In May, the pastor of Corpus Christi Cathedral, Fr. Pete called me, requesting paintings for his favorite saints, St. Rita of Cascia and St. Peregrine with the hope that they be completed on his ordination anniversary on June 23rd (today!). The Holy Spirit did all the work and with the intercession of St. Rita and St. Peregrine, I completed both paintings with an hour to spare to have it framed and delivered (thank you to my amazing hubby!)
In this post, I will talk about St. Peregrine and here are the specifics:
18″x24″, Oil on Canvas. Commision date May 1, 2021, Deadline – June 23, 2021
After I received photos from Fr Pete of a statue of St. Peregrine that he like and learned a bit more from him about this saint, I began brainstorming (this part always takes up the most time in the entire process). I looked at many other statues along with paintings and read all that I could about this saint which took all of May. Another phenomena was that I kept seeing St Peregrine or the word “Peregrine” everywhere. I attribute that to my guardian angel whenever I am inundated with occurrences like it. I just need to listen or pay attention which is sometimes difficult with the noise of this world.
Finally, a concept was on my canvas on June 4, 2021. I painted this in tandem with the St. Rita painting. However, I changed the concept again the very next day, June 5th, after attending the ordination of transitional deacons at the Corpus Christi Cathedral. Something about that solemn mass and ordination changed my entire concept. I began to paint it but after 10 days, I stepped back and realized that the scale was off and I was unhappy with the background structures. I was about to gesso the entire painting but my husband convinced me to just set it aside – providentially I had an extra 18×24 canvas, so I started all over again – similar concept but a smaller scale to match the size on St. Rita and after prayer, the background emerged. So the mad dash began!!
Just another detail – model for the legs was my husband – he kindly let me photograph his exposed legs while standing on a bench. His body parts have graced many paintings in the past and I suspect many more in the future.
