Helen Bachmann: Catholicism and Aboriginal Spirituality inspire a rich artistic practice

Introduction

I met Helen Bachmann at the Mystery and Mission conference, in Brisbane, 28-30 September, 2023, celebrating sixty years since Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, presented jointly by the Australian Pastoral Musicians Network & the National Liturgical Council of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Continue reading “Helen Bachmann: Catholicism and Aboriginal Spirituality inspire a rich artistic practice”

“The Way of the Family” – the Reflective Way of the Cross – in the light of the Family

Artist Sue Orchison lives in country NSW just outside Canberra. Her interest in iconography spans more than 15 years. Sue can be found most days busy painting religious images in her country studio. She has work exhibited in cathedrals, churches, schools and private homes across Australia. Here she takes us behind her most recent commission, a group of 10 images depicting the Way of the Cross mounted in a chapel of the newly restored Old Cathedral of Sts Peter and Paul, Goulburn. Continue reading ““The Way of the Family” – the Reflective Way of the Cross – in the light of the Family”

Sophia – Goorambat Uniting Church, Victoria

A few months ago, a friend wrote that she had “just returned from a five-day trip to see the silo art in the Wimmera/Mallee and Northeast Victoria. Wonderful work, and such a boost to the towns that arranged for their people, fauna and flora to be presented in such a wonderful form”. What caught my attention however was the note “A highlight was a mural of Sophia in the tiny Uniting Church at Goorambat”, near Benalla and Wangaratta, Victoria.

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DAVID WRIGHT: Major Works in Australian Religious Glass

For almost half a century, David Wright has been producing glass with religious themes for sacred spaces in Australia, including sets of windows for over thirteen churches and fifteen chapels in schools or hospitals.  He was born in Melbourne in 1948 and grew up with a background in the Anglican Church.  He would eventually marry Sue, an Anglican priest.  Most of his religious work is in Anglican churches and chapels.

Continue reading “DAVID WRIGHT: Major Works in Australian Religious Glass”

LITURGICAL BANNERS: Religious Processions

The term ‘liturgical banner’ evokes for most Catholics the static seasonal decorations we see on the walls of our churches.  In the 1970s, these were often local amateur productions made by gluing felt cut-outs onto coloured hessian.  More recently they have been mass-produced by religious goods companies.  However, I would like to reflect on the liturgical banners which are carried in procession.
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ALAN SUMNER – Stained Glass

Alan Sumner mbe (1911-1994) was a painter, printmaker, teacher and stained-glass designer.  After studying at the NGV school, RMIT and the George Bell School in the early 1930s, Sumner travelled to Europe and the UK, furthering his training at the Grand Chaumière and the Courtauld Institute.  Returning to Melbourne, he took up an apprenticeship as a stained-glass designer with Brooks Robinson before becoming a designer for Yenckens.  He taught painting at the NGV school from 1947 to 1950 and spent nine years as Head of School from 1953 onward.  Meanwhile, over the course of his career he completed approximately 100 commissions for windows in Melbourne and internationally. (National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 2018). Continue reading “ALAN SUMNER – Stained Glass”