Grace and St. Stephen's--or--Leslie's Piece of Art

(all photos should be clickable for larger, more detailed views, which represent the work better)

When I read Leslie's blog post, quite a while back, about her church basically being held hostage, of the congregation not having their traditional home of worship available and the trials and tribulations that everyone went through in the process of waiting for a court to pass judgement on the issue, I knew that somehow, this would have to be incorporated into her piece of art. And when they made their return home, that was when the creative juices began to brew.
The front is a transparency of the building, sepia toned and muted---I wanted a hint of abandonment in the flavor. Then, coming from all directions, the small butterflies, the souls returning to their home. The peonies are snagged from a photo from her blog, that are in the actual gardens the members returned to a state of proper care.

The sides show two larger moths, a bit tattered, representing the guardians of the property and symbolically representing the clergy, standing firm, reopening the doors for all to enter. I found a marvelous rubber stamp that suggested the ornate designs on old doors and added a brass nail to the center for the door handle.

The back of the piece was an utter delight to work on, as I knew I would be using gold leaf, along with stamped tissue paper on the inner *walls*, another transparency, and assorted other items. By the time I got to this point, things were going well and it was just a matter of being patient enough to let each layer DRY!

Here is a full back view; St. Stephen (the first Martyr) with a halo of German glass glitter, three stones in the corner as he is always depicted in paintings and a martyrs palm in the opposite corner. The one thing I added, as I felt it would be nice, is the small *candle*, lit, reminiscent of the many, many vigil candles I have lit in my life, or those used at Christmas Eve service.

The gilding holds more color than showed up in the photos, and I was pleased with how it came up in the process of glazing it. Everything shines, but there is still that implication of wear and age.

There is so much I could write about this piece---how many stages it went through where I thought I had completely failed, how I had to be sneaky to ask Leslie about photos, playing dumber-than-usual and using the excuse of collecting images of church spires....well, actually I do! And then just plain keeping my mouth SHUT!!!! To not give it away in an e-mail or an off the cuff comment on the blog.

So Leslie, for you and all those in your congregation, this is your piece of Art. May it bring you joy and happiness, and may you forgive my slowness with it........but I think after seeing what I had to collect and figure out how to put together properly, you can understand why.

May your studios always be the home of your art, and may you all have a special place that is the home for your soul.

Pax.