Sacramentality

Sacred Art School-- video

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sun, 03 May 2015 00:50:00 +0000

Here is a promotional video for my school in Florence that came out about a month ago:

I am so blessed for my time spent in Florence. My experiences there will always be a part of me.

Video: JPII's Letter to Artists

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 11:48:00 +0000

Artist Website

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 17:18:00 +0000

I finally got around to making an artist website. Here's the link:

http://www.shanasmithfineart.com/

Figure study in clay

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 09:47:00 +0000

Here is a clay figure study I did a few months ago. Since then I have added drapery, I'll add pictures of the finished Marian sculpture once I have them. The figure is less than half life-size.

Tempera painting: Madonna col Bambino

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 06:00:00 +0000

Here's a tempera painting I completed a while back.

Marian sculpture photos

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 18:20:00 +0000

Here are some better photos of the Marian sculpture I did a while ago. Since my last post it has been fired in the kiln.

Beato Angelico study

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 19:07:00 +0000

Here's an egg tempera study of Beato Angelico from a little while back. My friend Fernando helped me a bit with refining it.

detail:

San Giovanni Battista art show

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 21:07:00 +0000

Here are some pictures from the opening of a St. John the Baptist themed art exhibit in the days around his feast day, June 24th. Saint John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence, his feast day is marked by festivities in the city and fireworks at night. In the exhibit work from first year students, I being one of them, who have continued to do a six month tirocinio or apprenticeship in different bottegas and organizations around the city. The Cardinal of Florence was there for the opening of the show.

I did a small oil painting of St. John the Baptist (I posted a picture below) using traditional symbolic elements. I depicted him holding a banner supported by a rod which reads "Ecce Agnus Dei" or "behold the Lamb of God". This signifies the role of St. John the Baptist, he is the "voice that cries out in the desert 'Prepare the way of the Lord.'" (John 1: 23). He is wearing camel hair to signify his penitential life out in the wilderness covered by a red drapery to symbolize his martyrdom.

Pictures were taken by Alberto Macherelli, one of the apprentices.

St. Cecilia

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Fri, 02 May 2014 18:54:00 +0000

Here's a painting I completed a while back of St. Cecilia. My second painting with egg tempera.

Preparatory Drawing

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 22:21:00 +0000

Here's a drawing for an egg tempera painting I'm currently working on:

First Tempera Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:15:00 +0000

Here's my first tempera painting and it's preparatory drawing from a few months back. Now I have someone teaching me how to work with tempera, so I'm improving. I am liking tempera painting. Also in the process I am preparing my own wooden panels, which is a satisfying thing to learn. With the painting I'm currently working on I'm preparing my own paint with pigments I buy (with egg tempera it's really easy). I believe it has been valuable for me to learn how to make a painting from "scratch" in this way.

Via Crucis

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 18:00:00 +0000

For our final project of the first year of studies at my school, the students worked on different projects. I was assigned to work with my friend, Fernando, to design and create a stations of the cross, or a via crucis, in terra cotta. I designed several of the stations, helped to build up the figures, worked on the fabric, and did the letters. Fernando designed many of the stations, worked on building up the figures and brought each of the pieces up to a finished state. The stations have now been installed in the new church of Concordia Sulla Secchia, a town in northern Italy that was devastated by an earthquake. To check out some of Fernando's work you can visit his blog.

Pope Benedict on Word and Image

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 09:29:00 +0000

I just came across this today and thought it would be worth sharing. It is Pope Benedict's address at the conclusion of his Lenten retreat. In this brief address Benedict talks about the connection between word and image, through the greek word "logos":

It came to my mind that the medieval theologians translated the word “logos” not only as “verbum” (word) but also as “ars” (art): “verbum” and “ars” are interchangeable. For the medieval theologians, only in the two words together does the whole meaning of the word “logos” appear. The “Logos” is not only mathematical reason: the “Logos” has a heart, the “Logos” is love. Truth is beautiful, truth and beauty go together: beauty is the seal of truth.

You can find the translated message from Zenit here.

Or if you read Italian, here on the Vatican website you can find the original.

