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Since childhood I have been drawn to art. My early training was in Abstract Expressionism, but as I grew older I came to appreciate the more solid foundation of the traditional. My challenge today is to build on tradition with a nod toward the impressionistic style with its emphasis on light and color and shimmering quality suggesting mystery. I am influenced by the old masters and artists such as Turner, Sargent, Sorolla and the French and American impressionists.
I work in landscape, figure and (the best wine for last) liturgical and devotional art. As a Catholic convert I am continually amazed at the rich storehouse of sacred/religious art over the centuries and the rich heritage of sacred symbols.
The object of liturgical art is to serve the public liturgy by inspiring a sense of the sacred through transcendent beauty. It may also inspire devotion and contemplative prayer which enriches the life of the community and the individual. Although distinct, yet connected, both are needed. Liturgical art helps define, preserve and reflect on a rich 2,000 year history of symbols along with a vast storehouse of images which helps us to stay rooted in tradition with some freedom to be innovative in our own time in terms of style.
I feel that we need a renewal of the arts in a culture where we are bombarded by so much negative visual stimuli and distractions. Simone Weil once said that the two things which most move the human soul are beauty and affliction. I find that art and particularly sacred/religious art helps in getting beyond ourselves through an ethic of creativity which views reality through the lens of the Cross and Resurrection. I believe that the ethics of creativeness for the common good, is prophetic and is social in import. I hope the style of impressionism will impart a sense of beauty and mystery in helping to lay hold of a new springtime of faith initiated by Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. Remembering the words of St. Augustine, “Beauty ever ancient, ever new” bids us to the Banquet Table to eat and drink and be healed and set free to love and serve and work and play and rest in the outskirts of the New Jerusalem.
Spiritual Life, Faith Formation, Art and Environment Committees – St. Leo Catholic Church in Murray, KY
Christ and Creativity – Fr. Noel Mueller, OSB
Praying the Bible: Lectio Divina - Br. Zachary Wilberding, OSB.
Kentucky Arts Council Access Grant, On Spirituality and Healing, Murray and Calloway County,
Endowment for Health Care, w/Keith Travis, Vice President of Development.