​granite now beautifully patinaed by golden lichens and the passing of time. Wearing a one shouldered tunic, beneath a flowing lock of long hair, her left hand held over her heart modestly covers her bare breast. Her right hand rests on the top of an anchor with a prong broken off and missing. We discovered no inscription on this miniature monument nor is there an engraved base to be seen beneath.

The stone figure’s simply crafted artistry, though exquisitely diminutive by contrast, calls to mind the large full-volumed, famed sculptured figures of Fernando Botero Angulo of Columbia or of Great Britain’s Henry Moore whose work can be seen close to home in the sculpture park of Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Art Museum.

Who crafted Our Lady? Whose grave does Our Lady mark? Who can she be? What is the significance of her nautical implement?

In my search for Our Lady’s identity I learn from the Park Cemetery website that the boundaries encompass eighty acres within the city limits of Carthage, Missouri. Founded in 1879 by Timothy Regan, the grounds contain a dedicated Grand Army of the Republic block for Union Civil War veterans, a dedicated Catholic area and a dedicated Veterans block that contains a monument wall with names inscribed.

Familiar Carthage family surnames are prominently displayed on numerous large, impressive monuments. There are some exceptionally unique markers such as the tall obelisk made of dozens of gleaming conch shells. The engraving on many stones is so weather-worn as to be unreadable. Many unmarked graves are scattered throughout the vast terraced incline. This is particularly true of areas set aside as babylands where, during times of high infant mortality, numerous babies were placed in a single plot with no individual recognition.

With hope of discovering the provenance of Our Lady I reach out to Frank Stine, Park Cemetery Administrator and Sexton; Carthage historian Nancy Brewer; and Ben Young in the reference department of our Carthage Public Library. After much research and many conversations Our Lady’s true identity still remains mostly a mystery.

Mr. Stine told me, “Though no official death certificates were recorded before 1910, the cemetery records do show that Our Lady’s figure keeps watch over Infant Hannen, a still born baby, laid to rest March 18, 1904, by the child’s father John. Searches for the mother and father lead to possibilities but no certainties. I find no sure answers for why the nautical lady keeps watch over this one child’s grave when so many other infant graves go unmarked. Surely someone felt the need to remember “the spirit of a child who never found a way into this world.”

For me, my attraction to Our Lady and the stillborn child she remembers is a gift of grace.
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As though passing through the scrim that separates us from the world of the spirits, gifts of grace come as those curious and sometimes strange sensations that stir deep within, whisper to the heart and ask for attention. Ours is not to wonder “Why?” Rather ours is to pay heed, to listen and to respond.

This call and response is at the heart of every creative act: the mysterious something calling out to be seen and heard; the artist hearing and seeing and giving voice to the calling. This is the gift of grace made real. This is the gift of grace made manifest.

With our small homemade evergreen crown—our creation infused with the gift of grace—David and I honor Our Lady of the Unknown and the child of her solitary vigil.

During this season heralding the long ago birth of an infant born to a young mother and father lodged in a stable among livestock, there are those among us who, like the parents of baby Hannen, are today mourning the loss of someone dear and now departed from us. In the midst of all our holiday celebrating there is still remembering and grieving to be done for a daughter or a son, a sister or a brother, a wife or a husband, a parent or a grand, a friend or a loved one we once knew among us.
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May you receive a gift of grace that guides you in creating your own token of remembrance for your loved one. May your creating ease your heart and give you peace.

Our girls—puppies Chiquita, our Wheaten Terrier, and Lasyrenn, our Aussie—are shoulder to shoulder jockeying for the best forward view between our two front seats. They’re anxious to be in position to spot the sights behind the fence rows we’ll be passing.

Many “excitements” will appear as we turn on Macon Street then jig and jog on the county roads that lead us to and over Center Creek. There on the bridge we always stop and look and listen. Until recently we frequently saw a great blue heron fishing for breakfast alone or with his mate. Though the herons seem to have flown south for the winter, the resident Kingfisher still makes a reliable fly-by keeping close to the bank and declaring his presence with a rattling call.

What a plethora of pleasing sights are ours on any Sunday! Before and after the creek we can always count on seeing cows in an abundant assortment of sizes, shapes and tints. For sure we’ll see horses and a donkey or two or three.

On one trip we saw a rafter of turkey hens scurrying away through a wooded understory and a coyote casually strolling across an open pasture. Another Sunday, while the puppies barked their delight, six very young deer frolicked on the roadside before crossing over in front of us. Further down the road we find long-horned cattle and a bunch of goats our working-dog Aussie longs to herd. In a short half day trip we see a menagerie of creatures sufficiently diverse to fill the Christ child’s stable for at least two or more nativity visits.

