planet', and also more recently worked on Planet Earth. This took her to the Arctic, the Antarctic and the South Pacific, where she worked as a stills photographer and field assistant, supplying images for publicity for the series.

Sue has produced four films for the BBC. Her photographic highlights include diving with humpback whales in the South Pacific, face-to-face encounters with leopard seals in the Antarctic, filming polar bears in the Arctic, and photographing the wildlife of Namibia and Botswana.

In March 2005, Sue left the BBC to pursue her wildlife photography career. Sue's images have been published in books and magazines worldwide including BBC Wildlife, several BBC books, Geo, National Geographic books, National Wildlife in the US, and the national press in the UK, USA and worldwide.

Sue has donated a print of an image of a minke whale from her book, Cold Places. This photo was Highly Commended in Travel Photographer of the Year 2011 in the category - 'One Shot - Wild Moments', see www.tpoty.com

"Minke Pass was taken as the minke whale swam under my zodiac, just a few feet away, in the Antarctic. I chose this image as it was recently highly commended in the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition."

http://www.sueflood.com/

KAREN WALLIS

2012-01-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Flowers in the snow

Karen Wallis draws and paints the everyday world. She is curious about the role of images and how they are perceived by the viewer, in particular how visual rhetoric influences their perceptions through historical reference, methods of display amd curatorial input. If appropriate, her projects can extend into installation, intervention, performance or digital media.

www.axisweb.org/artist/karen-wallis

PAUL MCINTYRE

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Paul McIntyre B.Sc. (Hons.), MBPsS, was born in Coventry and now lives in Bristol. After leaving school, Paul pursued a career in the Civil Service. Having studied Psychology at University and as a member of "The British Psychological Society", it has been noted by many that this self-taught artist introduces a psychological ambiance that breathes life into his paintings. Today, Paul McIntyre has hundreds of pictures in homes throughout the world. He has established himself as a popular international artist with a wide appeal.

http://www.paulmcintyre.co.uk/

The piece of artwork below was very generously donated to Mercy in Action for the exhibition by Paul McIntyre. Valued at £900, you could win this fantastic work of art for just £10 in our charity raffle. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the exhibition, and the draw will take place at 5pm on Saturday 18th Feb 2012.

Windows to peace and happiness

CARRIE WHITE

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Carrie White is a mother of 3 children, 2 of whom are Autistic. She is a qualified Primary teacher but after being diagnosed with M.E. had to leave permanent employment.
As an emerging artist from Essex, she is currently undertaking a Fine Art Degree through the OCA and uses art as a way to portary her feelings connected with everyday life and the struggles it sometimes brings. She has produced some commission pieces ranging from animals to portraits to fantasy art.

The piece for this exhibition is based around Hope, that all children are born with hope and unlike adults can often see beauty where others cannot.

The picture originated from a photo of 2 Filipino girls eating and playing in a rubble filled waste ground. They did not look altogether unhappy, despite their obvious poverty. It got me thinking. Children are not born with a negative outlook on life, they are born optimists with hopes and dreams. They are like flowers. We have all seen flowers grow in the most unhospitable of places, yet they grow with what they have got. Given a little nurturing, some enrichment, some love, they will grow to be beautiful blooms. The optimistic small children are like these flowers, all they need is a little help, to realise their dreams.

PAULA MACK

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

I started using art as a distraction and a way to fill the empty hours after my daughter passed away on her 20th Birthday in 2004. My dear friend Audrey showed me the basics and I have enjoyed experimenting ever since. I find the amazing colours promote creativity and give me an inner peace.

http://www.waxed.org.uk/index.html

SARAH PARKER

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hope's Flight

Sarah moved to Bath to study Creative Arts at Bath Spa University in Screenprinting. After graduating she went on to explore the world of fashion, screenprinting and selling t-shirts and other apparel. She continued to work on her prints alongside working in arts and crafts workshop for adults with hearing difficulties in Bath. Although continuing her interest in screenprinting she started to explore more digital forms of print. After her daughter was born last year she now works on her artwork at home alongside being a mum!

JANE LEE HORTON

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

"A personal visual vocabulary is what I’m striving for, where less means more.
Not contrived, but natural to the eye, speaking to the soul.
I gather and select, place and rearrange until an emotion surfaces and is sated.
Sometimes it takes many weeks of waiting and gathering until the right pieces come together.
It’s always worth it and I’m always delightfully surprised"

Jane Lee Horton regularly exhibits in the UK and US and has work in private collections worldwide.

www.saatchionline.com/janeleehorton

www.janeleehorton.daportfolio.com

And His Great Wonders See

As the title of the exhibition is 'Hope and Poverty' I wanted to express the spirit of hope. This is suggested by the bird, a phoenix made up of seperate pieces, different style wings, a skull head etc. Disparate parts come together to express a new wholeness.

