Endings and New Beginnings

It really is hard to believe how quickly the months have passed and the end of the year is already upon us.  Here at the studio though, this not only signifies a passage of time, but also signals that many of our projects from the past year will also shortly be completed.

The end of the year is always a bittersweet time in the studio.  While we are excited for our projects we have been diligently working on for months to be finished and passed on to our eagerly awaiting clients, we also must face the reality that as soon as a commission is completed, we will no longer have the pleasure of interacting with that particular client so frequently.  While it is inevitable that a project will eventually come to an end, it is always a little sad to have to say ‘good bye,’ or perhaps better stated ‘until we meet again,’ to those you have worked with so closely.

But just as the year 2012 is winding down and there is a new year just on the horizon, when each of our projects draws to a close, we can also look forward to the exciting opportunities of new commissions just ahead.  While we never forget and do our best to maintain relationships with our old clients and friends, we take great pleasure in the possibilities of making new connections as well.  Therefore, we can only look forward to 2013 with the best hope for the future.

From all of us at the Inspired Artisans studio, thank you for giving us the honor of serving you this past year!  We hope you have a wonderful Christmas season and may the New Year make you just as blessed as we have been in 2012!

If you have any questions or your faith community has a need for liturgical artwork, feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

Creating the ‘Holy Family’

With the holidays fast approaching, it’s the time a year again when the focus swings away from our day-to-day lives and instead turns to preparations for celebrations with family and friends.  Since the idea of ‘family’ being such a central focus for many of us around the holidays, we thought it would be perfect time to shine a light on some of the many Holy Family commissions we have created over the years.

Creating depictions of the Holy Family offers a unique challenge, because not only is it necessary to represent the obvious spiritual importance of family because of their divinity, but at the same time their humanity.  After all, even though the young Christ was definitely no ordinary child, during the early part of His life the relationship He shared with His parents was probably not unlike many of our own experiences as children.  As a result, in each of our pieces we have always tried to express the intimacy and tenderness that would have been shared among the members of the family in addition to creating something spiritually inspiring.

In the fifteen years that we have been creating liturgical art, we have had the opportunity to represent the Holy Family many times, and across many media and styles as well.  Pictured below are a few examples of the many depictions of the Holy Family for which we have been commissioned.

Venetian glass mosaic - 3' x 4'
Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family
Burlington, WI

Glazed ceramic & Venetian glass mosaic - 9.5' x 31'
All Saints Cemetery
Des Plaines, IL

Fiberglass - 6.5'
Holy Angels Catholic Church
Basehor, KS

Linden wood - 6'
St. Charles Catholic Church
Hartland, WI

Linden wood - 5.5'
St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church
Oshkosh, WI

Linden wood - 4.5'
St. Augustine Catholic Church
Thomasville, GA

Stained glass - 7.5' x 4'
Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family
Kankakee, IL

Oil on wood & gold leaf - 1.5' x 2'
St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church
Milwaukee, WI

If you have questions about this projects or your faith community has its own need liturgical artwork, feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

A Month of Cemetery Artwork

Just over two weeks ago we had the great opportunity once again to attend the annual Catholic Cemetery Conference.  This year the convention was held in Washington, D.C., so with our beautiful capital city as a backdrop, we spent the week with our cemetarian friends old and new – and learned about a few new creative opportunities as well.  Now that we’re back at home in the studio, it continues to be another busy month and we’ve got so many exciting cemetery projects in the works that we couldn’t help but dedicate this post to them. 

To start things off, two of our larger cemetery projects – sculptures and fitments for Resurrection Cemetery in Staten Island, NY and new fiberglass recreations of damaged ceramic murals for St. Lawrence Cemetery in West Haven, CT – are nearing completion.  In the next month or so finishing touches will be completed, before everything is loaded into rental truck to be hand-delivered the cemeteries by our owners.  Fitting everything into the truck will be an accomplishment in itself!  Here are some progress photos from each project:

Relief sculptures near completion for 

Resurrection Cemetery in Staten Island, NY

 

Freshly cast fiberglass of one relief and a ready mold of 

another relief for St. Lawrence Cemetery in West Haven, CT

In addition, we are also in the process of completing a number of restoration projects for Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago at the main mausoleum of Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, IL.  Some of the projects include replacing damaged stained glass, repairing and refinishing woodwork reliefs over the crypt entrances and refinishing both ceramic and wood sculptures.  It’s a lot of work, but we’re happy to be able to help breath new life into the existing artwork so it can continue to be enjoyed for years to come.  Here are some before and after shots of one of the recently restored reliefs:

Finally, we are working with the Poor Clares of the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception in Palos Park, IL to develop the feature stained class windows for a new chapel mausoleum to be constructed on the monastery grounds.  While still in design development, the windows will focus on the theme of ‘Resurrection’ by utilizing the symbolism of Christ as the Lamb of God and the rising sun’s triumph of day over night.  Here is the current design rendering, with final colors still be chosen and approved by the congregation:

If you have questions about this projects or your faith community has its own need liturgical artwork, feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

Into the Molds...

Last month we were delighted to post an update about the Stations of the Light that we are currently creating for Immaculata Monastery in Norfolk, NE.  However, in the last month we’ve made such great progress on the Stations that we can’t resist sharing this project again.

