I wanted to post a few pictures from a recent commission for Holy Spirit Parish located in Evansville Indiana. Fr. Claude Burns and I began communicating last summer when I was studying Iconography at Thomas More College's Way of Beauty program. Over the course of this past year, we worked through designs, and finally settled on an image of the B.V.M. Mary's mantle envelopes a number of saints of particular devotion to the parish of Holy Spirit. These include Sts. Bernadette, Faustina, Theodore Guerin, Therese, Clare, Charles Borremeo, Benedict, Thomas Aquinas, Pio, and Juan Diego. I was able to bring in Gwyneth Holston, friend and artist from Denver Colorado, to paint alongside of me for a number of days. Our medium was acrylic paints. The stenciled background motifs created a more celestial atmosphere. Bruce, a parishoner, donated the beautiful wooden framework around the edge of the design. I decided to go with a more traditional color scheme matching the windows of the church, and Gwyneth brought in Peruvian Marian designs to inspire our halo design. I am very thankful for all the parish support. And I was blessed to have Bishop Thompson dedicate the mural, though I was unable to personally attend the ceremony.
Below is the finished product. You might catch a glimpse of the Stations of the Cross along the bottom perimeter. I was commissioned to restore them a few years ago after they were taken down from a parish closing in the diocese and underwent extensive damage in the process.
Painting Mary's halo!
My great help....Gwyneth!
When I arrived, the wall was unfinished and still in need of spackling! With the help of Gwyneth, my parents, and friends, we were able to spackle, prime, and begin the design quickly. Here is an image from the beginning stages. We were able to reach everything with a scissors lift and scaffolding. The scale of the wall ranged from approximately 30ft in height to 50ft in width. All in all, it was begun and finished in two weeks.
Soon I should be getting pictures from the Bishop's dedication! Can't wait!
A link to local diocesan article on the mural announcing Bishop's dedication:
http://www.themessageonline.org/local/2012/01-20/marian.html
Here is fellow artist Gwyneth Holston who was happy to help!
No comments:
Post a Comment