The phoenix rises from a stack of burnt out and derelict cars, symbolic of our modern world and wealth as dead and lifeless.

As the phenix rises into the air, pure white rain cascades from its wings in an attempt to re-nourish with enlivening spirit the rubble and decay below.

The butterfly is symbolic of the bird's soul and the star is symbolic of humanity and divinty combined.

BELLA GINGELL

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons why people paint, but for me it seems it is the common one of finding peace and reaching an understanding with the world. It is the journey between conception and the idea of an image and then working on it which is almost compulsory. Not all go according to plan, but it is by making mistakes and playing with ideas that I am able to create.
I work mainly in oils but also play with water colour and keep my hand in with pencil sketches.
I love what I do and hope you enjoy seeing my work as much as I did in creating it.

Like most I have loved creating from the start, but after studying water colour and then fine art at Bath I have leaned toward the world of design and abstract, in oils, water colour and Indian inks.

Having exhibited locally, I am looking forward to continuing showing and sharing in the area. I love what I do and hope you enjoy viewing my pictures as much as I did when making them. Exhibitions include Bradford-on-Avon, Freshford, Pylle Gallery near Glastonbury and Walcot Chapel Galleries in Bath.

Bridge

Bahamas

CHINWE ROY

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy's talent spans a wide and varied canvas. She captures the essence of her subjects with her life studies in oils and pastels and has earned international recognition. Although the subjects nearest her heart are portraits in oils, the artist also sculpts in clay.

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy was born in Eastern Nigeria and obtained her B.A. Hons. degree in Graphic Design in England, after which she moved to paiting. Her portraits are based on the traditional method but with a dash of colour that reflects her origin and a 'joie de vivre' that gives them a life of their own.

Chinwe's paintings have successfully captured the vibrancy and breadth of the African culture. Her cultural series has picked subjects from the different countries she has visited to produce a panorama of the many aspects of African Life. The Africa - Past, Present, Future series is a critical look at the continents rich history and civilisations bringing the art lover an insight into its vibrant past.

Chinwe' portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, commissioned to mark Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee, was unveiled to widespread critical acclaim in 2002.

http://www.chinweroy.com/

Mother & Child III

Judgement Day

Judgement Day II

DANIEL DIAZ

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Born on March 24th 1973, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.

Graduated from the Art Academy "Oscar Fernandez Morera ", Trinidad , Cuba in 1997. With B.A. in Fine art ( sculpture and illustration ).

In 1998 won the first prize in "Small Format Art Competition" , Sancti Spiritus, Cuba.

Lived and worked in Trinidad, Cuba as a freelance artist until 2001.

In 2002 Daniel was invited to Finland to be part of a cultural exchange programme, where he spent six month taking various art courses and participating in differents art project and events as well as exhibiting in Helsinki, Saavo and Porvoo.

His work has been exhibited in Cuba, Finland, Spain and England.

" We are wonderfully, blissfully cocooned in our own world, unaware of the longing for Homeland and the endless search for identity "

Daniel's latest work is a combination of accidental and deliberate forms, where self-created images are the projection of subconsciousness.

Daniel has been living and working in Surrey, United Kingdom since 2003.

http://www.daniel-diaz.co.uk/

Hope

RICHARD OLVER

2012-01-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

My pictures aim to create an harmonious image through colour and form. Using actual scenes as a starting point, I often simplify, exaggerate and intensify to produce an idealised, imagined world.

Many of my pictures have been influenced by visits to the Indian sub continent, the Mediterranean and Africa where I was attracted to the intensity of light and shade. I support a girls’ educational project in Sierra Leone: I have included scenes of daily life near Lakka in this exhibition.

I work in watercolour, gouache, inks, pastel or a combination of these mediums.

I have lived in Bath for 30 years and took up painting 15 years ago, having been a teacher in Wiltshire for 25 years. Part of my studies for my degree included Greek architecture which has been another source of inspiration for me.

I sell water from a bucket

Poverty

The Market Place

Public Transport Pakistan

Village Children

PILAR CORTES DYER

2012-01-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

A light from the darkness came forth

Pilar Cortés was born 1982 in Mexico City. Painting became a passion at a young age and she later went on to study Visual Arts at the National School of Arts, part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Considered one of the leading schools of art in Latin America, here she was educated by some of the most acclaimed figures of contemporary Mexican art.

