Can I get some Diggs please? h...

Can I get some Diggs please? http://is.gd/aVAH

Gardner’s Auction Gallery in London

I have just paid a visit to my friend Grant Gardner of Gardner’s Auction Gallery in London.  Actually Gardner’s is just a five minute walk away. I was picking up my Via Rail tickets at the train station (across the street from Gardiner’s) for a trip to Toronto tomorrow and thought I would stop in.  I knew that Grant was handling the sale of the Dow Chemical Corporation’s Canadian Art Collection and I was dying to see it.

The sale is not until Sunday March 1st 2009 but the work is already there.  It is going to be quite exciting.  There is a wonderful by William Kurelek that was commissioned by Dow Chemical for their Christmas Card in1971. There is also a wonderful piece by George Franklin Arbuckle.  The most exciting aspect of the sale is, not only is it all Canadian, it has never really been seen outside the corporate offices of Dow Chemical.  This is a classic example of social entrepreneurship whereby a major company put their money where their walls were. They supported Canadian Art which of course is an area dear to my heart as we are the largest Canadian ceramic gallery in the country I have a vested interest in the support of Canadian artists.

I think that another aspect of this auction and sale of Canadian Art is that much of it is accessible to the collector of modest means.  Yes, there will be paintings that are going to fetch exciting prices. (The William Kurelek and George Franklin Arbuckle being two of them) There will also be paintings of a modest price for novice collectors as well. It is interesting to see a collection like this as it is, though corporate, at the same time very personal.  They supported Canadian artists exclusively and I think that is pretty cool.

This collection is an example of corporate stewardship at its best.  They bought the work thus supporting Canadian artists and now, for whatever reason, are seeing it go to another generation of collectors.

The collection is now on line and can be viewed at http://www.gardnergalleries.com/

As I said I am very excited about this auction and you should be too.  The London Delta Armouries gives me a great rate for my out of town guests and I have decided to extend it to anyone arriving on Saturday for the Sunday Auction.  Give yourself a nice treat, come to London, take Via, stay at the Delta and, by all means visit our gallery too! There is also a wonderful Innuit Art Gallery just around the corner from me.  Want good food? There are some awesome restaurants around me as well. Want some suggestions? Email me and I’ll make some recommendations.

Speaking of Inuit Art and corporate stewardship, here is a great example.  There are some incredible prints from Ellesmere Island that were given to The Dow Chemical Company in appreciation for a major donation to the community to build a hospital.

If you want more details of this great auction email Grant directly and tell him Jonathon sent you! info@gardart.com use Grant’s name in the subject line.

What does Canadian Art mean to...

What does Canadian Art mean to you?

Check out the Biz section of t...

Check out the Biz section of the LFP - great story about downtown London Businesses. We are in there!

Check out our new videos page ...

Check out our new videos page at http://www.jonathons.ca

Have you joined our VIP yet? G...

Have you joined our VIP yet? Get the inside scoope about artists, view work before the public and so much more: http://www.jonathons.ca

Retweeting @bluewavemedia: Wis...

Retweeting @bluewavemedia: Wish I thought of this :) http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/

Check out our New Video Sectio...

Check out our New Video Section: http://is.gd/9VtK

We would love to hear your tho...

We would love to hear your thoughts, feedback and comments about Jonathons, the exhibits or whatever at http://is.gd/9oGA

Did you enjoy the Open Sky Event?

Were you one the amazing people that joined us on November 27th, 2008 for the "Open Sky" Opening for Jamie Jardine? If so we would love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Share your Comments

We would love to hear your thoughts feedback and ideas - write them here and share them with the world.

Check out Jonathons New Online...

Check out Jonathons New Online Forum: http://www.jonathons.ca/gallery/lounge/forum/

Jonathon's Thoughts

The new website is now up and running.  Be prepared for the appearance of new work as it arrives.  The site is the creative brainchild of Kimberly at Blue Wave Media.  I just explained what I wanted the site to achieve and “Presto!” it was done.  Of course “Presto!” did happen to involve an incredible amount of work, long and arduous hours and was only a huge success because of the years of experience Kimberly brought to the project.

Brian and I are very excited about the site and the easy maintenance aspect of it that will enable us to keep it current.  So watch for lots of information on the artists and images of new work as it appears in the gallery.  Actually the new paintings by Daniel Colby arrived on Friday and were on the site within hours.

You can expect to see Jamie’s “Open Sky” paintings on the site within the next couple of days.   We are just waiting for them to arrive back from the framer.  David and Olga Guthrie (my framers for almost twenty years) have been working overtime to get everything ready.

