'God is the Most Magnificent Artist

A Q&A with the Artist Behind the Chancery's Bishop Portraits

A highlight of the open house at the new diocesan chancery in Rochester last September was the unveiling of nine photorealistic color portraits of our bishops, past and present, hanging in the second floor conference room. The artist responsible for these portraits, LOUIS FRANÇOIS MARTIN, recently answered questions from EMILY SMITHLEY, media specialist for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, offering a closer look at this young man of deep faith.

How did you get started as an artist?

I have always loved drawing ever since I was born. I was brought up on drawing coloring pages and would trace their outlines on a window lighted by the sun. After many years of drawing coloring pages, I moved on to finding more complicated ways to draw and, eventually, I got to a level of being able to draw off of pictures and became good at that. I realized I had a gift. I have never taken any art classes other than watching Bob Ross videos and following along with a canvas and oil paint.

How would you describe your artistic style?

I believe that many would place my artwork within the category of realism. I like to see the realness of someone and bring that to life on the canvas. I believe it is the flaws that make someone most beautiful - most uniquely them.

What is your preferred medium and why?

The pieces that Bishop Barron commissioned were done in pencil pastel. Those create the most realistic portraits. However, I enjoy using charcoal the most. I can add my own artistic flair, and the ranges of shades you can develop and the depth that it creates are just fantastic.

Are there any significant experiences that shaped your artistic vision?

[Theresa, Louis’ mother, answers:] Louis was born with an extremely rare disease. It is a genetic mutation that only one in a million get. It is CAPS/ NOMID (Cryopyrin Associated Periotic Syndrome/ Neonatal Onset of Multisystem Inflammatory Disorder). He went five years without the proper diagnosis, and this left his body flooded with inflammation on a daily basis. It was terribly painful. Every other night, he would wake up around 1 or 2 a.m. screaming in pain, and then he would scream, cry, and vomit until he crashed around 9 a.m. every other night, for five years.

I believe that the suffering he went through separated him a bit from the average child. He saw people differently; he saw life differently. When he was feeling well, he lived life to extreme - the craziest stunts, the wild wrestling matches, and the unapproved adventures. The neurologist who examined him (after his proper diagnosis) said Louis sustained damage from the years of cranial inflammation, and that the physical activity of reading and writing would be more taxing on him than on the average kid. Doodling and drawing always came easy! And with all the challenges, it was a blessing to find something enjoyable! And then this unique perspective on the world collided with his enjoyment of drawing - and you have seen the results! He looks at people and sees the real, and his gift is the ability to see it and to bring it to life!

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

[Louis continues:] I don’t have a specific artist that I can point to as my own influence. I love nature; I love everything from grass to the trees to the birds and all the colors of the skies - there is so much magnificence! So, I guess my biggest artistic influence is the Artist par excellence! God is the most magnificent artist!

How does your Catholic faith influence your artistic style and subject matter?

I am, first and foremost, a Catholic. The closer in communion I am with Christ, the better the art is. There’s a constant connection between the two, and I’m sure there will always be.

Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And one thing that I am most passionate about is the truth. What does truth have to do with art? Truth is the knowledge of what is, finding the purpose of being. It is finding the truth of a person that gives us a way to appreciate or love him or her better. The truth is within us.

I believe that what makes something or someone beautiful is not what we consider the "perfection" of features - a face perfectly ordered with features completely even to each other. Instead, it is in the uniqueness, in the particular order of this special person. It is in the imperfections that the truth and beauty is found. All of what God created, he created it for its own sake. We all have a beauty that is completely beautiful in itself. The reason someone's face is so striking is not because it's perfectly even on each side, but because every face has, in a way, its own standard of perfection, its own style of beauty.

I hope people can enjoy in my art the fact that God made the structure of all our faces beautiful, and when you embrace the tears and cracks of sin for the sake of God’s glory, then your face expresses the deepest truths of your soul's purpose.

Can you tell us about a piece of art you are particularly proud of and why?

I enjoyed doing the bishops’ portraits, especially Bishop Fitzgerald and Bishop Barron. I am working on a commission of young saints right now for a school, and the one of Francisco and Jacinta (who saw Our Lady of Fatima) is turning out especially nice. I enjoy being able to bring back to life these young saints!

Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?

