Years ago, my mother was a beautician. She once told me I ought to consider being a male beautician because of the money I could make. Oh, I'd be made fun of for sure, with every gay joke, reference, and innuendo that could be made. But she also told me I'd laugh all the way to the bank. This actually has a point, as I'd like to begin to conclude the mini-vacation I took with my wife a week or so back.
The Friday we were to head back to KC we took a morning trip to the "Precious Moments" Chapel, which is outside of Carthage, MO. My wife drug her feet a bit on going thinking the whole thing would be "lame." As it ended up, I had to drag her(figuratively) out of the gift shop so we could head home! I'm sure that PM has its share of detractors. Most "serious" artistes would use words like "kitsch" or "pedestrian" in description. After all, true "artists" aren't suppose to do such things. I got a good dose of that in art school, as guys like Norman Rockwell were looked down on. And the true snobbery takes place by denigrating the audience, or customers, for PM. Similar to those who criticize Jeff Foxworthy for playing to the "Walmart crowd." Maybe so, but like Foxworthy, PM and Sam Butcher(the PM creator) probably laugh all the way to the bank. Or just don't care. Why should they? Maybe they've learned to appreciate those who like what they do, and ignore those that don't. It's what I need to learn to do. We'll start the mini-tour with a fountain that greeted us at the Visitors' Center...
The gardens there were beautiful and peaceful. It was nice to just walk around, see the flowers, enjoy the day, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Finally we came upon the Chapel...
The inside of the Chapel contained artwork done by Sam Butcher and in the PM style(of course). Here's one of the big panels at the back of the Chapel...
It had a very high ceiling. Butcher wanted to emulate what had been done at the Sistine Chapel...
The artwork was divided into scenes from the Tanakh(sorry...I don't like the term "old testament") and from the Messianic Writings(same distain for term "new testament"). This is from the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price...
Outside the Chapel were more grounds with a lake and a "castle"...
Butcher made sure there was a cave on the grounds, so to have a place to commemorate the resurrection of the Christ. It's way off in the background of this pic...
...and here's a close-up with a PM "angel" to signify that He is risen, and not in the "tomb"...
In the gift shop were all sorts of things to buy, including what seemed to be a "'round the year" Christmas store. And huge statuary. Here's one with my wife to give scale. She's about 6', so you get an idea of how large this piece is...
Here's Sam Butcher's bust...
And another fountain as we were leaving...
I can't fault Butcher for finding something that works for him. It's not an uncommon formula or structure to the PM characters. It's been used before similarly in children's books and by Warren Kremer and the Harvey artists on Casper, Richie Rich and the like. All of them are very round and "child-like." I guess in conclusion, I admire what he has accomplished, but need to find my own "thang."
And tomorrow, I'll conclude with pics of Butcher's other stuff, a rare photo op as he was there that day, and some thoughts on what I may need to do to get myself started again.
Be good!
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