Oakville artist shares his faith through his creative works

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Howard Schroeder shares his faith with everyone who sees his artwork. He creates in vivid colors, bold composition and stylized images that portray the familiar stories of the Bible in new ways. “I like to catch people’s eye and point them to what they should be looking at,” explained Schroeder, a graphic artist and parishioner at Queen of All Saints Parish in Oakville.

Schroeder’s artwork is on display at his parish, where his children attend the parish school of religion, as well as at nearby St. Francis of Assisi School, which he had attended, and at the Monastery of St. Clare, both in Oakville. His art is also on display at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in south St. Louis, Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and a number of Franciscan sites. His website, paintedpsalms.com, showcases all his art from digital fabric tapestries to greeting cards and Christmas cards.

“My art is an expression of my prayer life,” Schroeder said. Much of his art focuses on St. Francis of Assisi. “In the past year I’ve done a whole series about St. Francis, illustrating 12 stories of his life. To me he illustrates the culture of life — I love that expression. If I wanted my art to express anything, it would be that,” Schroeder said. When we look at the ideals of St. Francis and how he lived them in his culture, “it can help us to choose how we live them in our current culture.” Schroeder, who is in formation with the Secular

Franciscan Fraternity in Oakville and a member of the Knights of Columbus, grew away from his faith as a young man. “I was attracted to other things, and through that I found the value of where I came from. It made for a stronger experience to come back and rediscover my faith. I think that is the experience of a lot of people who explore other faiths, self-help, new age stuff that leads you away. Then you wake up one day and say, ‘Wow, I’ve gotten away from where I came from. I know where home is.’”

As a young man, Schroeder moved to Colorado and later New Mexico, where he worked with a number of Native American artists. He then joined the Army and was sent to Germany, where he faced challenges, including family illness, that helped bring him back to his Catholic faith. He became involved in the Cursillo movement, which he calls “a true gift.” He returned to the Church because Catholicism “answered my deepest longings, questions and hopes.”

In the mid 1990s he returned to the United States and a few years later married his “best friend” Susan, now a science teacher at Mehlville Senior High School. The couple and their three daughters are a close, devout

Catholic family.

Schroeder said “Catholic art is a very full expression, very familiar to people. I wanted to do something different and new, in style only, not substance. … I very much believe in the magisterium and the orthodoxy of the Church. My artwork points back to that. I’m not sure anything new needs to be said.”

When he worked with Native American artists, he was “deeply touched” by how they expressed their connection to God through their connection to nature. “(But) I find nothing lacking in traditional Catholic art. I just found new possibilities of expression to complement our artistic Catholic culture by their influence.” He added, Greg Sturgill, principal at St. Francis of Assisi School, called Schroeder “a deeply spiritual man (who) lives his faith and models Gospel values through his artwork.” Through connections with the Secular Franciscans, Schroeder created about a dozen pieces of art for the school, including a tapestry called “Bright Morning Stars” that depicts Jesus teaching the school children. Schroedersaid, “Jesus is offering those kids the bright morning star, offering them a new beginning every day to love, to live, to learn. I think those three words help point to the culture of life.”

Sturgill said, “We get regular compliments on the beauty of the school and the awe-inspiring artwork that adorns our walls. Our children are brought into a closer relationship with God and our patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, on a daily basis. Even though many of the pieces have been on the walls close to two years now, on a daily basis, many students still stop, look, sometimes touch these tapestries as if the spirit of the Lord will jump off the wall and into their soul.”

Schroeder said, “You have to live your faith in the real world. I don’t think there’s anything difficult to reconcile there, your faith and the world.” He follows St. Francis because “his charism of creativity in living the Gospel life speaks to me in the choices I make and the better responses I make to my family, my community and my work, so that I love, live and learn in all areas of my life with the same spiritual integrity.”

See more of Howard Schroeder’s works at his website: paintedpsalms.com