Interview with EWTN about “Blessed Charlie”
Learn more about the portrait of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez
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Sacred Art Woodcarving Workshop/Retreat at Enders Island, Mystic, Connecticut 2016 (ORTV.ORG Crossroads Magazine)
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Stations of the Cross paintings
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THESE STATIONS OF THE CROSS painted by A. Vonn Hartung in 2001-02 are significant in their religious content in that they express a perspective that emphasizes the effect Jesus had on those present during his ordeal of carrying his own cross to his crucifixion on Calvary. As the bystanders are pulled into his suffering we follow by observing closely, the actual Revelatory conversion of the principal Roman soldier.
Learn more about these Stations of the Cross
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The Holy Family
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“The Holy Family”, an illuminated high relief woodcarving in tropical cedar and mahogany measures 42 by 44-inches square, and testifies to the revelations, dreams, miracles and prophecy of the divine events leading up to and beyond the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus. Subtitled “The Faith of St. Joseph”, as it is in Faith that we hope and have our being in the triune God of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. With reflections by the artist A.Vonn Hartung.
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Six Carved Saints
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Sacred Catholic wood carvings of Saints Peter, Paul, and the Four Evangelists explained by the artist A.Vonn Hartung. These high relief wood carvings were completed in August of 2008 for the Ambo of St. Paul Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida for Father Doug Halsema through the Liturgical art & architectural consultant Dr. Steven Schloeder of Liturgical Environs.
The saints are all directed towards the center of the Ambo, as though they are again listening to and reliving the truth and reality of Christ Jesus that because of them and through them the gift of the Holy Spirit continues to live in us in the Liturgy of the Word. The background noise is a driving rain; listen for the amazing moment when the rumble of thunder reinforces the artist’s explanation!
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Portraits by A. Vonn Hartung
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Some portraits I’ve painted on commission and for my own collection. One of my portraits of Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago hangs in the Hall of Saints of the Pontifical North American College, Vatican.
Breath of Life
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This video explains my process in making a painting. It is not how I make all of my paintings but it is a good example of what happens when I paint. Because even my most thought-out and planned paintings come alive dynamically and move with me as I paint. I should point out, that when I point to the face that I describe as how I started the painting, the face is actually more to the left of where I point, rather than the emerging consciousness and intellectual energy coming from the brain. So the face, which is flesh-colored, is directly to the left of where I’m pointing. I welcome any questions or commentary you may have about this painting or this process. Thank you.
The Passion of our Lord
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A contemplative video showing the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (his arrest, taking up of the cross, crucifixion, death and burial) through original paintings and wood sculptures by the artist A.Vonn Hartung, accompanied by meditative music.
La Pasión de nuestro Señor
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Un video contemplativo, con texto en español, especialmente adecuado para la contemplación y la oración del Viernes Santo acompañado de música meditativa, que muestra la Pasión de nuestro Señor Jesucristo (su arresto, toma de la cruz, crucifixión, muerte y entierro) a través de pinturas originales y esculturas en madera del artista A.Vonn Hartung.
Via Lucis: Stations of the Resurrection
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A contemplative video, accompanied by biblical text and meditative piano music, of original paintings by the artist, A. Vonn Hartung showing the Stations of the Resurrection (Via Lucis: The Way of Light) when Jesus appeared to His disciples beginning on Easter Sunday over a period of 50 days until he ascended and then gifted them with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The original paintings are in the central nave of Catedral San Juan Bautista in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Via Lucis: Estaciones de la Resurrección
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Un video contemplativo, acompañado de texto bíblico en Español y música de piano meditativa, de pinturas originales del artista, A. Vonn Hartung mostrando las Estaciones de la Resurrección (Via Lucis: El Camino de la Luz) cuando Jesús se apareció a Sus discípulos a partir del Domingo de Pascua durante un período de 50 días hasta que ascendió y luego les regaló el Espíritu Santo en Pentecostés. Las pinturas originales están en la nave central de la Catedral San Juan Bautista en el Viejo San Juan, Puerto Rico
The Way of the Light (Via Lucis)
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Images by A.Vonn Hartung
Reflections by Father Thé-Quang Nguyen
Read by James Head
View here Vonn’s paintings, with profound reflections by a Catholic priest in England, and beautifully spoken, posted from the UK on YouTube.
Good news travels fast! No other news is as Astonishing and Life Changing….No other news changed the World more than the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ!
When you can take a 25-minute meditation break, I hope you will watch and listen to this video, the profound reflections are beautifully read by James Head, an English actor/member of the Catholic priest’s church in the UK. You will appreciate the Shakespearean quality of the reader’s voice!
(The church is in Kingstanding UK, which is in north Birmingham)
Saint Dymphna
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Saint Dymphna, an Irish martyr saint from the 7th century, is the patron of mental illness and anxiety. In this video I describe the life of Saint Dymphna, my process of carving her, and explain the symbolism of her pose. I carved this life-size statue in my studio in Puerto Rico in 2021 from tropical cedar for St Joseph Catholic Church in New London Connecticut, commissioned by the pastor Father Mark O’Donnell.
In the words of Father Mark—”When I first arrived at St. Joseph Parish almost 10 years ago, I was approached by three parishioners who asked me, “Father who is the patron saint for those afflicted with nervous, mental and emotional illness?” Without pausing I said, “Saint Dymphna”. After I told them about her story, they told me that they would love to have a statue of her in the sanctuary because every family has been affected by mental and emotional illness. I said I would try to get a statue of her so that we could pray for her intercession and for healing for all those who suffer. Well, it is almost 10 years later and the need for St. Dymphna’s help could not be more urgent in the world we live in. The pandemic with Covid 19 has mentally and emotionally taken a toll on everyone’s health and well-being. It has tragically taken too many lives through the disease itself, and the lives of those who are addicted to drugs and through some who desperately turned to suicide because they felt isolated and dehumanized…”
Learn more about St Dymphna and this statue
Pandemic woodcarving “Eve and Adam”
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Ecologist Nick Brokaw introduces artist/wood sculptor Vonn Hartung’s latest work.
When the pandemic was announced in early March 2020 we were ordered to Lockdown in Quarantine. Vonn a professional wood carver realized that—not knowing how long we would be quarantined—he needed to do a woodcarving, as carving had always acted as a grounding effect for him. It would also need to be a carving that would speak to the Pandemic but also that which he believed brought on the Pandemic—an imbalance in the mode in which we live with Nature—the destruction of the cosmos! Impending climate collapse.
The Question is, are we—the Human Species—continuing to cause this imbalance and if so, can we correct it? This Question is the essence of the message of the carving. We see our modern-day Adam pondering this question shown more as his temptation—recalling the original story of the Garden of Eden. To answer this the Parable of The Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit speak to us here and now as we find ourselves in a Garden Moment of Time.
El Buen Pastor / The Good Shepherd
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“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. They follow me and I give them eternal life… (Jn 10:27) In this video A.Vonn Hartung speaks to a group of parishioners about his painting “El Buen Pastor”— In 2015 the parishioners of his church, San Ignacio de Loyola in Puerto Rico, under the leadership of Dra Señora Laura Gorbea organized a CARAVAN OF CARS to begin to make the rounds to see the Churches with Sacred Art that he had completed. We started with three churches in the metropolitan area. The painting in this video was commissioned by Padre Jaime Vázquez Rojas (may he rest in peace) of the Church of El Buen Pastor on Ave. Apolo in the town of Guaynabo.
NOTE: Due to the low resolution of this video, optimal viewing would be on a smartphone rather than a desktop computer.