Abbey-Roads2

A different perspective. 

At California Catholic Daily  I discovered a painter whose works I have seen many times before, but never knew his name.  J. Michael Walker.  He paints images of the saints in more or less contemporary situations we are familiar with, and as every-day individuals we might recognize.  There is a realism about his work which reminds us that the saints were ordinary people, sanctified by grace.  His Madonnas convey an intimate, maternal image of Our Lady in very homely settings, appealing to our deepest childlike desire for a mama.  Within many of the scenes depicting the Madonna, there is a sense one is privy to the Virgin’s  most intimate moments, just as we approach her from the most private regions of our lives, with our most personal needs.

In a way, J. Michael Walker represents the sanctity of ordinary life - or at least the potential for sanctity - while expressing the innate dignity of the individual person occupied in the mundane minutia of daily life.  Though I wouldn’t consider his religious work to be devotional in the traditional sense, he does paint thoughtful representational interpretations of devotional figures.  And Mr. Walker  is an excellent painter. 

He recently finished a commission to paint the saints many of the streets in Los Angeles are named for.  Go here  for more information.  

[Image: Our Lady of Guadalupe, J. Michael Walker.]