Friday Links
St Michael Slaying the Dragon by Al Sauls
Al Sauls in Black Catholic Messenger: “How Sister Thea Bowman inspired me to Make Black Catholic art”
Painting a Picture of Freedom, Alex Taylor on Katy Carl’s novel As Earth Without Water
And it Was Good, Kelly Lindquist in The Lamp
The Difference Creation Makes: Creative Art & Christian Imagination
The Mystery of the Liturgy: A Retreat for Artists and Art Lovers
Al Sauls in Black Catholic Messenger: “How Sister Thea Bowman inspired me to Make Black Catholic art”
When Blessed Thea Bowman gave an address to the Catholic Bishops, she said, “I bring myself, my Black Self, all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become…as a gift to the Church.” Al Sauls, a Houston-based iconographer and artist, writes that Blessed Thea’s “words and her actions inspired me to pursue my deep love for sacred art.” Sauls shares how he studied masters such as Andrei Rublev and Nardo di Cione to learn the techniques of iconography. While studying and copying the masters, he realized that he needed to bring himself to the work. A meeting with Larry Massey, Jr (God bless him and the Scanlon Foundation) provided Sauls with the opportunity to further develop his technique, as well as meet other artists and patrons (and eventually form the Sacred Arts Festival). Please do read the article and take a look at Sauls’ work. It is stunning. (The icon above of St Michael the Archangel is his.)
Painting a Picture of Freedom, Alex Taylor on Katy Carl’s novel As Earth Without Water
In Law & Liberty, Alex Taylor reviews Katy Carl’s novel, As Earth Without Water in light of liberty and freedom — and the attendant wounds we inflict upon ourselves and others when we misuse our liberty and freedom. It’s such an interesting review because of Taylor’s focus on how our modern understanding of freedom and liberty relates to the novel. As Taylor notes, in Angele and Dylan, the novel’s protagonists, Carl gives a “fine rendering of wounded liberty and healing freedom” and shows, through their stories, “the longing of souls for the beauty of a freedom fulfilled, paradoxically, only by embracing the limits inherent in human life…” Also, if yo haven’t had a chance to check it out, Katy has a wonderful new Substack called, Depth Perception.
And It Was Good, Kelly Lindquist in The Lamp
In this truly beautiful, humble reflection on the death of her husband and the suppression of the TLM, Kelly Lindquist writes that we must respond to suffering with “courage, joy, and love.” This is not always easy, of course, but Lindquist reminds us that, “God will not abandon us, and His creation, even—perhaps especially—in the midst of our great suffering, is good.”
The Difference Creation Makes: Creative Art & Christian Imagination
The 2022 Notre Dame Fall Conference, “And It Was Very Good: On Creation” had several excellent panel discussions and presentations. More information about the yearly Fall Conference can be found at the link above. Katie Broussard, Rachel Nozicka, Nathan Bradford Williams, and William Gonch had a really wonderful roundtable discussion, chaired by the Hank Center’s Michael Murphy, exploring the practice of art in light of God’s creation. William Gonch discussed Catholic literature, a (possible) Catholic literary revival, and what the Catholic imagination is uniquely able to offer the culture. Rachel Nozicka, through a discussion of Annie Finch’s poem “Adam Pos’d”, discussed order and how it can deepen our understanding of divine creation. Katie Broussard, in her presentation, “The Difference Creation Makes: Illustrating the Vatican Observatory,” argued that we must integrate science and our understanding of creation. Science can give us the “how” of the universe, but a full understanding of creation can give us the “why.” And it is the “why” that shows us the meaning and helps us approach the mystery of creation. Nathan Bradford Williams discussed the logo-genesis in the work of Arvo Part. Enjoy!
The Mystery of the Liturgy: A Retreat for Artists and Art Lovers
On Sunday, the Benedict XVI Institute will host a retreat with Archbishop Cordileone to “contemplate the great mystery of liturgy and creativty.” The retreat will be on Sunday, January 29 from 4-6pm PST/7-9pm ET, on Zoom. It looks wonderful and includes poetry, music, a reading of Benedict XVI’s Letter to Artists and of Marcel Proust’s “Death Comes to the Cathedrals.” There will also be an opportunity to speak with fellow artists and art lovers, and to hear Archbishop Cordileone’s thoughts on the importance of the creative calling. Tickets are available through Eventbrite.