As an artist called to share the faith through art, this excerpt is very rich and worth further reflection. Especially interesting is the connection between the scriptures, the "word of God" and sacred art with its themes from the Bible and from Catholic tradition (tradition both with a capital "T" and lowercase "t"). Word and image are complementarity in God's revelation.

St. John's Gospel states:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

also:

"And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 (my blog url!)

Jesus is the Word of God and the true Image of the Father. Word and image in this sense are complementary and mutually illuminative, together giving a full sense of the same reality, of "logos". It is not suprising then the fruitful marriage between the scriptures and art. Many of the most powerful works of art are born from this marriage.

Marian Sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:34:00 +0000

I think this is about as finished as this sculpture of Mary I've been working on this past year in my sculpture class. Hopefully later I can get some better quality photos as all but one of these pictures is blurry. I haven't taken exact measurements but this sculpture, or study, but it is not very large. I'd say it's several inches over a foot tall.

Progress on Ecorche

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:20:00 +0000

I have made some progress these past few days adding muscles to the skeleton I've modeled. On one side of the figure I'm going to build up to the muscles you can see on the surface and on the other side I'm adding some deeper layers of muscle or muscles that are not completely visible on the surface. If you can't tell the figure is a crucifix. A great meditation on the body of Christ...bone by bone and muscle by muscle.

Some figure studies from this year.

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:06:00 +0000

As I've been in Florence I haven't been great at updating my blog. After the prolonged silence I am finally getting around to putting some work up. In this post I'm sharing some drawings from my figure drawing class this past year.

Ecorche Part 1: Skeleton

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 21:05:00 +0000

Fr. Robert Barron on Evangelizing Through Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:31:00 +0000

Studies for a Marian sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:07:00 +0000

Here are some prepratory drawings, or studies, for a Marian sculpture we are working on in one of my classes that I thought I should share:

Sono tornata a Firenze

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:47:00 +0000

I have successfully obtained by student visa (not without some difficulty from the New York Consulate, mind you) and have returned to Florence. Thanks be to God. Just thought I should briefly update my readers on my status. I have just days ago moved into my friend's apartment, here is our view of the Cathedral out of our living room window (it looks much closer and larger in real life):

Still getting settled back in, please pray for me that the process of obtaining my Permesso di Soggiorno goes smoothly and that God gives me the grace to focus and apply myself so I get the most out of this opportunity.

Sometime I need to write more in-depth about the way that God brought me here, but for now at least here's a brief update.

Brief update and a study of Zurbaran.

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:32:00 +0000

I'm currently writing from the Syracuse bus terminal on my way down to NYC. I had to come back to New York to take care of my student visa. My appointment with the Italian Consulate is tomorrow so please say a prayer that it all goes smoothly!

Here I'm posting a paint study (oil) of a Zurbaran I did as I was working to build up my portfolio for my application for the course in Italy in Sacred Art and Craft I'm enrolled in. Here is where I drew it in monochromatically (sorry that the photo is a bit blurry):

And here is the finished painting:

I basically just tried to copy what I saw. I really really admire Zurbaran's work and I believe that by copying some of his paintings I'll come to a better understanding of his style and the richness of the content of his works and hopefully apply that "absorbed" knowledge to my own original work. If I come across the painting I copied online maybe I'll post that too.

Paint Study for St. Lucy Project

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 13:43:00 +0000

I painted this a few months ago, as part of the portfolio I was preparing for my application to the course in Sacred Art and Craft in Florence I am currently enrolled in. I consider it a "rough draft" for a more finished painting I hope to do sometime. This study gives me a better idea about how the colors (and other elements) I was thinking about work together as a whole.

The photo quality is pretty blurry, but seeing as how it's not a finished painting and is painted pretty crudely I suppose that's acceptable. Any constructive feedback?

Update from Florence

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:27:00 +0000

I have only a few minutes to write this but I need to post an update that I am currently in Florence, Italy and will be starting a course on Sacred Art and Craft in a few days. I came here about week ago to join the selection from which they chose who will be participating in the course, and from which they chose who will recieve a scholarship through the Florence Chamber of Commerce. I am happy to say that I did receive the scholarhsip (and am much relieved seeing as how I came over here not knowing for sure whether I would get it and be able to participate in the course). For more information on the program I am involved in, refer to this website.

http://sas-f.com/

(Google translate is always helpful if you don't read Italian).

