I will be teaching a Wood Carving Workshop at the Sacred Art Institute on beautiful Enders Island in Mystic, Connecticut on Long Island Sound.
Date: August 6-11, 2017
Learn a new skill or continue more advanced study
View a video of last year’s Wood Carving Workshop
Although Enders Island is a Catholic retreat center, it is “committed to Pope Saint John Paul II’s vision of inclusiveness and friendship among all faiths…”
Hope to see you there!
“Described as a ‘little known gem’ this 11 acre island is surrounded by beautiful gardens framing breathtaking ocean vistas. Home to St. Edmund’s Retreat, there is a soulful tranquility to this place that seems to hang in the air with the ocean breezes. There are plenty of garden paths to walk and seaside benches to soak in the sun and saltwater air.…” (Assisi Institute)
If you can make it, to start a new hobby or to continue more advanced study, this class is for you!
Although St. Edmund’s is a Catholic Order, it is ecumenical in spirit and outreach and all are welcome! Hope to see you there!
One of the breathtaking views on this 11 acre island
“Described as a ‘little known gem’ this 11 acre island is surrounded by beautiful gardens framing breathtaking ocean vistas. Home to St. Edmund’s Retreat, there is a soulful tranquility to this place that seems to hang in the air with the ocean breezes. There are plenty of garden paths to walk and seaside benches to soak in the sun and saltwater air. It is a short trip into the picturesque coastal village of Stonington, CT., one of the last remaining authentic New England fishing villages…” (Assisi Institute)
He is shown here with St. Mary whom he cared for after our Lord’s crucifixion (Jn 19:26, 27) at Ephesus in Turkey, the Isle of Patmos on the horizon where he was imprisoned and wrote Revelation.
He embraces his gospel to his heart bringing to mind the Cross and Passion of our Lord. Significantly, his crossed arms define the shape of a chalice (the sacred blood) and an hourglass. Indeed it reminds us that Christ is the Alpha and the Omega.
Above the saint flies the eagle, John’s symbol of vision and highest inspiration. Specifically, it carries away a serpent because according to legend, Emperor Domitian once spiked the saint’s wine with poison. Subsequently and miraculously it turned into a snake and slithered out of the cup.
High relief wood carvings of 6 saints by Vonn Hartung, in ambo at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Pensacola, Florida (photo by Steven Schloeder/Liturgical Environs PC)
This high relief wood sculpture, St. John Apostle and Evangelist is12-inches x 33-inches x 3-inches. It is one of six saints carved by A.Vonn Hartung. Pastor Doug Halsema commissioned them for the Ambo of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Steven Schloeder of Liturgical Environs PC was the liturgical consultant.
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.
Today October 18th is the Feast Day of St. Luke the Evangelist, patron saint of physicians and artists. On this occasion I pay special homage to him with this wood sculpture.
“St. Luke” wood sculpture high relief by AVonnHartung for St. Paul’s Catholic Church (Pensacola, Florida)
Artistically I have placed St. Luke the Evangelist in the center of his mission. In addition I have conveyed, a feeling of the harmony brought to him through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Luke was St. Paul’s companion and biographer. Additionally he authored of Acts of the Apostles, a continuation of his gospel. By the style of his hair and garments I indicate his Syrian gentile origin of Greek lineage. I have juxtaposed Luke to the winged ox, symbol of sacrifice, patient servitude and strength. Additionally, I have portrayed the Parable of the Sower from his gospel (Lk 8:4-9).
The tempestuous backdrop witnesses to his shipwreck with Paul (Acts 27:13-42) and the many trials and tribulations he experienced struggling to keep pace with him on his missionary journeys. Luke holds his written witness in a book (gospel) that looks much like we might perceive a paperback because of the dynamics of his perilous travels with Paul.
