Our Culture Ministry
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Culture GalleryCelebrating God in the Arts
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Sketching the MonstranceAnnie Buehnerkemper, May 4, 2025
The other day, I saw a sketch of a Monstrance and thought, “wow - I should do that!” I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to, “just do it” and was able to find a short 30 minute window to slip into the chapel by myself to see what He wanted to say to me through sketching Him.
I began with the basic shapes, but when I started adding more definition, words came to me to guide how I was to draw. Above the Host was the Trinity: Father. Son. Holy Spirit. The areas around the Host were different parts of creation. At the foot of the monstrance, I was to “draw lines upward like hands reaching out to God”. The dark line represents the veil upon the eyes of humanity. St. Michael is above the veil standing ready to fight for and protect us. Next were the rays of grace coming from the Host - the grace that Jesus offers to us. The rays ended up being asymmetrical but it was meant to be. It’s perfectly imperfect which is how He likes it. I finished with the darkest line around the Host because that is where we want our eyes to look.
My experience of “Sketching the Monstrance” in the short 30-minute window inspired the concept of this ministry. God comes to us in the arts. Our hearts meet God in the arts. We connect with one another through the arts. There are some things that our hearts can only express through art.
Let us build a culture that thanks God for the gift of creating with our bodies. As we share our story, we “sing a new song to the Lord”.
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Please enjoy the Culture Gallery, a showcase of God in the Arts.Tell us your story and we'll show it in the gallery. Submit your work to [email protected]
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Rest on the Breath: Un Sospiro ("a sigh") by LisztAnnie Buehnerkemper - January 7, 2024In this piece, you hear two parts at the same time. 1) the continuous movement, like breathing 2) the melodic line, like a song. It reminds me of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We each sing the song of our life and are carried by the breath of God. The times I play this piece best is when I remember to breathe while I play and totally relax as if to “rest on the breath”. When our spirits rest completely on Him, then we can fly with Him.
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“Pluto” at Animation Academy, DisneylandAnnie Buehnerkemper - July 11, 2024I went to the Animation Academy at Disneyland this summer. I was introduced to this technique for sketching: sketch the basic shapes with light lines, over and over until you “lock it in” with a dark line. The right lines will come out of the imperfect lines. If you try too hard to “get it right” before going over it many times, it may look wonky. It really spoke to me about how something comes into formation. I see God guiding my perspective and approach in this way when I have a new task before me. Everything starts out as a “sketch” and you’ll know when to “lock it in” with a dark line. It will present itself to you…all in God’s timing.
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