This week I'm interviewing Monica Skrzypczak. I discovered Monica's art a few years ago through a group of Catholic artists and have been inspired by following her creative journey. You have to check out the beautiful process videos she shares for her work. I hope if you don't know of her work that you'll soon be a huge fan just as I am. Most of all I pray you are blessed and encouraged in your faith by her talent.
On to the interview!
What is your name and where are you from?
I'm Monica Skrzypczak, from Rockford, IL!
How did you end up creating sacred art? Did you start out with a desire to do that or were you eventually lead in that direction?
I've always loved painting, and as I went through college studying theatre management, I began to realize how important being an artist was to me. As my classes focused less and less on art, a hole started opening in my heart. At the same time, my faith was growing tremendously and I actively wanted a relationship with God. It all came together the summer between junior and senior year when I didn't get the internship I was hoping for, and ended up at home, working for my grandparent's business. I was crushed; it seemed that all my college education was crashing down and I would never make it in theatre. This was the first time in my life I started going to daily Mass daily, and praying a daily holy hour. With no classes to mess with my schedule I said, why not ramp up to full speed? And without really realizing it, I began to want to use my artistic talent for God specifically, instead of just painting what I thought was pretty. I painted my first tabernacle painting that summer ('Easter Lilies for the King'), and I went, here is a subject matter that will never grow old. I ended up wishing I could be an artist again, but still thought it was an outrageous desire. But going into senior year, my heart started to not care as much for the culture of theatre, so I applied to be a missionary, aaaand I wasn't accepted. I was suddenly in the same place I was the year before - jobless and without a clue as to what I wanted to do. I went on a pilgrimage to Poland that summer and everything clicked. I was presented with stunning church after stunning church and the thought to be an artist came back full force. I knew we needed sacred artists in America, and if was in God's Will, I wanted to be one of them. After I came home I started working on an Etsy, with the intent of still getting a real job in theatre, but as the process continued, I realized I absolutely love running a small business and this is exactly where Jesus wants me right now!
What medium/s do you work with?
I primarily work in oil paints at the moment, but in the past have loved watercolors. And for the statue restorations I use acrylic paints.
Do you have a favorite or patron saint? Who inspires your work?
Bl. Carlo Acutis is the patron of the shop! This kid was incredible. As the first millennial saint, he knew modern technology, but steadfastly but it on the back burner in favor for prayer and encountering others with the love of Christ (something I fail at constantly). But most importantly, he had a huge devotion to the Eucharist and compiled a list of all the Eucharistic miracles into a website (in the early 2000's).
I came upon this website ages ago when I was still in highschool and reading through the miracles changed my heart for understanding the Real Presence, which in turn is why painting tabernacles, monstrances, and the Mass has enamored me this whole time, and why adoration is a pillar of my prayer life. I proceeded to forget the website until after college a guy at a retreat was passing out his Servant of God cards and story and I recognized the miracles website. I had no idea it was made by a kid, much less a soon-to-be saint. And then to top it off, I randomly chose Oct 12 as the launch date for Outpouring of Trust, and was always embarrassed because it wasn't a big feast day, BUT it turns out that two years later, in 2020, Carlo was beatified and his feast day is now Oct. 12. How crazy is that. God is so good.Do you have a favorite historical artist or period?
Presently the Renaissance is my favorite, particularly the Counter-Reformation artwork. This is when art turned from stylized humans to the full-bodied beautiful Caravaggio and Michelangelo saints, and when sacred art was revisited in the Council of Trent, reaffirming it's value and necessity in aiding prayer and teaching the faithful, while also creating guidelines for artists to use to create works suitable for sacred spaces.
Also Bellini. Bellini is my favorite painter. I've done 4 master copy studies of his paintings of the Madonna and Child and have one more to go, and let me just say, I have never seen Mary depicted so serenely and so humanly. She looks like a teenager. She looks like a queen. She looks like a mother. Somehow all at once. And Jesus looks like a real, floppy baby, a crawling away baby, a can't-hold-my-head-up, fully human baby. The combination with a strikingly peaceful Mary clearly marks the baby as Jesus, even though there is nothing Divine showing out, in contrast to the past when artists would depict the baby Jesus as a tiny man symbolizing Him as fully God. On that note, I've been doing little 5x7 master copy studies of a bunch of Renaissance artists, so if you want to see which artists I'm most inspired by, that's a list! Not tackled yet (because they're too good, and it's hard to get good scans of their paintings to study) are Caravaggio and Bouguereau. Talk about perfect use of composition, symbolism, models, brush technique, and color mixing.It's kind of silly to ask an artist what their favorite color is, but are there colors you are more drawn to?
Do you have a website? Can my readers find you on any other social media platform?
www.outpouringoftrust.com is my website where you can find original paintings and restored statues for sale, as well as prints, stickers, rosaries, decade bracelets, and many chaplets! Signing up for my email list gives a 20% off code for your first order! I'm on Instagram at @outpouringoftrust.sacredart and @outpouringoftrust.rosaries Facebook (Outpouring of Trust) Tiktok @outpouringoftrust I also have a Patreon where I'm sharing all the behind the scenes for my upcoming series on the titles of Mary in the Litany of Loreto; all 49 of them. It'll take me a long while to get to the finished paintings and there's a ton of research and sketching and model hiring I hope to do before I get there! So if you're interested in the life of an artist or just on supporting me in my work, it's the perfect place for you! The link is https://www.patreon.com/outpouringoftrust?fan_landing=true
Do you take commissions?
I do! I'd love to chat with you about your idea, just send me an email at monica@outpouringoftrust.com with your idea and a general size you're thinking about.
Is there a work of art you have created that is your favorite?
I've spent a long time thinking which one and I think I've landed on whichever painting I've most recently finished. For a long time it was 'The Divine Praises' (the painting of a monstrance with the prayer in the background), but more recently it's my two still lives on prayer; 'The Call to Prayer' and 'Memento Mori' since those are heavy in symbolism and I'm just really proud of how I painted them technique-wise.
The Call to Prayer consists of a Breviary, bell, and undyed cloth symbolizing the life of a religious monk/nun, and a call for us to join in their prayer, dedicating more of our life to God. While Memento Mori consists of a skull, empty hourglass, black cloth, and wood symbolizing mortality, with the white box and gold cloth symbolizing Heaven, and the path to it - God (the Bible).