Since our last post all but one of the clay models has been used to create a casting mold for the final fiberglass stations – and 5 of the final stations have already been cast!  We’re hoping to keep this pace and have the entire series ready for delivery at the end of the year.  But until then, here are some photos of the newly created molds and freshly cast stations.

If you have questions about this projects or your faith community has its own need liturgical artwork, feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

 

Update on the Stations of Light

Last November Inspired Artisans was excited to share our commission for Immaculata Monastery in Norfolk, NE to create the first ever artistic representation of the ‘Stations of the Light’ to be created in the United States.  Now as fall fast approaches, we are just as excited to share our progress on this important project. 

Over the past year each station has been developed from the text of a Biblical passage into a design sketch, and now the physical stations are being created in full-scale clay models.  Featured below are the first nine stations that are currently being worked in clay.  They are various stages of completion, and Station III has actually already been cast in our signature exterior fiberglass and finished to replicate bronze – this is what all fourteen stations will ultimately look like.  

If you have questions about this projects or your faith community has its own need liturgical artwork, feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

A Summer of Corpuses

Despite the 100 degree weather, the studio has been buzzing with activity this summer at Inspired Artisans.  We have quite a few different projects going, but the main theme of the summer seems to be the ‘Corpus’.

Starting off in May, we completed and installed a 7’ Corpus and 14’ cross in the newly renovated sanctuary of Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph Church in Leavenworth, KS.  The Corpus was created in fiberglass and finished as bronze, while the cross was created in oak wood and stained to match the renovated pews.

We have also been working on Corpus for the new church currently being constructed at St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Sugar Grove, IL.  Their new 5.5’ Corpus was also created in fiberglass, but features a green-patina bronze finish that was delicately applied in layers to create the ‘antique’ look.  The completed Corpus will be suspended on a custom 12’ aluminum cross over the sanctuary, and is due to be installed later this year when the building construction is completed.

 

Two other Corpuses also in the process are being created for St. Vincent de Paul Church in Houston, TX and St. Mary Church in Omro, WI.  St. Vincent’s Corpus has been hand-carved in linden wood by one of our affiliated artists and soon will begin its journey to our studio from Italy.  The Corpus for St. Mary’s is currently being sculpted in clay, and following any design revisions, will be cast in fiberglass and finished to replicate natural wood tones.

 

And to keep the momentum going, we were also just recently commissioned by Immaculate Conception Church in Columbia, IL and St. Frances de Sales Church in Houston, TX to create new Corpuses for them as well.  Each will be ultimately be created in fiberglass and finished to replicate wood.  Hopefully we will have pictures to share of these latest projects soon.

If you have questions about any of these projects or your faith community has its own need a custom Corpus (or any other liturgical artwork), feel free to contact us at any time.  Or please visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

New Cemetery Artwork - Inside and Out

Happy summer everyone!  Inspired Artisans has more to celebrate than just the official arrival of summer this month with the recent completion of yet another project for the Catholic Cemeteries of Newark at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah, NJ.

Last fall, we were given the opportunity to design and create six angel reliefs to fill exterior wall niches on the front facade of their chapel mausoleum.  Dubbed 'Angels of Our Lady', each fiberglass relief features a shield depicting one of the symbols of the Blessed Mother and was created in fiberglass colored to match the existing stone.  Here are a few photos we took of the installed reliefs when we visited the cemetery again last month:

While the installation of the angel reliefs in November 201l helped to close out the year successfully, we were even more pleased when we were again commissioned by Catholic Cemeteries of Newark to create an altar and ambo for the mausoleum as well.

Starting with a sketch of the 'Lamb of God', a design for the marble altar with the lamb created in Venetian glass mosaic and raised bronze accents was created.  A matching marble and wooden ambo also features a cross emblem in Venetian glass mosaic, with the addition of raised bronze panels depicting the Evangelists adding a unique luster.

The marble elements and the hand-crafted mosaics were produced by our affiliated artists in Italy and shipped here to be combined with the wooden ambo top and bronze pieces.  The completed furnishings were assembled on site at the cemetery in May, completing the interior of the new chapel.

Some of the images from the creation process for the altar and ambo are posted here:

 

It was a pleasure to once again serve the Catholic Cemeteries of Newark, and the greater Catholic community as well.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions about these projects, or for more information about our work, feel free to visit our website at www.inspiredart.com.

Chapel of Angels

Last August we took a trip down to Alsip, IL to look at a construction project the Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago had going on at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.  A new addition was being constructed directly across from the existing mausoleum which housed very modern stainless steel statues of the Archangels.  In accordance with the style of the existing mausoleum, a plan was formulated involving the 8 pillars of the addition to create a chapel of angels.  Although the plans changed a little from that point, the concept stayed the same.

Approaching the newly constructed mausoleum the artwork blends in under the pavilion until just before you reach its pillars.  However once you are inside, the artwork really pops out at you and you get a feeling of wholeness.  The final project consisted of four 4 1/2 foot aluminum angels, 4 plaques, and a 11 foot cross that sits atop a beautiful large stone.  As in the past, the photos attached tell the story of the project from design to sculpting to installation.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!