Walls of Reflection - Christine Johnson

Opening Reception:
Saturday October 29
7-9 pm

On the walls where CJArtwork hangs, you are greeted with truthful portraits and dream-like landscapes.
Her passion for custom portraits of children, family and pets is merely the beginning of what her pencil tends to capture on paper.









With impeccable detail, Christine's pencil crayon tells a story of emotion, love and animals majestic beauty. Her work greets you with luxury, inspiration and incredible details of realism.




With a range of natures beautiful flowers and trees, to the great powerful animals of Africa, iconic musicians, having a one of a kind piece by Christine Johnson hanging on your wall, illuminates a gorgeous reflection.








Seeing this show is an absolute must.

Show runs from October 26 to November 19, 2016 at the Art Gallery of Lambeth.

Patterns of Behaviour - John Koyounian

In An Attempt To Be Free

September 28 - October 22, 2016

Opening Reception:  

September 29th, 7-9 pm

What initially started as form of meditation quickly evolved into a creative body of work that is both narrative and totemic in its appearance.  

I was trying to stretch my creativity using an almost random subconscious approach.  I would react in an almost intuitive manner to a series of lines that would be the foundation of the artwork. 


So much of my work has always had a narrative underpinning and that is something that is a constant platform from which much of my works are derived. The images are still very much snapshots of a moment that the viewer is a witness to. I hope the work is engaging and the viewer gets lost both in the patterns and at the same time connect with the narrative elements of these works.

Each line/shape dictated the evolution of the image. It was as if the lines themselves revealed the image that was hidden on the surface of the page.

Kiss

Pledge

The development of patterned forms encircling the figures is an approach that allowed me to break out of the traditional approach to a narrative. The gestural lines/forms in many ways also are reflective of urban graffiti. There is no horizon line or sense of space in a traditional manner, yet there is still a sense of perspective/depth in the imagery. Shapes intertwine with the figures and create a frame that is both decorative and at times symbolic. Familiar objects that have become motifs in my approach once again manifest themselves in this new body of work. 

Although this approach to the creative process is somewhat new for me it is very much in keeping with much of my concerns and reflective of the visual language that has dominated much of my career as a practicing artist.

Meditative Musings; Current Approaches to the Creative Process - John Koyounian

What originally started as an excuse to create works in a Zen style of doodles has emerged into a new body of artwork that surpasses the original intention. John Koyounian has recently diverged from his archetypal approach to his art production from narrative works to something that at one time is a blend of both tribal and urban graffiti.

Initially the development of this new work was to make marks in a subconscious way relying on an intuitive approach rather then something that was deliberately planned. Unlike the patterning found in the trendy adult colouring books, the iconography created is less functional and at times very much a grouping of abstracted forms. John explains the process in the following manner.” I initially begin with a series of arbitrary quick line gestures/passages which are essentially pathways for the grouping of patterns.” It is during this initial line work that John grapples with the lines developed and I tries to consolidate their appearance. All the considerations of composition come into play. Repeated use of pattern and use of varied lines are introduced as a way to create a cohesive composition.  

During this process motifs are created and to some measure repeated patterns on occasion emerge in a reoccurring method. However what initially was designed to step away from the use of the figure has become a momentary pause because much of his work is so steeped in the figure, the introduction of the human form reappearing is an understandable place in which this work has settled at least for now.

You can view more of John Koyounian's work at the Art Gallery of Lambeth.

Arts and Culture in your Community - London Studio Tour 2016

The London Studio Tour has been active in London for 23 years and has been a huge contributor to the arts and culture in our city. The Tour was first created in 1993 to feature the artists’ and the talent that live within our City and our communities. 

One weekend every year the artists of London graciously open their homes and studios to the general public to share their world and reveal the mythical process in which their art is produced. This is a one-of-a kind experience that breaks the barrier between a finished piece of art that you may find hanging in a gallery and the actually procedure in which the art was created. 

This year the event will be held April 15^th -17^th where London residents are all welcome to take part in this free 3-day event.

In Lovely Lambeth we have so much culture and art to celebrate in our community.  This year, the London Studio Tour will be showcasing Lambeth artist, Vivian Tserotas.  Vivian is an award winning textile artist, teacher,  and owner of the Art Gallery of Lambeth.  She has been participating in the London Studio Tour for the past eight years in Lambeth and is dedicated to promoting the arts and culture in our community. Tserotas’ art works look like paintings but with a closer look you see the swirls of flowing stitches that decorate layers of translucent material.  Silk and velvet is her canvas, her sewing machine her paintbrush while her thread will add the final touches to her vibrant jewel-toned one-of-a-kind works of art.  Vivian will be exhibiting her most recent textile arts, fused glass, felted works and jewelry.  The studio will have some interactive station set up for participants to view, learn and try creating with the different mediums. Vivian will be showing at the Art Gallery of Lambeth to share her art process and greet everyone who participates in this exhilarating event.

The event is free of charge and a great experience for all members of the family to learn and explore the real world of art straight from the production room!  This is an event you do not want to miss so take the week end off and visit all the artists on the tour. 

Many of the other studios on the tour will also be offer beverages, snacks and some are also offering a chance for you to try your hand at art production.  This year, the Studio Tour is presenting the largest number of artists and studios in a 23-year history!  A total of 33 studios will be open for this eagerly-anticipated event on London’s cultural calendar. 

To receive a Brochure or list of participating artists, please visit the Art Gallery of Lambeth, 2454 Main Street, or visit the online London Studio Tour website, at www.londonstudiotour.ca.

Elisabeth Hoffmann, Resident Artist and Instructor

The AGL would like to introduce one of its newest Resident Artists and Instructor to join us for 2016. 

Elisabeth actually became part of our AGL Family in November of 2015 as an Instructor.  We loved her work so much that we invited her to become one of our amazing Resident Artists.

Elisabeth Hoffmann was born in Germany and immigrated to Canada with her parents and three younger sisters in 1967.  She grew up surrounded by art and music.  Her father is an accomplished artist who has painted throughout his entire life and who successfully continues his craft today.  All of her siblings are connected to the art world through interior design, graphic art, architecture and painting.  


A lawyer by trade, Elisabeth stayed home to raise her three sons after her youngest was born.  As her children got older, she pursued various artistic interests including interior decorating and, occasionally, painting.  She struggled to find her groove but it wasn't until a move to the country and its consequent embedment in nature that Elisabeth found her passion and talent for the abstract.  She embraced the fine art of acrylic painting with vengeance and purpose.  


A further move in 2013, enabled Elisabeth to continue to hone her craft surrounded by the beauty of the nature that feeds her soul.  Since early 2015, she has used an acrylic pouring medium, a product that allows the paint to flow and is thereby a perfect match for her love of intense movement and colour.  It also enables her to pour her soul, as it were, onto the canvas, a process that is immensely therapeutic and liberating.

In addition to artist, Elisabeth is an intuitive self-awareness coach.  Through her life experience and continual journey into her own self-awareness, she has come to understand that moving forward in any area of our lives starts with our most important relationship - the one we have with ourselves.  Self-awareness creates clarity and wisdom from where all else flows.  Elisabeth facilitates her clients' journeys into self-awareness by intuitively directing and helping them access and tap into the wisdom they already have available to them in their own hearts.  When we are overwhelmed or struggling or in need of direction because we don't know what to do or where to turn, her self-awareness coaching directs us to what our hearts and souls are trying to communicate to us about the potential avenues to illuminating and clarifying those dilemmas.

Watch for Elisabeth's classes coming up soon at the AGL Studio. To see more of Elisabeth’s fabulous work up close and personal, come by the Art Gallery of Lambeth.