 "THE INCARNATION" 16 x 20" Oil on Canvas THE INCARNATION is the great event where Christ entered into our humanity. Mary's blue in her robe and her halo represents her humanity. Christ's red in His halo represents His divinity, as Mary's red clothing symbolizes a share of her divinity in Christ. The brown background symbolizes the earthly existence of both Christ and Mary. WELCOME to my first blog. Many of you have known me for a long time because I’ve shared my art with you throughout the years as you walked alongside in support of my endeavors. I am grateful to you for walking this journey with me because, without your support and appreciation, I would not be able to continue doing what I love. Creating art is extremely fulfilling for me. And what’s even more fulfilling, is sharing my created work with others. The purpose of art, especially Christian art, is to move the soul and to bring the viewer beyond to something greater than themselves. So beautiful art should be received and for this reason art, if true, good, and beautiful, must be shared. Throughout the years I shared much of my soul through the expression of art. This is very personal and at times extremely vulnerable. An artist’s soul can be sensitive and many times, as artists, we put our hearts out in trust if we believe deeply in what we are creating. Although I am still working a day job (not quite at the age of retirement!), I am continuing to pursue my love of art but in a more meaningful and serious way. I am ready to step it up, so to say, setting myself on a more focused path. Before I explain, let me back up a bit. As many of you probably realize, I developed a love of beauty and art from a very early age. I often found myself deep in thought, contemplating life and pondering the questions of why and how I was here and why I existed. I was attracted to all that was true, good, and beautiful. I experienced a deepness – a yearning that I could never quite understand. As I grew older, I continued to express myself through various mediums and expressions of art and finished college with a concentration in Fine Art, simply for the love of it. While raising my four children, I dabbled in and out of various mediums, crafts, etc. but never fully engaged myself due to the hectic schedule of taking care of a large family. But in 2005, I was fortunate to go on a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, Italy with my local parish, along with 48 pilgrims. Believe it or not, it was the first time I traveled alone without my husband and children after many years! While in Rome I was submerged in beautiful sacred art. I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the paintings of the Old Master’s I had studied back in my college years. I felt as though I had died and gone to heaven. Reflecting on that time, I realize now that God was setting me on the path He wanted for me even back then! In the Spirit of the Liturgy, Pope Benedict XVI speaks about three main figurative styles of art that the Catholic church emphasizes as examples of true liturgical tradition. These styles are the Iconographic, the Gothic and the Baroque (more on these styles in future blogs). Experiencing these magnificent pieces of works in person was like an explosion of beauty! The graces received were so numerous that I am still receiving them to this day. Fast forward to the year 2022 and here I am many years later continuing the pursuit of art. As many of you are aware, I created numerous pieces of religious works over the years, a few even for churches, which I am humbly grateful for. Though I was fulfilled in my expression of what I called “religious art”, I still felt something was missing, but could not pinpoint exactly what it was. I didn’t seem to have a set path that I could confidently follow. I was searching for something I knew God was calling me to, but God was not yet ready to reveal. I was busy raising children, focusing on the needs of my family, and supporting my husband as he studied to become a deacon. My focus was on my vocation as wife and mother, yet deep down I knew God was calling me to another vocation within my vocation. Through a very moving and meaningful experience this past year, I was blessed to learn about the Theology of the Body through the TOB International Symposia (https://www.tobinternationalsymposia.com/). The Theology of the Body is Pope John Paul II’s text divided into a compilation of 129 Wednesday audiences presented during the years of 1979 to 1984. The basic principle and meaning of the Theology of the Body is John Paul’s teaching of an adequate anthropology, of what it means to be human and how to live a life that will bring true happiness. It is basically an in-depth study of the meaning of life. This experience profoundly touched my life and tapped deep into my heart. It’s as if I heard God speaking to me saying that He was ready to reveal what I have been long since yearning for. The TOB International Symposia led me to finding the Master of Sacred Arts – The Theology of the Body and the New Evangelization program through Pontifex University. I entered this program this past May and will be pursuing a Master of Sacred Arts degree over the next few years. God is showing me a path for the opportunity to go deeper in my life, particularly through my art and through gaining a knowledge of sacred art and theology. I discovered that this was the missing piece. To have the opportunity in gaining the knowledge of our beautiful Catholic faith and to have an academic, and a very spiritual understanding of Theology, particularly Pope John Paul II’s teaching of the Theology of the Body, will profoundly impact how I create sacred art moving forward. This program is the bridge connecting my love for the Catholic faith and my love for beauty and art. You cannot have Truth without beauty and beauty without Truth. This desire to follow the path of via pulchritudinis (the Way of Beauty) is what I believe God is calling me too. You may be wondering, what is the purpose of this blog? My hope is to share with you some of the beautiful teachings from this Master of Sacred Arts program. I wish to journey together in discovering what beauty and Truth are and how we can come to recognize beauty more often in our lives. I hope to learn and share how we can understand how our faith shapes our ideas of beauty and show how strongly they are connected. I invite you to walk with me on this journey and along the way, I wish to create more beautiful art. My efforts will be focused on Sacred and Devotional art, but I also desire to continue to create mundane art (art that is not meant for the liturgy). Art, whether it be sacred, devotional, or mundane; if true, good, and beautiful can touch the heart and lead us to God. The above painting, "The Incarnation", is my latest creation. I feel very strongly that our Lady wanted this painting right at this time. It's only within the last few weeks that the idea came to mind to paint her, and for me, it is very rare for a painting to come together this easily in this quick amount of time, having the final brush strokes completed on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. No accident! As I gaze upon Our Lady, I can't help but ponder what she felt in her heart when she held the baby Jesus in her arms. At the Annunciation when Mary gave her great "YES" to the angel Gabriel, she didn't know how the story would end. She didn't understand the great mystery unfolding before her. We too don't know what direction our lives will take when we say "yes" to the Lord. This takes great trust and humility to give our lives over and for me, I often do this kicking and screaming! But truly there has never been a time when the Lord has disappointed. My "yes" to God in following Him as I take this huge leap of faith in the Master's program is honestly very scary, and I've had a few times of true doubt, but as I come back to prayer and ask God to show me the way, He always seems to point me back in this same direction. My choices are either, ignore what God is calling me to do, or simply just do it! This time around, I'm choosing the latter and so far it's been a wild ride full of exciting experiences. During this Advent season as I reflect on the meaning of that great night when Christ entered into our humanity, I am in complete awe that He did this out of pure love. He loved me so much to make himself as small as me. And He did this for each and every one of us. This is certainly someone we can trust with our lives each and every day. I am truly grateful for all the blessings in my life and for all of you who have touched my life in any way, great or small. I wish you a beautiful and reflective remaining Advent Season and a very Merry Christmas filled with abundant blessings. *Please contact me if you are interested in joining the mailing list for future blogs and I will add your email! *If you are interested in my new painting, "The Incarnation", I have prints in sizes 8 x 10" and 11 x 14", and prayer cards available for purchase. See my "Products and Services Page" and please contact me for your order.
2 Comments
Diane Scoffone
12/13/2022 08:48:18 am
Bless you for sharing your journey and your insights, Sharon.
Susan Corner
1/18/2023 07:05:59 am
I love reading your reflections! Leave a Reply. |
Sharon ClossickThrough Sharon's art and writings, she hopes, in participation with other artists, to bring the beauty of the gospel and liturgical tradition back to the culture in a new way. Archives
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