St. Therese and Healing of Broken Hearts

Words of St. Therese

Therese's painting palette

If a piece of canvas painted upon by an artist could think and speak, it certainly would not complain at being constantly touched and retouched by the brush, and would not envy the lot of that instrument, for it would realize it was not to the brush but to the artist using it that it owed the beauty with which it was clothed. The brush would not be able to boast of the masterpiece produced with it, as it knows that artists are not at a loss; they play with difficulties, and are pleased to choose at times weak and defective instruments.

I am a little brush which Jesus has chosen in order to paint His own image in the souls entrusted to my care. An artist does not use only one brush, but needs at least two: the first is the more useful and with it he applies the general tins and covers the canvas entirely in a very short time; the other, the smaller one, he uses for details.

Our Prayer

Good Jesus, Artist of our Souls, we need Your healing touch. Disappointments, disillusionment and betrayals have discolored our soul. We are brokenhearted because we expect so much; we sense the the beautiful portrait of our life has been ruined. We have lost faith in ourselves as Your dwelling place and Your image – as the canvas where You are painting beauty.

We don’t let your inclusive and colorful love define us. We let hurts and anger harden our hearts, and transmit them to others. Our self-pity explodes in self-destructive ways or in violent attitudes, judgments, words and silence toward others. In the heavy emptiness of our hearts, we let power, privilege, prestige and plenty define us and justify our less-than-true selves.

Like St. Therese, help us transcend the heartbreaking disappointments of life and embrace the holy opportunities that are Your grace everywhere. Touch our brokenness, Lord Jesus. Your suffering and death opened You to God and the salvation of all. Transform the sufferings of our broken hearts into a deeper longing for You and a clearer vision of life in faith, with You as the Artist.

We ask You this, through the intercession of St. Therese, who teaches us confidence and trust in Your love.

Article by Fr. Bob here.

A Twist on Book Arts

Some books are so unique as to be almost from a different reality, yet other books are disposable enough to be turned into...art:



Sue Blackwell turns books into sculpted memories

The artist' website calls it a book-cut sculpture, an ephemeral and highly personal way to convey a message; the artist compares it with "receiving a marked-up copy of a book from a friend. It's like turning books into memories".

A Secret Garden:



Birds of the Open Forest:



A Quiet American:


(images by permission of Sue Blackwell)


Thomas Allen gives an extra cutting-edge to pulp fiction

The action of various pulp novels, under the creative touch of Thomas Allen, literally jumps from the gaudy covers into reality. The carved figurines of villains and damsels in distress battle each other and pose dramatically in three dimensions. You be the judge if it enhances the contents within.









This might leave you cold if you don't care much for vintage paperbacks, or might leave you all hot & bothered, if you are a collector and can't stand the sight of perfectly good collectibles being destroyed for the sake of art. In any case, enjoy a clip of a dramatic chipmunk (oh no, I finally linked to it, didn't I?), and lets move on to the actual examples of the modern book-binding art.


Creative Publishing

If you misplaced one of your golf balls, chances are, your wife is reading it:







Fancy wood cover, and more:







Almost like a Hallmark card, very pretty:





Again... this stuff was stolen from blog "Dark ROasted Blend"

Book Autopsy

A Good Potboiler: what makes a book tick -

Study the inner workings of a plot and characterization in this incredibly open and visual way: books dissected and enhanced by mixed media - designed by Brian Dettmer.




Some call it "Book Autopsies"; I'd call it "hack writing, with 3D illustrations". The anatomical "content" looks especially interesting:



Other work from Brian Dettmer includes some kind of fossil formations, with books revealed in them:






Scalpel Art has to be even more precise... But the book itself is basically trashed. Georgia Russell is responsible for this irresistible "carnage":



It feels like these books have to be contained, otherwise they would explode in streams of wild tangle all over the room:






Other really awesome book art: from Su Blackwell -





"The Book of Nails" by Daniel Essig:





Profile of a really well-read individual

Aaron Packer in his gallery shows this wonderful book sculpture:



Thank you "Dark ROasted Blend"