Why paint Our Lady of Guadalupe? The image which appears on the Sacred Tilma of Juan Diego is not from this world. There is no scientific explanation for its appearance, existence, or preservation. Why would an artist paint a new version of such a miraculous image? Doesn't it seem odd,...

READ MORE

The problem: As a society today our collective understanding of beauty is…diminished. There are multiple reasons for this - relativism towards aesthetics over the past century, engaging less in physically creating things with our hands, and frequently disregarding beauty as superfluous. These are...

READ MORE

Introduction (This post is only the intro. To read full text, Please register for free with Cameron Smith Academy of Painting and see menu tab, Aquinas and Beauty.) Clarity, Integrity, and Composition St. Thomas Aquinas identified three necessary conditions for objective beauty to be...

READ MORE

EPIC LAUNCH The John Paul II Foundation for the Sacred Arts With the groundbreaking launch of The John Paul II Foundation for the Sacred Arts dawns a new era of art patronage in the Catholic Church, throwing open the doors for a renaissance in sacred art. The organization, founded and...

READ MORE

Perhaps the single most valuable tool for growing as an artist is good critique. We can all probably recall the comments or advice of a mentor that at some point really impacted and strengthened our work. Without these critiques, formal and informal, I, for one, wouldn’t be much of an...

READ MORE

A classic theme. Among the great artists of history, almost all my favorites painted or sculpted the figure at some point. It's beauty and potency are real. My recent work is based on the simple idea of combining pattern and graphic imagery with a modeled figure. Originally seen in...

READ MORE

Mary Rezac, this article "The Catholic Church desperately needs artists." deserves a response. To be totally honest I admit my initial reaction was, “Hello!! Where have you been, Church? What took you so long?” But I truly appreciate the article, perspectives and examples you’ve shared. ...

READ MORE

'If I understand that "simple aesthetic pleasure" is referring to BEAUTY, if I read correctly the suggestion that BEAUTY is less than 'thoughts, science, or criticism of issues'... then all of my artistic being objects. BEAUTY is the "vocation of the artist"- St. John Paul II. "Beauty will save...

READ MORE