Luke “studied the life and words of Jesus with utmost care, knew and relied upon witnesses to the actual events–including Mary and St. John–and devoted some time to speaking with the women who had traveled with Jesus. The Gospel [of Luke] is thus especially notable for the respect and attention it pays to women in the Church, in contrast to the role of women both in Jewish and pagan society…Luke stresses the mercy of God, documenting the merciful acts of Christ…Luke also devoted much attention–more than his fellow evangelists–to the interior life of prayer…” (OSV’s Encyclopedia of Catholic History, by Matthew Bunson, D.Min.)
“…and so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19)
“St. Peter” wood sculpture high relief by AVonnHartung for St. Paul’s Catholic Church (Pensacola, Florida)
Artistically I have tried through composition and subject matter to place St. Peter in the center of his mission. I have strived to impart a feeling of the harmony brought to him through the gift of the Holy Spirit. In his countenance as a man I show his strength and vulnerability as well as the dynamic quality of his inspiration.
“St. Francis of Assisi” ceramic sculpture by A.Vonn Hartung, commissioned by Ramón Rivera and Julie A. Thomas
St. Francis lived in the Holy Spirit. In a Gothic arch, a sign of the times in which he lived, St. Francis stands among the fallen and broken timbers of the abandoned San Damiano Church, scattered building blocks at his feet and the Cross of Damiano above, surrounded by his beloved birds and animals: the doves, songbirds, the lamb and the wolf symbolizing peace and harmony… the wolf tamed and throating harmony to Francis’ melody played on his lute and sung as Prayer.
“He is Risen” is a carved tabernacle door depicting the hillside of Jerusalem where Jesus was buried. The rising sun shows it to be Easter morning as the three women skip down the path together in an expression of great joy upon realizing that Jesus has risen.
The grave is empty, sculpted out to serve as the handle of the door, so each time the priest opens the tabernacle, he must put his hand into the empty tomb.
Commissioned in 1992 by Padre Jorge Castillejo Lluisiá for Casa de Niños Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27)
I carved this crucified Christ, “The Agony of Crucifixion” after an in-depth study of the book A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet M.D., a forensic pathologist’s analysis of the Holy Shroud of Turin. It reveals a graphic account of Jesus’s suffering at the hands of the Romans. “A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was asphyxiation. He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by the arms, leading to exhaustion, or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes.”
The main results of the study show in the carving the effects of asphyxiation symptoms where all the muscles of the body cramp up due to lack of oxygen and cause massive cramps resulting in agonizing death.
So precise was this macabre form of torture and death, that in the way the Romans hung the bodies to the cross they could determine how long it would take the victim to die.
Msgr. Bronislaw Gadarowski commissioned this life-size wood sculpture for St. John’s Catholic Church in Montville, Connecticut. The artist carved it in linden wood (circa 1981)
NOTE—I remember when I returned to the church a few days after it was installed; it had to be in maybe 1983. When I walked into the church there were at least five people on their knees looking up at the crucifix; they were Polish second generation faithful. A short time afterwards, the priest told me that they were thinking about taking it down and only putting it up during Lent because some parents said it scared their children! Two years later when I visited the church during Lent; there was a newly installed Priest—I think he was from Quebec. I told him about the incident with the Kids. He looked at me and said, “I sit underneath it. I worry it might fall on me.” So it has some provenance!
Two contemplative videos (English and Spanish versions) 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 Madre Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) woodcarving by A.Vonn Hartung
Madre Dolorosa Sorrowful Mother, a high-relief wood carving, expresses the agony of Jesus through His mother Mary. Specifically, the betrayal by Judas, the arrest, torturous scourging, trial, carrying of the cross, and finally the agonizing crucifixion and death at Golgotha.
The Sorrowful Mother contemplates the seven sorrows of her life, represented by the seven swords piercing her heart.
“Described as a ‘little known gem’ this 11 acre island is surrounded by beautiful gardens framing breathtaking ocean vistas. Home to St. Edmund’s Retreat, there is a soulful tranquility to this place that seems to hang in the air with the ocean breezes. There are plenty of garden paths to walk and seaside benches to soak in the sun and saltwater air.…” (Assisi Institute)