Her work has been exhibited widely throughout Mexico, the UK and abroad including the Arbol Gallery Valencia Spain, Fine Arts Cali Colombia; Museum of Mexico City, Gallery Sector Reforma Guadalajara Mexico, Faculty of Creative Arts UWE, Bath’s Fringe Visual Arts Festival 2010 and 2011, Paul Hamlyn Library, British Museum, London, etc.

Since graduating in 2007, Pilar has participated in two solo exhibitions in Tuxtla Gutierrez Chiapas, Mexico. Here she exhibited her series “Because we are where we are not”, exploring the philosophical concept of the sublime.

“For me, to observe a painting is to observe it through the construction of our consciousness. Through our memories and imaginations, we enter inside of it, alter it and become part of what is represented”.

Since 2008, Pilar lives and works in Bristol. In September 2011, I was invited to participate in the Performance “From Morning till night” by Katerina Seda at the Tate Modern.

Her work is available to see at St. Georges Hall in Bristol and on her website:

http://www.pilarcortes.co.uk/

Clouds

A postcard from nowhere v

A postcard from nowhere vi

A postcard from nowhere vii

A postcard from nowhere viii

TAMAS SZIKSZAY

2012-01-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Tamas Szikszay is a Hungarian born artist who worked for five years with a sculptor and this inspirational, creative job helped him to greatly improve his artistic skills. During this time he took lessons from a private teacher and became a member of the KERT (GARDEN) group with fellow artists.

He currently lives and works in Bristol, UK.

"I get motivation from every day life, family, friends, and my hobby long distance running. I love to run for hours and this provides me with creativity and inspiration for painting. The long hours clear my mind and give me time to think about new ideas.

Sometimes I have a subject which I want to do, sometimes I just follow my thoughts and the final product evolves.”

http://www.saatchionline.com/profiles/index/id/249557

Bright Future II

Bright Future

Bright Future III

I love Balaton

KAREN BURNETT

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Karen Burnett has developed a spontaneous, fluid, raw and textured way of working. She has a passion to create abstract artwork involving natural movement and fusion of paint and mixed media. She works with vigour and energy using a mixture of mediums including acrylics, oil and water based paints onto canvas.

Karen is now resident in Bath, UK. She previously worked as a graphic designer. It was only during an extended stay in New Zealand she began her fine art explorations. She has recently finished a visual arts course in Bath with successful exhibitions to follow. Karen continues to experiment with new art techniques, as well as running art workshops here and abroad.

The BBC "Show Me the Monet" recently filmed Karen for their new 10 part series shown May 2011. She was interviewed by Charlotte Mullins, David Lee, Roy Bolton and Chris Hollins.

http://www.karenrburnett.co.uk/

He's not cross

Intriguing

Destined

Eventually

Omega

ALEXIA LIAKOUNAKOU

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Alexia Liakounakou has lived and worked in Sierra Leone and has studied the arts of Asia/Africa and Social Anthropology in the UK. She is a freelance writer and photographer interested in culture, society, the human body and its behaviors.

Having faced the effects of poverty, and of hope, together with growing 'poverty-discrimination' toward her home country, Greece, she believes that the arts are the most direct and impartial way to comment upon society regardless of race, class, and other social labels.

www.krop.com/alexialia

Earth

Free

Gaze

The Crossing

The Meeting

ELEANOR LEONNE BENNETT

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 15 year old photographer and artist who has won contests with National Geographic,The Woodland Trust, The World Photography Organisation, Winstons Wish, Papworth Trust, Mencap, Big Issue, Wrexham science, Fennel and Fern and Nature's Best Photography. She has had her photographs published in exhibitions and magazines across the world including the Guardian, RSPB Birds, RSPB Bird Life, Dot Dot Dash, Alabama Coast, Alabama Seaport and NG Kids Magazine (the most popular kids magazine in the world). She was also the only person from the UK to have her work displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See The Bigger Picture global exhibition tour with the United Nations International Year Of Biodiversity 2010 and is the only visual artist published in the Taj Mahal Review June 2011. Eleanor is the youngest artist to be displayed in Charnwood Art's Vision 09 Exhibition and New Mill's Artlounge Dark Colours Exhibition.

http://www.eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com/

Sleep Anywhere

Floating Portrait

The Calling

I didn't know

Time passes me

VIKKI YEATES

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

I have been illustrating books and producing artwork since the early 90s, when I graduated from Brighton University. Projects have included: Children's Books; Mind, Soul and Body; Poetry; Tarot.