I just got back for a whirlwind weekend in Montreal where I picked up new work by Marko Savard, Vera Vicente and Renee Gagnon.  It was nice getting back to London to see the shop completely revamped.  Brian and Mary-Catherine (our latest addition to the team) had ripped the place apart and put in back together.  This was a direct result of our recent acquisition of an incredible display unit that we got from Jensen’s.  Regrettably the family decided to close their store which was the only place to go if one wanted to see and acquire the best in Scandinavian design.  A conversation with Pia, the owner, was the catalyst for the acquisition of an incredible unit designed for their shop over 50 years ago.  I am sure it comes with good vibes!!

There are so many things happening in the gallery that I could probably ramble on for pages but I think that this is a nice snippet.  I would like to mention that Brian’s teapot show “No Drips Allowed” already has almost 50 artists committed.  It is going to be fantastic. It will be a true celebration of the functional with the teapot as star.

Christmas Window Contest

The downtown windows are dressed up for the holidays! Vote for your favourite holiday window online between November 15th and November 30th and you could win $100 downtown dollars! Vote for Jonathons Here

Review by Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design

From: NSCCD - Susan McAlpine Foshay
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 4:12 PM
To: 'Jonathon Bancroft-Snell'
Subject: good karma

Dear Jonathon,

Congratulations to you and all the artists in Celebration.  You are to be commended for your insights and perseverance in promoting clay and clay artists and, now, for adding metal and Canada’s best metal artists to your coterie.  You continue to effect change in the landscape of collecting in Canada.  You are making a difference.  Thank you.

All the best,
Susan

Susan MacAlpine Foshay, Director
Nova Scotia Centre for Craft and Design
Mary E. Black Gallery
1061 Marginal Road
Halifax, Nova Scotia   B3H 4P6
902-492-2523
susan@craft-design.ns.ca
www.craft-design.ns.ca

Opening for Open Sky

Information: Jamie Jardine’s latest collection of work is based on a June visit to Regina Saskatchewan in June 2008

Opening Reception Thursday November 27th at 7PM Artist in attendance

It is our pleasure to bring to you Jamie Jardine’s exhibition Open Sky.

This exhibition is a result of Jamie’s trip this year to Regina, Sask. In the eight years since Jamie graduated from Fanshawe College there have been a number of exhibitions that have resulted from trips Jamie has taken. The present exhibition celebrates the wide open skies of the prairies and I think you will find it a particularly exciting exhibition.

It is always a pleasure to see the Canadian landscape rendered by a talented artist such as Jamie. “Open Sky” is as successful in depicting the majesty of the prairies as “Boreal Experience” was in capturing the essence of Ontario’s boreal forest. Many of you are already familiar with Jamie’s work and you won’t be disappointed with ‘Open Sky”. For those of you who will be experiencing Jamie’s work for the first time you are in for a treat.

In other gallery news we would like to mention that interest in the newly launched silver room has been a huge success. Over five hundred people attended the opening nights and there has been a steady stream of visitors coming to the gallery to check it out. Fifteen of the twenty-one artists who participated in “Celebration” attended the opening. It was a great time.

We hope that you will take some time to visit our new website. In the first week that it was online it received 65,000 hits. It is going to be interesting to see what happens when all the artists’ work is uploaded to the site.

In closing we would like to thank Mark Mohan of Century 21 for his support as this year’s sponsor of “Open Sky”.

With warm regards

Jonathon & Brian

Show Dates: November 27th through December 13th
Open: Monday to Saturday 10AM until 6PM
Sunday noon until 5PM
For information: 519-434-5443 or 866-229-5244 Or contact us by email

JONATHON’S GALLERY - by SMARTSNOBS

Jonathon and Brian would like to extend a very warm thank you to Smartsnobs™ for the wonderful article on your site at your site. I would definitely suggest that people visit your site for a veritable buffet of tips and resources. I have included a quote of the online article and give full credit to Smartsnobs™.

If you remember my June /07 blog about this fabulous gallery you will know how impressed I was with this unique place.  If you are a more recent reader, type in ‘Jonathons’ in the search box on my main page to read my other review.

Jonathon Bancroft-Snell is the mastermind behind this very impressive spot which can boast being the largest ceramic gallery in Canada, as well as featuring flat art by emerging artists and metal art as well. With artists such as Harlan House you know he has the best of the best.

Until Nov. 22nd, Lois Etherington-Betteridge CM, RCA will be featured as well as the work of 21 of Canada’s leading precious metal artists - a not to be missed exhibition.

Visit www.jonathons.ca for a look at his newly renovated website and to get up-to-date info on all artists, exhibitions etc.  Located at 258 Dundas St., London, Ontario - drop in, have a glass of wine, watch out for the spitting koi fish and please don’t step on the wandering bird!  Tell Jonathon that Smartsnobs™ sent you and he may even give you a second glass of wine.