Please pray for me that things continue to work about and also because the course is in Italian, which I have only been studying for a month-- but there are teachers that are native English speakers). My internet access is limited here but I will update as I am able.

Emily's Consecration Trailer and Some Reflections on Consecrated Virginity, Art and the Theology of the Body

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 02:16:00 +0000

I'd like to share this beautiful short video which captures the beauty of the day my friend, Emily, recieved the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity. (Emily is the model for my St. Lucy project underway, which I have written about in a previous post).

Emily Byers Consecration Trailer from Infinite Focus Video Productions on Vimeo.

Her friend's video production company did this, and I have to say they did a fine job.

I percieve a connection between consecrated virginity and the main topics of this blog--art and Blessed Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Perhaps I can demonstrate this connection by relating each subject-- consecrated virginity, art, and the Theology of the Body to the word "sacramentality", the title of this blog.

The root of "sacramentality" is "sacrament". In the narrowest sense of the term, a sacrament is one of the seven sacraments of the Church which are visible signs instituted by Christ which confer the grace they signify. For example, in the sacrament of baptism, the water used to baptize has a sign value of cleansing and purification. This signifies the grace which this sacrament confers-- a cleansing or purification of our sins. Baptism actually washes away our sin, making us new.

Though the word "sacrament" can also be more broadly applied to creation as a whole. In a way that is related to how baptism makes visible an invisible mystery of God--the forgiveness of our sins through the sign of cleansing with water-- all of God's creation signifies or makes visible something about the invisible Creator-God. A beautiful sunset speaks to us about the beauty of God. God's strength is spoken of in the strengh of a lion. God's fecundity can be pointed towards by the richness and diversity of plant and animal life in a rainforest. In way that is related to how God commuicates grace to us and gives us spiritual life through the sacrament of baptism, God's communication of Himself through His creation, is in a certain sense a conduit of grace. Through creation we come to know God more deeply in a way that is life-giving

Blessed John Paul II in his "Letter to Artists" wrote the following:

In producing a work, artists express themselves to the point where their work becomes a unique disclosure of their own being, of what they are and of how they are what they are. And there are endless examples of this in human history. In shaping a masterpiece, the artist not only summons his work into being, but also in some way reveals his own personality by means of it.

He goes on to write that "through his works, the artist speaks to others and communicates with them" and that "works of art speak of their authors; they enable us to know their inner life".

In his letter, Blessed John Paul II asserts that the artist is an image of God the Creator. He addresses this point to artists by writing that " "like the artists of every age"—captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you.

By saying that the artist is an image of God the Creator and that the work of an artist communicates or makes visible in some way the invisible inner life of the artist, Blessed John Paul II is saying that creation reveals something about God the Creator, the Artist with a capital "A" as a work of art reveals something about the artist. One could adapt the following sentence which is one of the excerpts from the pope's letter I have shared above by substituting in "God the Artist" where it speaks of "the artist": "In producing a work, God the Artist express Himself to the point where His work becomes a unique disclosure of His own being". Also: "In shaping a masterpiece (the created world), God the Artist not only summons His work into being, but also in some way reveals His own personality by means of it."

To the extent that the artist participates or "co-creates" with God the Creator in making visible the invisible mystery of God, their art has a sacramental character. God has made the artist as an image of Himself as creator...to participate with Him in communicating, by making visible, the spiritual and divine.

While all of physical creation is sacramental in the looser sense of the term, out of all creation it is the human body which most particularly "makes visible the invisible mystery of God" This idea is clearly expressed in Blessed John Paul II's "thesis statement" for his Theology of the Body:

The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus be a sign of it.

