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Kelly Tallent describes the artistic beauty that Kristin Sommer and her family share with everyone they meet.

Two years ago, we were pestered by a close friend to try leading a small group program at our parish. We had already skirted our way out of it multiple times, but his persistence and our prayer of inquiry led us to attend the leadership sessions. At first, we weren’t too sure about all these new people. They weren’t “our people” from the 10 AM Mass service; they were the “new people” from the 8 AM. Come to find out, though, these “new people” were just like our “old people” and one of the couples lived a five-minute walk from our house and had kids the same age as ours!

Over the next few weeks Kristin and Jeremy had grown on us and when disaster struck our house in the form of a kid flooding an upstairs bathroom and us living in a hotel for five months, their house became our refuge and their kindness became our stability. Yet there was something more that we learned from this couple that merits a broader audience and that is their eye for the Beautiful.

Arising from talent given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing. To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man. (CCC 2501)

 

Whether it’s the photographs of this couple in their wedding attire with Saint Pope John Paul II, their exquisite Solemnity dinners, his architectural designs, or the hand-sewn, golden tabernacle cloths at our parish, this couple lives and breathes God’s Truth, Goodness, and Beauty through art.

Over Christmas, we were invited to Kristin’s house to celebrate a COVID-friendly “mini wedding” for a young couple from our parish. As we were mingling around the house, the corner Christmas tree caught my eye. Kristin saw me looking at it and came over and explained that every year she makes a unique saint ornament.

For instance, the Saint Joseph ornament was a plastic, translucent ball filled with wood shavings. There was Saint Thérèse of Lisieux with her flowers, and music sheets twisted into a snowflake pattern for Saint Cecelia.

20210202 KTallent copyright Kristin Sommer Saint Joseph

Our Lady of Mount Carmel was a quilt pattern with a scapular sewn on the back.

20210202 KTallent copyright Kristin Sommer Our Lady of Mt Carmel

 

My personal favorite was a homemade story book with pictures of her kids portraying the story of Saint George the Dragon Slayer.

20210202 KTallent copyright Kristin Sommer Saint Cecelia

 

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Be a witness to everyone you meet through the beauty of art! #catholicmom

My first thought (besides “I wish I had an ounce of her creativity”) was, “People have got to see this!” Saint Pope John Paul II said in his Letter to Artists,

Society needs artists. . . within the vast cultural panorama of each nation, artists have their unique place. Obedient to their inspiration in creating works both worthwhile and beautiful, they not only enrich the cultural heritage of each nation and of all humanity, but they also render an exceptional social service in favour of the common good. (4)

20210202 KTallent copyright Kristin Sommer Saint George and Full Tree

 

There you go! Follow Kristin’s example and get those creative juices flowing! The Saint Pope gives you permission to dust off your paint brushes or head to the local craft store and buy some art supplies to glorify God through your artistic endeavors. Don’t forget to share pictures on Instagram – tag us @CatholicMomCommunity and use the hashtag #CatholicMomArtists.

Be a witness to everyone you meet through the beauty of art! 


Copyright 2021 Kelly Tallent
Images: Anna Kolosyuk (2017), Unsplash; all others copyright Kristin Sommer, all rights reserved, used with permission