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The Word of God surrounded by cherubim
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March 27, 2024An artist often does not know what he or she will create. Even more, an artist who consecrates his or her life to God does not know what the Holy Spirit will suggest.
That happened to Merci McCoy, known for her beautiful paintings and artwork depicting saints or the Holy Family. “In September last year, I had this idea of depicting Mary pregnant with Jesus – and I had never seen any painting like this,” she remembers. The Virgin was hovering over the Ark of the Covenant, and two cherubim bowed in front of her and enveloped her with their wings. It turned out to become a large painting, and together with five others, she submitted it to the Art Contest for the Eucharistic Congress. “I didn’t expect anything,” she admits.
Then, several weeks ago, she received an email telling her that one of her paintings was chosen among the finalists. To her surprise, it was “The Word of God”: “When I submitted it, it wasn’t even ready.” There were 650 paintings from more than 300 artists in the contest, and 109 were chosen.
On Good Friday, Merci will ship the painting to St. Edmund’s Sacred Art Institute on Enders Island in Connecticut for a preview show. On May 31, she and her husband will fly to Connecticut for the Artists’ Reception, where a jury and Fr. Chris Alar, MIC, will choose the pictures to be shown at the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
It is the first nationwide art contest for Merci McCoy, who has lived in Corpus Christi since 2015. Although she was trained as a civil engineer, art was always her passion. Only after she moved to Corpus Christi could she pursue it full-time. After teaching at the college, she realized that only Sacred Art was her calling. Merci was inspired by St. Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Artists in 1999, in which the pope appealed to artists to “bring back beauty.”
Usually, a painting takes her several months. It starts with “always in prayer,” then with a sketch, a first layer of paint, several more, and the last layer, the title, which directs the viewer.” Usually, the image is first in her head; “the execution is the easiest part.”
Now she is excited to see her painting in the exhibition. “Shipping this huge painting seemed impossible, but God’s providence made it happen.”
