12/16/2008 1:15:00 PM
Browning paints massive church mural
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| Tom Browning has nearly completed a massive mural that will join doors created by Skip Armstrong in a Boise church. photo by Jim Cornelius
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By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
St. Mary's Church in Boise, Idaho, has many Sisters connections.
Its pastor, Father Thomas Faucher once led St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church in Sisters. With a visionary cast of mind and a love for art, Faucher commissioned two well-known Sisters artists to grace the renovation of the Boise church.
J. Chester "Skip" Armstrong carved massive doors for the church and Tom Browning, an internationally recognized painter, has been commissioned to paint a triptych that will be installed above the altar.
Browning, who has moved from Sisters to Bend, still retains his Sisters connections - and his connection with Father Faucher. The Father asked Browning to create a painting for the renovation of his church.
"We were on a trip to (the United Kingdom), in Scotland, and he mentioned it to me at that time," Browning said.
Browning, swept up in Faucher's vision and enthusiasm, did not hesitate in saying yes.
That was back in 2002.
"It's been in the works that long; at least in his mind," Browning said. "I've spent the better part of a year working on it."
The triptych - composed of one large center panel and two narrower side panels - is nearly as awesome in scale as Armstrong's doors. It is 16 feet wide and 10 feet tall.
"This is the largest thing I've ever done," Browning said.
The artist is working on scaffolding for the first time in his Bend studio. As "The Adoration of the Christ Child" comes to life under his brush, the artist works to maintain "consistency of light and consistency of quality" across the massive canvas.
True to Faucher's vision, the "Adoration" is not the conventional scene of Mary and the Baby Jesus surrounded by male saints. Instead, Mother and Child are surrounded by women from across the history of the Church, from Eve to Sister Thea Bowman, a contemporary African American woman.
All the figures to the left of the Mother and Child are from the Old Testament; those to the right are from the New Testament or are contemporary.
The selection of the women by Faucher portrays the message that "the Church sees women as equal to men," Browning explained.
"He picked the individual figures for all the panels," Browning said.
There is a total of 20 figures in the painting. Browning spent considerable time researching the appearance of each woman, consulting with Holley Gene Leffler, a costume designer in California who specializes in Biblical women to get the details right.
Faucher selected models for the painting and they all gathered at Browning's studio for an intensive photos session.
"I photographed them all under the same light and pieced them together for a composition," Browning explained.
Like Armstrong, Browning enjoys the connection to an artistic tradition that dates back to the Renaissance and produced some of the greatest art in the history of Western Civilization. However, he laughs off comparisons to Michelangelo's work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
"He had 360 figures to do; I only have 20," he said.
Browning discovered that he enjoys painting on such a large scale. He finds that the actual painting is no more time consuming than his regular work.
"You just use more paint and bigger brushes," he said.
Browning plans to haul the paintings to Boise early in January. There will be a public showing at Lahaina Gallery in Bend on December 23-28.
Browning maintains regular updates on the project at his Web site, www.tombrowning.com.
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