My parents are my number-one fans. They have always encouraged my artwork, even when I get overly focused on it and drive my mom crazy. Many people are very complimentary, but the best support is through commissioned pieces, and that is why it was such a blessing and a huge honor to receive the commission from Bishop Barron to do the portraits of the bishops for the new chancery.

What are your plans for the future?

I have been accepted to the Stabat Mater Atelier a Catholic art institute in Tyler, TX, and will begin as an apprentice (student) at the school next fall. This is where I will follow the traditional art training to bring me from sketching to Renaissance-style oil painting.

Where can someone purchase or learn more about your artwork?

Please visit my website: leadandpaper.com. I welcome new commissions and also sell signed prints of past pieces.

The Portraits

2022 - Present

Bishop Robert Emmet Barron

• Born in Chicago

• Ordained in 1986

• Appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2015

• Appointed Ninth Bishop of Winona-Rochester in 2022

• Oversaw the Diocese of Winona-Rochester's 2022 Eucharistic Congress in Mankato

• Oversaw the opening of the new diocesan chancery in Rochester in 2024

2009-2022

Bishop John Michael Quinn

• Born in Detroit

• Submitted a petition to the Vatican for the elevation of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Winona to a minor basilica, which was granted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.

• In 2018 Bishop Quinn, with the approval of the Vatican, elevated St. John the Evangelist Parish in Rochester to a Co-Cathedral.

1998-2009

Bishop Bernard Joseph Harrington

• Born in Detroit

• Oversaw Church of Winona "Alive in the Spirit," a celebration for which 6,000 people from 118 parishes, and all diocesan and religious institutions and religious houses within the diocese, gathered in Mankato.

• Introduced the permanent diaconate to the diocese. The diaconate had been a transitional step for seminarians on their journey to priesthood; now it was to be “a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy.”

1987-1997

Archbishop John George Vlazny

• Born in Chicago

• Six months after becoming Bishop of Winona, Bishop Vlazny had laid out his priorities: “comprehensive pastoral planning: the life and ministry of our priests, The Courier, a host of rural issues; involvement of the laity in ministry and decisionmaking; our commitment and support of Catholic schools; and liturgical life.”

1969-1986

Bishop Loras Joseph Watters

• Born in Dubuque

• Had a doctorate in education

• Very humble person. Dispensed with official driver and drove himself around the diocese.

• Attended the fourth session on the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) in Rome

• Ordered home from Rome while studying as a seminarian when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939.

• One of the bishops to form the Minnesota Catholic Conference in 1968.

1949-1969

Bishop Edward Aloysius Fitzgerald

• Born in Cresco, IA

• A "Master Builder" - During his 19-year tenure, almost every existing church facility was expanded, restored, or replaced. Population growth created the demand for new buildings and parishes. The Catholic population of the diocese grew by 57 percent. Most of the diocesan buildings we use today were designed, constructed, and paid for during his tenure.

1928-1949

Bishop Francis Martin Kelly

• Born in Houston County, the only native of the diocese to become its bishop.

• A better-than-average guard on the Saint Thomas varsity football team.

• Transferred Saint Mary College to the Christian Brothers in 1933.

• Suffered a paralytic stroke in 1941 and had to learn to celebrate Mass all over again. His recovery was only temporary; within a year, he suffered a second stroke which confined him to Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester for over eight years until his death on June 24, 1950.

1909-1927

Bishop Patrick Heffron

• Born in New York City

• On August 27, 1915, Heffron was shot twice by Fr. Laurence M. Lesches, a diocesan priest, while celebrating private Mass. Lesches was angry at Heffron for denying him his own parish due to Lesches' arrogant behavior and emotional instability. Heffron survived due to the assistance of Dr. William Mayo, who traveled to Winona to assist in his care.

• Five months into his episcopacy, he established a diocesan newspaper, whose purpose was to stimulate good reading among the Catholic people in their homes.

1899-1909

Bishop Joseph Cotter

• Born in Liverpool, England

• When he became bishop, the new diocese included 45 priests, 8 churches, 15 parochial schools, and 2 hospitals. Approximately 38,000 Catholics resided in the diocese.

• Cotter High School, now Cotter Schools Inc., was named in his memory.

• Moved by the effects of alcohol on families and young people, he was among the foremost voices in the temperance movement.