Artist JohnThornhill lives and works in Coventry but has international appeal as he lived and studied art in New York.
| |  | Paradisio by John Thornhill
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His time in America has influenced his works, which are often large and abstract paintings. He is currently working with Renaissance religious art and counts Coventry Cathedral amongst his inspirations.
Online gallery
Click the images button below to see an online gallery of some of John's recent work.
Divine inspiration
| |  | The Virgin and Child by John Thornhill
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John combines his own style of figure painting with the stylised devotional imagery of this period and iconic traditions of the East.
He has examined themes of colour and light through abstracts, working with heavy layers of paint, texture and inset beading. He has also taken steps to recapture the traditions of early Renaissance painting and the theme of rediscovering humanity.
He quotes mediaeval studies as a strong influence. One of his favourites is by the monk and scholar Abbot Suger. This monk presided over the flowering Gothic art and architecture, like Notre Dame, in 12th Century France.
The power of colour
| |  | Sancta Maria Magdalena by John Thornhill
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A recurrent theme in his writings is the mystical power of colour and light through stained glass and precious stones, and their ability to raise the hearts and minds of people to contemplate the beauty of heaven.
For example he said: "The loveliness of the many coloured gems has called me away from external cares and worthy meditation has induced me to reflect on the diversity of the sacred virtues: then it seems to me that I see myself dwelling in some strange region of the universe which neither exists in the earth nor the purity of heaven."
Coventry Cathedral
| |  | Blue Sentinel by John Thornhill
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John paints both abstract and figurative pictures. One of his abstracts, Blue Sentinel, was inspired by Coventry Cathedral. It attempts to describe in light and colour the power religious buildings can contain.
He also uses abstract painting to explore less concrete ideas, like the meaning of 'vision' with paintings like Scivias that touch upon the luminosity of a heavenly vision.
The subject matter of many of the paintings is rooted in devotional and literary medieval tradition. John makes frequent use of the image of the Virgin Mary, an earthly mother and a queen of heaven.
John describes his work as a celebration of light and colour which also brings back to the modern observer the distant world of the Middle Ages and the mysteries of the 'otherworldy'.
New work
| |  | Sister Wendy Beckett
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We have just received an update from John, who has made a considerable number of new paintings.
Click the images button above to see the new pictures, which develop his religious interests as well as considering wider social issues of race, representation and sexuality.
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