Wonders & Grace is Growing!
Wonders & Grace began as my online art portfolio where I hoped to share artwork, as well as my faith journey home to the Catholic Church. However, now I feel called to expand my work and explore new avenues of expression. As always, the theme continues to be pilgrimage, and what St. John Paul II called the Via Pulchritudinis, which is the Way of Beauty as a path to God, the source of all beauty.
I am beginning a series of work incorporating writing with visual art, tentatively called: Art & Pilgrimage: A Journey Through the Beauty of the Catholic Faith. I will publish this series on Substack, with the hope that Wonders & Grace will grow, and perhaps reach others who have embarked on pilgrimage: from darkness into light, from doubt to faith; and, finally, to the peace that surpasses understanding. The peace that only Christ provides.
St. Catherine of Siena wrote that “all the way to Heaven is Heaven, because Christ is the way.” In one of the innumerable paradoxes of faith, we step out on pilgrimage to meet Christ, the one who is always and already with us, who accompanies us each step of the way, and who called us to begin the journey in the first place. Pilgrimage is a sacred passage, to a holy place. In this case, that ‘place’ is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The movement is both outward from ourselves, yet also inward to the source of our being. Or, as St. Teresa of Avila describes it: into the ‘interior castle’ of our soul.
As soon as my Substack page is up and running, I’ll include a journal entry with a link. I am very excited to begin this new, creative season which coincidentally begins on the first day of Advent 2024! The Lord is close at hand; come let us adore him!
A little about the evolution of my artwork
I am mostly self-taught and started creating artwork about ten years ago. As I got a little better, I started to sell small prints and cards online. When I was confirmed into the Catholic Church, on Easter Vigil 2023, I knew that I wanted to dedicate my artwork wholly to Christ, by concentrating on Christian imagery.
The sunflowers at the top of this page give me courage. They remind me of a boisterous choir, joyfully and unabashedly proclaiming the wonder of Christ, and the mystery of God’s astonishing plan for salvation. As a classic introvert, who prefers to be alone working in a studio, being bravely outspoken does not come naturally to me. But Christ led me home. I hope and pray that Wonders & Grace can grow into something useful, fruitful, and of service.
There is a saying: “Christianity is like one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” I know this to be true. And what I always believed was a matter of searching and climbing has become the very opposite: in Christ, it is all about falling.
“And nothing again would be casual or small, but everything with light invested.”
Father John Duffy, A Poem for the Annunciation