I would describe my work as 'Gothic Art', inspired by sinister tales and macabre stories.

http://vikkiyeates.daportfolio.com/

Autumn

Let me in

Portrait of Sylvia Plath

MARY ROUNCEFIELD

2012-01-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

I am a printmaker and artist working mainly in screen print. I am based in Bristol and currently am a member of Spike Print Studio.

Many of my screen prints feature mathematical graphs or patterns, but I have recently been working on a series of animal prints and looking at 'animal patterns'.

In 2007, whist still a student, I was shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize. Other exhibitions include, the 7th International Mini Print Exhibition organised by the Printmaker's Council, the Royal West of England Academy Autumn Exhibition in 2009 and Wrexham Print International in 2011. I also make artist's books which I print and bind by hand. These occassionally appear in exhibitions including 'White Heat' organised by Kaleid Editions in London.

http://www.maryrouncefield.co.uk/

Here's Hoping

Hopeful

Hopefully Friends

Travelling in Hope

JAMES MCLELLAN

2012-01-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

My drawings focus on the silent flux of information that is all around us. We are connected. We perceive ourselves anonymous in a universe of information we can plug into at any time. A world where documentation becomes vastly superior to experience. The trade of information. The world is turning itself inside out dissolving around us as it becomes the reflection of the simulation. The hope that technology will liberate, will empower, will save is a fallacy. Exploitation is inherent in these systems.

jamesmclellan.carbonmade.com

Reflections in the void

ANUM FAROOQ

2012-01-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Anum Farooq is a Biochemistry with Management graduate from Imperial, whilst completing a History of Art short course at UCL. Based in London, Anum Farooq is a teacher combining the Sciences and the Arts, as well as holding a capacity as a Mentor. She is involved in the Arts, and is interested in exploring the links between art, education, nature, architecture and culture. She holds a Healthcare Assistant qualification from the College of Pharmacy Practice, and is also RCSA member. Anum paints using mixed media, her creative interests also extend to poetry and inspirational writing forms. Anum began writing poetry since the age of twelve, initially to reflect upon her curiosities and the world around her, progressing to further explorations within the creative arts in an autodidactic manner.

http://www.anumfarooq.com/

Desert Dreams

Metamorphasis

Sacred Nature

Solace

Sway

VICKY CARD

2012-01-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I am Vicky Card and I have been making artwork for over 8 years. I studied Art and Textiles at Bath Spa University and specialised in embroidery.

All of my work is hand-made and designed by myself. I start with a pencil drawing and this is translated into stitch, which I do free hand on a sewing machine. I feel this process gives my work a more illustrative aspect than craft, as I am drawing with stitch.

www.meiowmeiow.com

Love is like a flower, you've got to let it grow

SHEONA BEAUMONT

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sheona Beaumont is a visual artist and writer based in the South West of the UK. Her works look at the ways photographs can communicate more than just a snapshot, often incorporating questions about faith and perception. Since graduating from the University for the Creative Arts in 2001, she has exhibited widely and regularly, engaging with subjects such as the heritage of monastic faith on Dartmoor (2004), stations of the cross (2006), the abolition of the slave trade (2007), and the spiritual nature of hope (2008). Alongside her practice, she is currently completing her doctorate on biblical themes in contemporary art at the University of Gloucestershire. She was born in Bristol, and has lived in various parts of the city for over 15 years.

www.shospace.co.uk

Endurance

Faith

Joy


Perseverance

Joy, endurance, perseverance, faith

These 4 prints are a celebration of what the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery calls ‘the four coordinates of hope’: faith, joy, perseverance and endurance. Hope is more than just a vaguely positive feeling about the future – it is an attitude towards the present that transforms character and releases us to live without fear. It is a strong mindset, an ‘anchor for the soul, firm and secure’ (Hebrews 6:19).

This sense of secure hope is referred to in the Bible by analogy to the protective and healing power of wings: ‘Those who hope in the Lord… will soar on wings like eagles,’ ‘He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge,’ ‘for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings’ (Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 91:4, Malachi 4:2). It is the wings in these images that are all in some way being transformed.

While the wings themselves are described with line, the use of colour and layers of other photographic detail suggests a growing vitality that has the power to take us beyond the one-dimensionality of the everyday. There is a sense of freedom in flight that is emotionally uplifting and which, for the Christian, reflects the joy of the Holy Spirit.


