Ben Jamie - Fine Artist / Photographer
Ben is an artist working in the East End of London. As a member of St. Mary's and Artisan, he has been looking for a deeper connection between his craft and God and fellow artists in the city. Instead of waiting for someone to invite him to the perfect scenario, he decided to just create something. He invited a few creative friends to meet once a month and talk about God and their art. The agenda is set by the group and their priorities which includes discussions, scriptures, prayer and making stuff together. Sounds pretty simple, but add a few years to this and the result will be some fantastic collaboration.
Going deeper seems to be the same vibe around the world. I'm seeing similar things in various cities, especially amongst the artist communities. Maybe it's because they have been largely ignored by the church and tend to be a little introverted or really tight knit groups. In any case, they are stepping out of both boxes and taking initiative for their fellowship and their relationship between God and their work.
As an amazing portrait artist, Ben has been forging deeper into his own creativity with a new kind of expression. Traveling to Africa recently, he bought back a series of concepts that bridges run down urban with flourishing nature combinations and contrasts. Kinda like E.O. Wilson's prediction that if humans disappeared, in 50 years all of life on earth would flourish. But there's much more to this new work and it highlights Ben's growing connection with his real potential. God is central to this growth and the discovery is going to get real interesting. Check out his site at: http://www.benjamie.com/
