St. Peter Claver and the Enslaved African

The choir director at my church promised to cut a CD of our choir if I would do a wall mural of our patron saint, St. Peter Claver. I started off gung ho, last year, ideas coming faster than I could monitor them. But soon, the steam began to dissipate. I had found an image of St. Peter Claver side by side with an enslaved African, both symbolically holding crosses. I liked that better than those of the saint holding a lil black child, after all, his claim to fame was that he met the slave ships as they came in and gave succor to those who'd survived the horrific middle passage.

No one knows what St. Peter Claver actually looked like

For weeks on end I considered a border for the picture. If it was to be a wall mural of sorts, I needed an appropriate border to frame the image that I planned to set in a center circle.

That decision was a long time coming. Considering many traditional blocks and color schemes soon whittled away my enthusiasm. So I let it sleep within my subconscious over the summer.

In the early fall, I learned that the promised CD was forthcoming and would be ready in the time for our 75^th Church Anniversary. Our priest also asked that I make two altar cloths for the celebration.

That settled the border colors for me; I decided on the liturgical year colors of green, red, purple, and gold( which often framed the colors or images).

Well that pulled me back into gear immediately. As with most projects, I discovered many decisions and challenges. As I worked on the project, it's growth and unwieldy size proved daunting. Finally, it was finished. Now it hangs in the newly renovated parish hall.

Crystal embellishment

finished piece

(hmmmmm, I'm thinking another black border would frame that image perfectly).