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-13

• Check out our new web site and join in the conversation http://www.jonathons.ca #


• Celebration is on November 6th through November 22nd - visit http://www.jonathons.ca/ #


• Open Sky" Opening Reception Thursday November 27th at 7PM Artist in attendance - http://www.jonathons.ca/ #

Open Sky" Opening Reception Th...

Open Sky" Opening Reception Thursday November 27th at 7PM Artist in attendance - http://www.jonathons.ca/

Celebration is on November 6th...

Celebration is on November 6th through November 22nd - visit http://www.jonathons.ca/

Check out our new web site and...

Check out our new web site and join in the conversation http://www.jonathons.ca

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-12

• Largest Canadian Ceramic Gallery in the country feat. Canada's leading ceramic artists - also flat art by emerging artists. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-11-11

• Thank you to everyone attended "Celebration" on Nov 6th - Happy Birthday Lois! #


• Check out our new web site at http://www.jonathons.ca/ #


• Visit us on Nov 27th at 7 pm for Open Sky - 258 Dundas Street London jonathons.ca #

Largest Canadian Ceramic Galle...

Largest Canadian Ceramic Gallery in the country feat. Canada's leading ceramic artists - also flat art by emerging artists.

Visit us on Nov 27th at 7 pm

Visit us on Nov 27th at 7 pm for Open Sky - 258 Dundas Street London jonathons.ca

You must visit Jonathons!

"Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery in London, Ontario, is like no other I have been to.
It is filled with work from the top Canadian Ceramic Artists from across Canada.
I am always inspired every time I visit, and try to get there as often as I can.
Exhibition openings are not to be missed!

Yesterday a new shipment of my thin bowls arrived there, just in time for the holidays. My new satin turquoise and bronze-glazed pieces have been very popular. I am very pleased with my new matte charcoal pierced bowls with red accents. (See above photo)
Trust me...you want to see this place!"

Shane Norrie - visit his site here

“Celebration”

November 6th through November 22nd

Featuring Lois Etherington-Betteridge CM, RCA.  This show will feature the work of 21 of Canada’s leading precious metal artists.

Many of the artists will be attending from all over Canada to honour one Canada’s leading metal artist on her eightieth birthday. Many of the participating artists will be attending. Watch our website for updates!

Opening Reception: Thursday November 6th at 7PM

“Celebration” is tribute to Lois Etherington Betteridge CM, RCA and recognition of her lifetime dedication to the arts.  It is also a birthday party.  Birthday parties are celebrations and “Celebration” is an incredible birthday party. Among the guests are some of the finest metal artists creating in Canada today The result is an extraordinary exhibition of metal art that has not occurred in Canada for a very long time.

It is my pleasure to be hosting “Celebration” in honour of Lois’ eightieth birthday.  It would be easy to turn this statement into a litany of Lois’ awards and achievements during her long and productive career as one of the 20th century’s most illustrious metal artists. Suffice it to say the achievements are extraordinary and the awards are numerous. These alone would certainly have provided ample reason for hosting an exhibition however this exhibition is not merely a tribute to excellence but a testament to an incredible woman. She is a woman who, as an artist, has impacted on the lives of many artists nationally and internationally.

The artists participating in this exhibition represent some of the finest talents in Canada today.  Their work is the personification of imagination, innovation and creative excellence.  They hail from all over Canada and each has a personal link with Lois. Many of them participated in the exhibition “Tribute” that took place in The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 2000. Their commitment to participate is further testament to an incredible woman.

I am honoured to be hosting “Celebration”

There is nothing I can add other than:

“Happy Birthday Lois”

Jonathon & Brian

Show Dates: November 6th through November 22nd
Open: Monday to Saturday 10AM until 6PM

“Celebration”
Featuring: Lois Etherington Betteridge

Opening Night

Thursday, November 6th, 2008 :: From 7PM

For information: 519-434-5443 or 866-229-5244
Or jonathon@jonathons.ca
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED :: RSVP

Welcome to our new site

We have completely renovated our web site - to bring you a better experience online, with great resources, photo galleries, The Lounge (VIP membership area), interactive media, up-to-the moment news and so much more. We are presently working on adding the content in our artists area, so keep checking back for more updates.

Thank you for visiting and we welcome you feedback and suggestion

Jonathon

Hola Cuba

Today is the opening of "Hola Cuba" with paintings by Scott Woods. The show is hung and looks great. Brian has done an excellent job in hanging the show and displaying the latest Canadian ceramics to have arrived this summer.

The exhibition got a nice boost last night with a little story on Rogers television. The producer Drew, as usual, did a super job. The work by Maurice Savoie looked incredible on the screen.

Speaking of Maurice, I should me.....

Featured in Vantage Magazine

Vantage, a luxury lifestyle magazine, profiles outstanding Canadian entrepreneurs and celebrities and the charitable work they do.
Jonathon is featured in the new issue, which will be available at better magazine stores everywhere, as well as at charitable events throughout the year.