Hello, my name is Emma Peat. I am a wife, mother, and creator in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I have always loved to create, and as I grow older and deeper in my faith I find great consolation in the act of retelling spiritual truths in a visual medium.

For the last few years, I have found that creating religious artwork allowed me to live the gospel in a more personal way. Through the act of creating, one can pray with their hands, so to speak. It is through this gift that I am able to see the fruits of a relationship with Christ. This form of prayer is something that I have done for years now, happily tucking my finished works into a box and leaving them to collect dust. But when I stumbled upon a beautiful letter from St. John Paul II I felt called to do something more:

“It is in living and acting that man establishes his relationship with being, with the truth, and with the good. The artist has a special relationship to beauty. In a very true sense, it can be said that beauty is the vocation bestowed on him by the Creator in the gift of ‘artistic talent.’ And, certainly, this too is a talent which ought to be made to bear fruit, in keeping with the sense of the Gospel parable of the talents (cf. Mt 25:14-30).”

-Letter of his holiness Pope John Paul II to Artists

This letter spoke to my heart so deeply that I knew I needed to do something. I feel not only compelled to share my work with you, but also to encourage a new renaissance of beauty. If you look at this work and think “I’m not impressed, I could do better than this” – great! Go make something more beautiful. But if my work sparks something good in you, consider purchasing it and placing it in your life. I believe we all need to be surrounded by things that remind us that God is good and life is beautiful.