-Pope John Paul II, General Audience of Wednesday, February 20th, 1980

The human person, revealed through the body, is exalted above all creation in being made in the "image and likeness of God". (Genesis 1:27) Sometimes we are apt to think that being made in the "image and likeness of God" pertains soley to the human soul or spirit. While it is true that the spiritual has primacy over the physical...it is not true that the body is disconnected from the soul. Our bodies actually communicate the spiritual mystery of the person. For example, a smile physically through the body, expresses or make svisible the movement of a person's soul toward delight or kindness. Our bodies are designed with meaning and have great significance, so much so Blessed John Paul II has proposed that we can study God through studying the human body...hence a "theology of the body". The Catholic faith is totally immersed in making "visible the invisible mystery of God" and is deep in her awareness of the sacramentality of all physical creation, particularly the human body as is expressed through her art (which is largely figuratively based) and her theological reflection. Consecrated Virginity is yet another expression of this.

The consecrated virgin is particular sign of the Church as bride. She signifies, in her person, the mystery of Christ's spousal relationship with the entire Church. It is in this way that art, the Theology of the Body, Consecrated Virginity, are all particular expression of the Church's drive to make ever-more visible the invisible mystery of God.

Beginnings of St. Catherine of Siena Project

noreply@blogger.com (Shana) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:58:00 +0000

Here is another project I have underway, a depiction of St. Catherine of Siena. My friend, Dubh, who served as a LAMP missionary with me, is my model for this piece.

I wanted to do a project with Dubh as my model, so to help me brainstorm a subject I asked her which female saints and portrayals of the Blessed Virgin Mary she feels connected to. She named off a list of female saints and of depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary which emphasize certain aspects of the Faith which she feels particularly drawn to. I processed through this list in my mind, researching relevent depictions of Mary and female saints. For some reason I wanted for Dubh's beautiful hair to be part of the image, so that sort of narrowed things down as many of the saints she listed are habited, with their hair covered by a veil.

In my research, I came across a painting of St. Catherine of Siena, one of the saints which Dubh senses a particular connection with, which excited me as I saw it as a potential piece to model my painting with Dubh after. Typically, in depictions of St. Catherine of Siena her hair is covered, but this painting is an exception:

From what I've gathered, I believe it's painted on a wall of her home in Siena. (Please correct me if I am mistaken). The painting depicts St. Catherine of Siena cutting off her hair in front of her mother when she was twelve years old. Her parents were insistent on finding her a husband, but St. Catherine cut off her beautiful hair as a way of declaring that she desired to belong to Christ alone. I found this subject compelling as I perceived that it would be a way to convey something powerful about my model, Dubh. Dubh just entered a monastery of Poor Clares on August 22nd. She has told me that what drew her to the cloister was the element of the total sacrifice to Christ. When my family came down to New York City to visit me, they spent a night here with the women missionaries. I was explaining to my mom, after she had met Dubh, what she was doing and what it meant. My mom asked me, genuinely confounded, "Why would she do that--be closed up away from the world?...she's so beautiful...". Remembering my mother's words reinforces the sense that this image of St. Catherine cutting her hair is particularly well suited for Dubh to model for. I feel that this image is iconic in a way, a way to encapsulate visually Dubh's sacrifice, of her beauty being "wasted" on Christ as the woman who anointed Jesus' feet "wasted" her perfume of great cost on Christ. Jesus is worth giving everything for, that's what this piece is about. Another way this subject matter connects with Dubh is that part of the ceremony of investiture of the Poor Clares, where they recieve their religious habit, is the cutting off of their hair, after St. Clare. Also, Dubh is named after St. Catherine of Siena-- "Dubh", which she goes by, is actually her second middle name...her first middle name is "Kathleen" (her first name is a variation of "Mary", as are all her sisters' first names).

Below are my drawing studies for the painting. These studies are drawn from life, the only element of the image which I will work with photographic references to develop is the skirt which will completely cover the figure, like in the reference paintings.

Initial drawing:

Hand study:

Drawings with the hand incorporated. I will go with the first one for the angle of her hand, the second one has more information in the face, particularly the nose:

Rough full body sketch (with some of the bottom cut off in this photo):

Please pray for Dubh as she begins this new chapter of her life as a Poor Clare. St. Catherine of Siena-- pray for us!