Last year I decided to take a new direction with my favorite theme of angels and incorporate them more into scenes of a narrative instead of just portraits. I worked very slowly on my last angel painting that took several months of work, only minutes at a time.
Original acrylic Grisaille and then color progress on the painting
One of my personal goals for this year is to greatly increase my production or art, and I have finished my latest piece in only about a month.
Research and Prep
This is again a very large canvas that spreads 3 feet by 4 feet. It requires plenty of paint and patience to work on such a large canvas in a slow drying medium. This piece required several weeks of research on the details I wanted to include in this painting to ensure it can communicate my inspiration.
My research also included a visit to a temporary exhibit featuring Marian images, “Painting the Divine: Images of Mary in the New World,” while on a trip in Santa Fe, NM.
It was an impressive collection that highlights some beautiful stories about the Virgin Mary as painted in many Spanish colonial areas of the Americas.
This collection was based off a book published by FrescoBooks, but the title bothered me. I love Our Lady, and have a deep and personal devotion to her. However, I am bothered by inaccuracies about how we speak of her. She is not divine because she was also created by God, and words like that can easily confuse those that do not know or understand what the Catholic Church believes.
Theme – Assumption of Mary
The Assumption is one of my favorite dogmas in the Catholic Church because we see it as a hope of what we can expect at the end of time when our bodies will also be resurrected to their glorified state.
We believe that after the completion of her life, Mary was Assumed into heaven body and soul. Unlike Jesus that had the power and authority to Ascend by His own power, Mary was raised by God.
God often uses His holy angels to carry out His work on earth, and I am sure they were greatly involved in her Glorious Assumption. I imagine this scene full of angels lifting Mary as heaven opens up to receive the Queen of Heaven.
On Display
This painting was selected to be on display at the Pastoral Center Religious Art Gallery from February 27 – August 28, 2015. Visitors to the Diocesan Pastoral Center will be able to view it, and it will be on sale at the end of the exhibit.
Pastoral Center for the Diocese of Austin
6225 US Highway 290E, Austin,TX
Angels and the Glorious Assumption 36×48″ Oil on Canvas
I shared a lot of this process on my Instagram, and it was great to hear encouragement as I progressed. I plan on doing this more in the coming projects, and hope to be able to share more of the creative process.
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