Merry Christmas

This year I'm actually working on Christmas images (for December 2013) at Christmastime instead of during the middle of the summer. The artwork at left is for the last of the three Living Liturgy books that I'm illustrating for Liturgical Press.

Farm of the Child, Honduras

The letter below made my day. What else could I do besides send some art to Honduras?

Dear Julie,

My name is Erin, and I am currently a long-term volunteer with a Catholic children's home called the Farm of the Child in Honduras. I subscribe to Living with Christ (from Canada) and have been moved multiple times by your beautiful artwork on the cover. Today I decided to check out some of your other work on your blog and on the Trinity Stores website, and laughed when I realized that your work isn't unfamiliar to me at all - I graduated from Notre Dame in 2009, and worked twice as a mentor for the NDVision program, so I've been seeing your images of our models of faith on t-shirts and posters for years. I have also seen your illustrations on the LTP Year of Grace calendar, which some of my fellow volunteers had put in our some of the houses in our project earlier this year. I love your art, especially how inclusive it is, and how it invites creative, critical reflection on our faith and the gospel stories so many of your images depict. I sometimes have a difficult time entering into prayer with "traditional" Christian icons, but so many of your images really resonate with me, especially in light of my experiences accompanying the poor here in Honduras. Thank you!

I am currently in my second year of volunteer service to the Farm, and this year my work/ministry involves living with our young women in an apartment in the city of La Ceiba, where they work, study, and learn to (hopefully) become good, virtuous, loving people who are "productive members of Honduran society" (according to our mission statement.) My role is essentially that of house-mother - I serve as a sort of live-in-care-taker/social-worker/friend to them and try to accompany them physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually in those sometimes-turbulent teenage years. I wanted to write to you to let you know, first of all, how much your work has touched me, and secondly, to ask if you might consider contributing to our project by sharing your art with us. When I moved into the apartment with the girls this year, it was a pretty "sterile" environment, and little by little I've been trying to make it feel more like our home and less like an institution. A key part of our work at the Farm is fostering the spiritual development of our children, and in addition to making our home a little more beautiful, I think your images would also foster good reflection and conversation with our kids.


For more information on the Farm, you can check out their website at http://www.farmofthechild.org/.

Art in the Park

I decided to show my Northside prints at Northside Art in the Park June 18. First time to do something like that, so lots of prep: getting the vendor's license to pay sales tax, figuring out a support to hang my work from, getting a 10'x10' canopy, matting and wrapping prints, etc. Yesterday started out rainy with a strong possibility of thunderstorms during the day. I was worried my work would get ruined in the rain, that it would be miserable, that no one would come, etc.

Since I had invested so much in getting ready, I decided to go ahead. I'm so glad I did. I think the weather kept attendance on the low side, but still, I met lots of great people, many who were intrigued by these prints of a street in their neighborhood. Early on, a woman came by, pointed to the print above and exclaimed, "That's my chair!" To which I replied, "Then that must be you!" Unknown to her, I had created this image of her volunteer efforts in the DAR pocket park. She was so absorbed in her work I'm sure she didn't see me taking the reference photos. She explained that she always brought a small chair along because her knees were bad, so she sat in it to garden. I also found out she took care of that public space for many, many years. What a joy to meet her and connect. And she bought a copy of the print.

Another man, who grew up in the area, bought two prints of the area around his old home. Another couple bought one that reminded them of the urban gardening they do. Plus many others stopped by just to look and chat. All in all, a very good day and none of my art got wet!

Woo-hoo! All 71 book illustrations for the 2012 edition of Living Liturgy sent off this week to Liturgical Press. Now I get a break before diving into the next batch for 2013.

New directions

During the past couple years, I've taken the opportunity to do more fine art (as opposed to illustration). Maybe it's the empty nest and a little more time and energy. More likely it's the dearth of illustration jobs. Anyway I've enjoyed these explorations very much. Nine of these recent works are now in a group show at Gallery Salveo through April. The opening is Thursday, February 17th from 5 - 7 pm at 3805 Edwards Rd., 5th floor. (Image copyright 2011 by Julie Lonneman.)

Happy new year!

I just saw the movie Julie and Julia last night and it's inspired me to start blogging again. Things have gotten quite slow in the illustation business in the last year so there hasn't been much to write about. However, Liturgy Training Publication's 2011 Year of Grace giant poster/calendar that I illustrated so long ago has finally been published. Actually it's been out since the beginning of Advent, when the liturgical year begins. It's exciting to have contributed to a project that is so widely used and appreciated. One of LTP's past calendars that I keep hanging on my studio wall was illustrated by Tommy di Paolo, an artist whose faith and artistry have always inspired me. The image above is the center portion of my calendar. You can see the entire calendar (and order one) here. My favorite portion is the shepherd, sheep and truck located in the lower left of the calendar. A scan from the orginal art is shown below.

Christmas in August

Two illustrations from a lectionery based series for Liturgical Press that I am working on now. The Annunciation to Joseph on the left, and Mary swaddling the baby Jesus on the right.

