Available: Saint Louise Original Collage

Here's her story:

This Saint Louise Saint Collage has a unique story. She was originally created as a special commission being gifted to someone. Only, I didn't realize the commission was intended to be a portait, and so I started over on a new piece, leaving me with an extra collage.

In wondering what I would do with her and where she might go, I thought she was a bit of an orphan. Which is what led me to transform the original work- using some of what was and incorporating new aspects to make a saint in honor of Saint Louise de Marillac (France 1591-1660) a patron saint of orphans, widows, social workers, the sick and disappointed, and people rejected by religious orders. 

With St. Vincent de Paul, she cofounded the Daughters of Charity.  “After completing negotiations with city officials and hospital managers, Louise instituted collaboration among doctors, nurses and others to form a comprehensive team. The model was highly successful and is still in use today by the Daughters of Charity. Under her guidance, they expanded their scope of service to include orphanages, institutions for the elderly and mentally ill, prisons and the battlefield.” 

“In working with her sisters, Louise emphasized a balanced life, as Vincent de Paul had taught her. It was the integration of contemplation and activity that made Louise's work so successful.”

Where the initial version of this collage had a bit more edge and fire to her, once she became Louise she softened and became more colorful. Her halo was filled with lush rose bushes and greenery, regrowth, mixed in with sparkles and jewels. She has a mother Mary at her heart holding a baby Jesus, and a polka dot fun-fetti collar at her shoulders. Hummingbirds circle a screen printed tulip because I’m always thinking about Corita Kent's screen-prints and her enriched Wonder Bread feeding the masses like Warhol’s soup cans. The real Wonder Bread being the Eucharist. The hummingbirds here are the pollinators of that. Another bird rests on an apple eating a cake, the apple of a fallen and broken world that can still triumph and enjoy a sweet life too. Next to this bird is a teddy bear, like the stuffed animals thoughtfully provided by places like The Children's Shelter to bring small comforts to children during traumatic events. There are sacred hearts and a wishbone necklace, the thought that Louise was certainly someone a child would wish for from a desperate place. The ginseng leaves were originally meant to capture the love of health and longevity for the original commission, but now are more of a sign of promise, of a long healthy life that might be hard to imagine in dire circumstances, the hope to be helped and to be healed, and to have a chance to really live thanks to people who have a heart for helping, a mind to strategize, and the willing hands and feet to put that into action. She is a good reminder of the balance St. Vincent de Paul taught- contemplation and action. 

She is available as an original collage on paper, 18x24 inches. And in print, 9x12. To honor Saint Louise by bringing compassion into action, a portion of the original piece and print sales will be donated to The Children's Shelter of San Antonio.