Hope's purpose

Sometimes our lives can seem very small and insignificant, especially in the context of the future of the planet, and hope can be a difficult concept to hold onto. Yet, as well as a big-picture plan, Christians believe in God’s unconditional love for us individually, shown specifically through Jesus’ life on earth 2,000 years ago.

Jesus said ‘Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds’ (Matthew 6:26, The Message). In other words, the satisfied life of a small creature like a sparrow, which happens so naturally in the order of creation, is one that God has a mind to surpass in his care of human beings.

In fact this surpassing is the foundation of hope that Christians have - that in Jesus himself, we matter and are free to live without worry. In this pair of images, as in the roof of St Martin’s church, angels watch over the activity on the ground. Green grass and red sand are a background to God’s continual provision and care for those who trust in Him. God’s love is never absent-minded and is always abundant.

VALERIA FULOP

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

The White Wall

Valeria was born and studied fine art in Hungary, influenced by its rich artistic culture, and history. As a child she started taking private lessons from recognized artists, and had her first solo exhibition at the age of 16. As a young child she was trained as a gymnast and also learnt classical ballet. She was fascinated by this unique art form which lets one express feeling, teaches self discipline, strength and gracefulness. She was amazed by the beauty of the human body, and the ability to be able to appear strong and feminine at the same time.

Her education started at Art and Design College before moving onto studying a BA Degree in graphic design. Valeria has had several exhibitions, and has many of her artworks in private collections. She started taking commissions for portraits and working as a painter, illustrator and graphic designer in 1998. She works with various media from oil to digital painting always searching for new ways to express her spiritual views. Her main purpose is to find that hidden inner beauty and restructure it within the work.
Valeria Fulop lives and works in Bristol, UK and shows her work in galleries across the country. She has recently exhibited in the Malvern Theatres and in the Grant Bradley Gallery in Bristol.

www.bristol-portrait.co.uk

Beggar

Holding On

Roma Girl

JEREMY BEAR

2012-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Kalia Chat Cart

Jeremy studied Graphic Design at Brighton College of Art and went on to work as a Production Designer for BBC Television in London and then Head of Design at Yorkshire Television. From 1990 he worked as a freelance designer on exhibitions and television and film productions. In 2000, to expand his use and understanding of new media in film, he did an MA in Digital Imaging at London Metropolitan University. Through all these activities he has continued to draw and paint and has paintings, drawings and prints in private collections in the UK, France, Spain, Greece, Canada, Australia and India.

The Trumpet Seller

Jeremy has been to India several times in recent years and, as well as the city scapes in this exhibition, he is now beginning to work on subjects in a boat building yard on the banks of the Hooghly River. he got to know that location and the people working there while filming a documentary with his daughter, Dr Laura Bear, who is an anthropologist at the London School of Economics. Together they have now completed four films concerned with social and economic issues affecting the lives of people who live and work around the Hooghly River in East Bengal.

My India is Great

The vibrant and exuberant life experienced on the streets of Kolkata, India is at the heart of the series if paintings that Jeremy Bear has been working on for the last year. He is calling this series 'My India is Great' to celebrate the passion and drama which he has seen demonstrated by people as they go around their daily lives. He came across that phrase inscribed alongside the equally powerfully expressed warning of 'DANGER' on the rear of a city bus and this features in the title work of the series. For this exhibition, on the theme of Hope and Poverty, he has included that painting along with two others, 'The Trumpet Seller' and 'Kalia Chat', which demonstrate in visual terms the well justified pride that street sellers take in what they make and sell.

GARTH BAYLEY

2012-01-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

The humanity of war

Garth works loosely with bold colours showing form and movement. His subjects are diverse ranging from sport and dance to abstract landscape. Garth draws on old masters for inspiration reinterpreting ideas in a contemporary way. He uses personal experiences to create beautifully expressive canvases evoking both emotional and physical sensuality.

Garth exhibits in a number of venues and has work in collections in the UK, South Africa, U.S.A, Namibia and the Netherlands.

www.garthbayley.co.uk

The misery of a lost soul

AMREEN KHAN

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Pattern #1

Born in 1989 Berkshire, England, Amreen's work investigates the concept of different cultures, in particular her struggle between two contrasting societies, one being her origins in Pakistan and the other, Western society. Amreen transfers her knowledge of these cultures into her paintings on canvas. Solid colours which originate from traditional Asian clothing are used by making paint from raw pigments and by using silkscreen, originating from East Asia, which gives the work a richness of colour. Western elements are then added, by stretching work on a stretcher, applying pen to the top of the canvas,and using dyed fabric.