Laetare Art Series

Each Lent, the Church of the Nativity in Cincinnati hosts the Laetare Art Series. This image of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman is one of the five works I will be contributing to the show. All were originally commissioned by the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Australia, for Lent 2009. I look forward to the opening this Saturday, March 13, especially to seeing the work by the other contributing artists Bill Feinberg, Fr. Jim Hasse, Nicholas Markell and Paula Wiggins. The Adagio Trio will perform with vocalist Teresa DeZarn Jackson. All are welcome; Please visit http://www.nativity-cincinnati.org/ for additional information.

An Artist's Eye on Knowlton Street

I'll be hanging my show at NVision tonight, a series of two-color relief prints inspired by the street in Northside where my studio is located. I learned so much doing this project and I'm grateful to the City of Cincinnati Individual Artists Grant program for the funding. The show will run through December 6. The opening reception is on Friday, November 6, from 6 to 10 pm. Visit http://www.nvisionshop.com/ for location and hours. (Image copyright 2009 by Julie Lonneman)

Collective Ink

The two prints in the post below, plus two others from that series, will be featured in the show "Collective Ink", opening November 1, 2009, at Massillon Museum. The exhibition will focus on contemporary women printmakers producing art as part of four printmaking cooperatives in Ohio. The show runs until January 3, 2010. For more information and directions, visit http://www.massillonmuseum.org/. If you are in the Massillon area, please drop in for the opening on Sunday, November 1, from 2 to 5 pm.

Ox-Bow

This past August I took a week-long course in alternative printmaking at Ox-Bow, a school of art and artists’ residency, founded in 1910 on the shores of Lake Michigan near Saugatuck. It is affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Holly Greenburg, an extraordinary printmaker, taught the class, and I learned a lot from my fellow students as well. Here are a couple of the my prints from the class. The plates are matboard upon which textures are created, then sealed, inked and printed in a technique very much like printing an etching. (Images copyright 2009 by Julie Lonneman)

A Painful Gift

I just received my copy of "A Painful Gift", a book by Christopher Goodchild. It's the harrowing, yet ultimately hopeful autobiography of a man with Asperger's syndrome.

Darton, Longman + Todd, the London publishers, did a beautiful job, and I'm so pleased to have my illustrations a part of this project. Chris contacted me last year, out of the blue, because he had seen what is now the cover illustration in The Catholic Worker and really connected with it. He wanted to know if I would allow him to use it in the book that he was writing. I thought, "That's nice," and gave him permission, little realizing that ultimately it would turn into such a wonderful opportunity. Christopher had also seen my Way of the Cross illustrations and found great personal meaning in them. The publisher agreed that they fit his story well.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a first-hand account of growing up as child with autism.

Dorothy Day

Today I completed this portrait of Dorothy Day, drawing it with a Wacom tablet in Photoshop. It's very unusual for me to create something completely digital from start to finish. In general I prefer to work manually, but using the computer seemed the best way to deal with the complexity of this illustration. (Image copyright 2009 by Julie Lonneman)

Lutheran Study Bible

Last year, Augsburg Fortress Press commissioned me to illustrate the Lutheran Study Bible. I received my copy just recently. It's beautiful! Some of my illustrations for the chapter opening pages are shown below. (All images copyright 2009 by Julie Lonneman.)

Loaves and Fishes

Here's a spread from the February issue of Sojourners magazine, featuring my illustration. I highly recommend the insightful article by Walter Brueggemann. (Copyright 2009 by Julie Lonneman)

St. Boniface

As part of their year-long heritage celebration, St. Boniface School in Northside commissioned me to create an image of their patron saint. The 16”x 20” acrylic painting depicts St. Boniface, dressed in medieval bishop’s robes, holding an open book and an oak branch. The book signifies his mission of evangelization, and the oak branch his conversion of people from paganism to Christianity. In 723, Boniface chopped down a massive oak tree dedicated to the pagan god Thor. The people converted to Christianity when they saw that Thor did not strike him down.

Though little is known about Boniface’s physical appearance, I attempted to depict a sense of his spirit. In particular, I hope his warm demeanor appeals to the grade school students who will see this image every day.

My studio is only a few blocks from St. Boniface School and Parish. I often hear their church bells while I am working and imagine myself back in Assisi. I felt honored that the school chose me to help them celebrate the 75th anniversary of their school building in this way. In the photo, kindergarten teacher Ginny Hampton shows my painting of St. Boniface to three of her students.

Woodcuts

My scratchboard illustrations are often mistaken for woodcut prints. This year I took the opportunity to learn how to do the real thing when I created the art for the March page of the Tiger Lily Press 2009 calendar. Thanks to Rick Finn, a friend from TLP, who gave me some pointers. What a difference good sharp tools and the right kind of wood made! At left is my second woodblock print, an image of St. Francis of Assisi singing the canticle he composed in praise of God's creation.

Mary's song

My interpretation of Mary's Magnificat will appear on the cover of the January 2009 issue of Celebration. (Copyright 2008 by Julie Lonneman)

Come to the water

This recently completed work illustrates an article by Walter Brueggemann, and will appear on the cover of the March 2009 issue of Celebration. The article is an exegesis of Isaiah 55, "Come to the water." The illustration is meant to express the abundance of God's life. (Copyright 2008 by Julie Lonneman)

Trinity, alternate version

A variation of the illustration in the post below. A client saw the original illustration and liked it, but wanted something more inclusive. Isn't Photoshop amazing? (Copyright 2008 by Julie Lonneman)