Of all the content that is available to parishes inside of
WeCreate, our weekly Gospel illustrations continue to be a heavy favorite for both print and digital communications. These masterfully crafted pieces are made exclusively for LPi by an artist named Jocelyn O’Leary who was kind enough to sit down with us this week to discuss her work on the Gospel illustrations, her faith experience, and more. Allow us to introduce our Weekly Gospel Illustration artist, Jocelyn O’Leary.
Q. Hi Jocelyn, where are you from and what is the name of your home parish?
A: Hi, I’m originally from a suburb south of Minneapolis, Minnesota but I currently live in Detroit, Michigan with my husband. I am a parishioner at St. Aloysius Church in downtown Detroit, where I try to be active in the parish community as much as I can by attending events and singing in the choir.
Q. Tell us a little something fun about you.
My most interesting hobby outside of the art I make is indoor rock climbing. My husband and I climb together at a gym in Detroit. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to stay active!
Q. How did you get into illustration? Do you do any other art?
I’ve been drawing and doing creative projects for as long as I can remember. Art has always been something I’ve loved. I started taking it more seriously and considering it as a career, though, when I was in high school. At that point I knew I wanted to go to an art college and pursue a degree in art, so I attended The College for Creative Studies in Detroit which is what originally brought me to Michigan. I earned my degree in illustration and have been doing freelance illustration and other creative work ever since!
I primarily love drawing and painting, but anything that is creative and hands-on can capture my attention. I’ve dabbled in printmaking, sewing, music, and all sorts of other creative endeavors. I think that if I had all the free time in the world and didn’t have to worry about money, I’d probably have a thousand hobbies. It’s not just the creative component that I love, but the process of learning new skills that I find really rewarding.
Q. Do you have a favorite piece you’ve made for this series?
There are two that really stand out to me. One is the image of Jesus walking on water. I’ve always enjoyed that Gospel reading, so much so that I have the original piece I created for that week hanging up in my dining room. The other one I really like is the illustration I did for Christ the King. It is loosely based on a
Leonardo DaVinci painting called Salvator Mundi. Fun fact, that painting is apparently the most expensive painting ever sold at public action. It was sold for $450.3 million!
Q. What has been an unexpected blessing that has come from your work on the Gospel illustrations?
It’s always rewarding seeing how people react to my work. I love hearing their different interpretations and seeing the different ways parishes are using the illustrations. In fact, this past summer I was camping in the Black Hills of South Dakota with my family, and I’ve gotten into the habit of checking out the bulletin when I visit a new church to see if they use LPi or not. Anyway, I looked at the bulletin from this tiny parish in South Dakota and one of my illustrations was printed in it! It is awesome to know that churches are using my illustrations all over the country! There’s also a certain peace in knowing the pieces take on their own lives once they are published — I’ll probably never know the full impact they’ve had on people.
Q. Why do you think art is important?
I think creativity and artistic expression is so essential to just being human. In art history classes you look at cave paintings as the first ways that humans communicated, even before language. Art still allows us to express our humanity in ways that might be hard to communicate by other methods. Personally, I love looking at art. It makes me feel less alone in my experiences and it moves me in ways that not many other things or experiences can.
Q. What is a special Catholic tradition that you love?
I especially love the liturgy of the Catholic church. I love the Mass, especially on special feasts and holy days. My favorites are Ash Wednesday and all of the Holy Week services
— there is something really impactful about the ritual and community aspect of them. During Holy Week, it really feels like the events of the Gospels are coming to life in the different liturgies.
Q. What are some ways you live out your faith?
I love being involved in the parish and connected to the liturgy. I think the sacraments are so important. I try to go to Mass and Eucharistic Adoration during the week, and I go to Confession pretty regularly. Another unique way I live out my faith is by painting paschal candles for various parishes. The pascal candle at my church right now is one I painted for last Easter!
Q. What do you hope to pass along to our customers?
Specifically with my illustrations, I want people to be able to place themselves in the scene I’ve created. A lot of times I’ll illustrate figures with their backs turned in order to inspire the viewer to feel like they are standing right there in the scene with them. I also try to be very intentional about how I show Jesus interacting with people. My main hope is that people who use or see my illustrations gain a better understanding of the person of Jesus and the way he looks at us and interacts with us as his followers. Since we aren’t living at the time of Jesus, it can be hard to imagine him as a person and connect with him. I hope that I can shed some light on that with my illustrations and help people connect with him on a more personal level.
If you love Jocelyn’s Gospel illustrations as much as we do, you might want to check out more of her work. You can find her at
www.JocelynReiter.com.