Jamni

The designs used are originally from an ancient technique called Mehndi (henna’). Mehndi is a temporary tattoo that is applied as a paste onto the hand and feet, and is commonly used to do decorative designs on a bride’s hands and feet before her wedding day. Mehndi originally comes from a plant which is ground into powder which is turned into paste by adding oil or water. The paste can last for a couple of days or weeks, depending on its strength.

The use of these two different tools and techniques onto the canvas is used to introduce the relationship and struggle between these two very different cultures.

http://www.amreenkhan.com/

Hara & Design

Pattern #3

Pattern #6

BJORN ROTHE

2012-01-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

Bjorn is an artist from Rhineland Palatinate in Germany. His art is inspired by history, the news, documentaries and movies. He aims to create partly humorous and partly critical stories that are easy to understand through his photographic art work and leaves the interpretation up to the viewer.

"Photos are like pieces of a puzzle for me; I join them together and get
a big picture with a great story of my world around me."

- Finalist announcement on Rise Art in August 2010
- 2nd winner of German EISA Maestro Photo Award 2008 with 7 photo compositions on the subject of 'Global Warming' & mentioned in German FOTO MAGAZIN, June 2008
- Special award for b/w-photography at the photo contest 'Legendary' (days of music festivals 2008 in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany)
- 'five 4 select tour 2008' group exhibition in Germany
- 'Together Forever' street photograph selected for publication on makehistory.eu by LEE JEANS in 2008
- Jury's preselection of photograph 'forgotten child' at ONE Award sponsored by Pilsner Urquell & searching for 'The new talent of the year 2008' for the theme 'street photography'
- Favourite artist of London-based art critic Katarina Horrox on Saatchi Online "Top Ten" in August 2007
- 'Relax' street photograph wins eight place at PPL Award 2007

http://www.riseart.com/

KATE SCULLY

2012-01-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

Kate is a trained artist with fifteen years experience. Her style is a mixture of acrylic and pastel pencils which give a unique and textured image to create a feeling of movement.

Kate generally paints from photographs when undertaking commissions, but likes to spend some time with her subjects first, in order to further understand and capture some of their personality and characteristics.

Children working in India 1 and 2 are of children working in a village called Bihar in India which is in one of the poorest states in India.

One face, a thousand words is of a boy working in Sikkim in North east India

African boy is of a boy my husband and I met in a township South Africa.

http://www.katescully.co.uk/

One face, a thousand words

African Boy

Children Working in India I

Children working in India II

BEN HUGHES

2012-01-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Ko Lanta Sunset

Ben Hughes is a self taught landscape and portrait artist. Predominantly painting in oils, he has exhibited widely across the south of England and is a member of the Bath Society of Artists.

His prizes include the Davison Award from the Royal Society of British Artists and the Best Emerging Artist Prize and Viewers Choice Award from the Royal West of England Academy. His work is included in numerous private collections including that of Standard Chartered Bank and in 2006 he was selected by the National Trust for their Contemporary British Artists cards.

http://www.benhughesart.co.uk/

Bangkok Highway

Car Ferry, Thailand

CAROL PEACE

2012-01-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

The Conversation

Carol Peace studied sculpture at Winchester School of Art and drawing at The Prince’s Drawing School. She has obtained numerous commissions both public and private and solo shows in London, Athens, Zurich, France, Spain and Holland. In 2007 she co-founded the Bristol Drawing School and is currently the artistic director there.

She is a sculptor who could not work without drawing. The process of drawing, that intuitive response, is what she aims for in her work. While some of the sculptures are layered with meaning, a direct and honest response is often present. She sculpts in clay, which like charcoal is quick to make marks with, once finished it is cast into resin or bronze when those fluid marks of the making are then fixed

Couple looking right

"Carol Peace’s figures inhabit an inner world of self-reflection. She derives her knowledge of the human body from detailed life drawings but when she models them in clay the figures come from her imagination reaching beyond mere depiction. With their delicately balanced forms and rock like plinths they invite the viewer to mediate on the human condition, the step from adolescence to adult hood or the vulnerability of a mother and child."Elspeth Moncrieff 2007

http://www.carolpeace.com/

Couple looking forward

Docket

Reading

2011-09-21T04:23:00.000-07:00