This is an actual printed Rosary Book, which I make from the scans of the paintings which you see here. You can order copies for $10.00 each, which I print from my computer on acid-free paper, hand-stitch, and cut, in the traditional style of 17th century chapbooks.
It has an introduction, room for you to jot notes, and of course, copies of the paintings, which you will be able to use as you meditate on the Rosary.
What you do is you e-mail me to ask where to send your $10.00, and at the same time, tell me where to send the painting or book. As soon as I receive the money, I will mail you the book.
I'm an Expressionist, not a Realist (although I have occasionally done Realist pictures in the past, and will no doubt do so again) so these paintings are only "realistic" as far as is necessary for them to be somewhat readable. Their primary purpose is to convey spiritual sense, emotional expression, and physical expression, so the images are highly metaphorical, and the brushwork is quite loose. The originals are acrylic on canvas, and slightly less than 10x16 inches. They are painted back to back and bound together like a book.
I've been called a "naive" artist in the past, so with this series, I have endeavored to use more famous sources, quote from them much more explicitly, and also more extensively. Hopefully, those for whom "naivety" may be a concern will recognize the influences of Raphael, Michelangelo, Carravagio, Chagall, and Kandinsky. There are also tell-tale traces of influence from that guy who does the drawings for the United Church Observer. For the Transfiguration, I also borrowed somewhat liberally from a guy who painted an icon of that subject in the 12th century. Unfortunately, I don't know his name - the picture was in Life in Bible Times from the National Geographic, and resides in the St. Sophia Church, in Jerusalem. The trees were in the original.
I also tend to quote from myself: for example, the Garden of Gethsemane comes from a picure I did of Riley Park in 1982, and the cave from "Easter Sunday" reappears here twice: once in "The Resurrection" and once in "The Assumption of Mary." Of course, since this is, in fact, the Rosary, you will find tons of Scriptural references within the pictures, and I have kept the compositions for each Mystery as traditional as possible, so that they are as recognizable as possible: this will allow you to be able to tell which is which without looking at the titles, if you have seen images on these subjects before (as, no doubt, you have). I used From Abacus to Zeus by James Smith Pierce as my authority in the matter of the traditional compositions.
I hope you enjoy these paintings, and that they help you become closer to Our Lady and Her Son, since that is, ultimately, the whole point of the Rosary.
What's a Rosary?
A Rosary is a set of Mysteries upon which one meditates while praying the Our Father and the Hail Mary. The Mysteries are events in the lives of Mary and Jesus that speak to us about our salvation. To aid with praying the Mysteries, there are beaded chains that are also called Rosaries: they usually contain four large beads (called "Paters") which divide 50 smaller beads (called "Aves") into "decades" of ten each. Modern Rosaries have the ends tied together with a "tail", and the very end of the tail has a Crucifix on it. Between the Crucifix and the Rosary itself, there is also a pater, three aves, and often, another pater. Sometimes there is also a medal of some kind, usually related to a Saint.
How does one pray the Rosary?
The traditional method is to begin with the Apostles' Creed (after making the Sign of the Cross), which is prayed on the Crucifix. This is followed by one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be, for the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Many communities also add the Fatima Prayer directly after the Glory Be: this is optional. Then, you begin the Mysteries. For each Mystery, you pray one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be, and, optionally, the Fatima Prayer, while meditating on the particular incident in the lives of Mary and Jesus. These paintings are intended as an aid in this meditation. The traditional order of the Mysteries is as found in my Rosary Book. They are normally prayed five at a time, but you can do as many as you want. At the end of the set of mysteries, you then pray some concluding prayers: these vary according to local custom. In my parish, we use the Hail Holy Queen, O God whose Only Begotten Son, the Prayer to St. Michael, the Sacred Heart Prayer, the Prayer for the Dead, and we conclude again with the Sign of the Cross.