St. Francis in the Snow

St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, is known and loved by many even outside the Catholic faith. I've always had a special fondness for one story about him, which is that late one night he went around and roused all the sleeping townsfolk and hurried them outdoors to look at the sky. When they asked why, he said, "behold the beauty of the stars!" This is essentially an artist's task, to force their audience to witness the beauty in everyday things that they might otherwise take for granted. This linocut is based on the statue of St. Francis at the Cathedral in Santa Fe, NM. Once, when visiting in January, I saw that someone had left a single red rose at the saint's feet, a splash of color in a monochromatic landscape. The little house finches flitting through the leafless rose garden picked up this same color theme and seemed a fitting entourage for St. Francis. FRAMED: custom inlaid oak frame by Shane Blair, single black mat, Conservation clear glass, $1100.