"ANNO DOMINI" - SAINT JOHN'S ABBEY CHURCH
"Anno Domini" - Saint John's Abbey Church, is a painting that I did in the fall of 2016. The Abbey church is designed by famed architect Marcel Breuer and was completed in 1961. ( I encourage you to google it, as it's quite the structure!) I've always been enthralled by it and in the back of my mind I knew one day I'd try painting it. That day happened by chance as I had set out to paint something completely different. I had my mind set on attempting to paint something inspired by the painter Mark Rothko. I usually paint horizontally and I also usually only use large paint scrapers that the hardware store sells. On this day I decided once half way thru to put my painting on a vertical easel to check out what was happening. I spun it around looking at it on each of it's sides and it soon occurred to me that to my surprise I could see the Abbey church in it! Apparently today was the day!
There is a lot I could say about what was behind my thoughts as I was painting it. I'm going to try and get a copy of an interview that a current St. Ben's student did for a school project where she interviewed me about the painting. Seems like that would be a fun way to share more of the story as she had offered to give me a copy. Suffice it to say, that to have it placed in the newly renovated Alcuin Library at St. John's is quite a thrill for me and my family. There is also a fantastic bench made by Marcel Breuer that sits under it. I am so grateful for the support and belief in this painting from Saint John's and I'm so grateful to be able to share it with others who love the Abbey as much as I do. On a side note, "Anno Domini" was the first painting to leave my studio as I had only been painting about a year when I painted it. It holds a special place in my heart and I am thrilled to also sell the lithograph prints of it and donate the proceeds to the art department at Saint John's. In the fall of 2017 the prints should be available in the SJU bookstore, I'll keep you posted!
Cheers!