This Sunday’s sighting of the little lady is a splendid, unexpected precursor to all the fauna that follow. To my question “Did you see that little lady over there?” David, always eager for a new discovery, replies, “I missed her. Shall we go back?” “Yes, please!” is my happy response.

Making a quick turnaround we retrace our way to Chestnut Street. Passing through the wrought iron and Carthage marble entrance to Park Cemetery, we drive down a faint, less traveled tract leading in the direction of the little lady who’s beckoned for our attention.

Reverently we step lightly among graves as we walk down the hill to greet the enchanting wee woman. She’s less than three feet tall, hewn from granite now beautifully patinaed by golden lichens and the passing of time. Wearing a one shouldered tunic, beneath a flowing lock of long hair, her left hand held over her heart modestly covers her bare breast. Our Lady’s right hand rests on the top of what at first glance appears to be a miner’s pick. Closer looking tells us the implement is an anchor with a prong broken off, possibly by a mowing machine. Searching for an inscription on this miniature monument, we find none. Perhaps an engraved base beneath this stone figure has long since sunken below the soil line.

Whose grave does Our Lady mark? Who can she be? Our imaginative artist minds begin to create and spin a story as though to unravel Our Lady’s mysteries. Might she be the wife of a sailor lost at sea? Intrigued with her aura of the unknown, we’re compelled to make return visits on our Sunday outings. Her magnetism is undeniable. Is she enchanting us? For sure we are adopting her.

On our most recent visit we present Our Lady with our gift of a festive Christmas crown made just for her. To a lovely small wreath of pinecone adorned faux greenery, I added a bow with streamers of scarlet woven threads. David attached a delicate band to go beneath Our Lady’s chin and fit her crown securely through the coming weeks of rain and wind and weather. Today Our Lady of Mystery is a tiny stanchion of loveliness as she stands serenely in Park Cemetery surrounded by her silent city filled with many silent mysteries.
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In coming days I’ll focus on practicing due diligence to solve the questions of Our Lady’s identity and history. In next week’s Art Notes I’ll share with you all that I discover.
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For now, personally and on behalf of artCentral’s board of directors, I wish you and yours a most blessed midwinter. May beauty and pleasure and satisfaction fill your heart and your home through the magical celebrations before us. May your days be merry and bright. May your nights be peaceful and quiet.

placed their Silent Auction bids. Their effervescence was palpable when these happy shoppers walked through the door. The lights got brighter.

When artCentral’s newest board member Jason Shelfer and his daughter Flannery appeared the lights definitely went up! Out for a wintry “father-daughter Saturday” they arrived wearing twinkling eyes, rosy cheeks and radiant smiles. Like two fashion conscious metros they were dressed for the cold weather in carefully selected and perfectly paired “arty” outfits. (Apparently they had taken time to discuss and coordinate their attire for their day out.)

Flannery topped her freckled face with a pompom adorned stocking cap knitted with fibers of amber gold. The cuffs on her cozy, faux fur jacket were tinted to echo her hat which resonated with her dad’s amber gold pocket square tucked into his herringbone sport jacket worn above his amber gold peg-legged slacks. Keeping their palette pleasantly subdued, Jason’s charcoal gray stocking cap perfectly complimented Flannery’s soft, heathered gray pull over. Oh what a picture of holiday eye candy these two presented!

I’m getting to know Jason better every day having vetted him for our board of directors, given him orientation as a new board member and put him through the tasks required of a Holiday Boutique volunteer. On artist pickup day after the shopping was all done Jason checked out artists and took time to cordially chat with each, carried tables and chairs up and down stairs, swept floors, folded table drapes and happily gave attention to a plethora of wrap up details.

As Jason already knows well, serving on artCentral’s nine member board of directors is an honor that requires a three year commitment to pitch in and do your share. Ours is a working board! We all have a mutual passion—to express our love for art and artists as we live our mission to enrich the cultural life of Carthage and beyond.

​Like every healthy board ours is diverse and well-balanced with regard to gender and background experience. We strive to have a good representation of practicing artists who presently include Jason and Jane Ballard and Doug Osborn and myself.

Jason, our newest artist board member, is married to Meg. As father to Miles, 19, and Flannery, 12, he stays fit in body and spirit with running and bicycling and time spent in his studio. He’s a Carthage native whose great, great grandfather permanently moved to Carthage in 1918 and was appointed to serve as Street Commissioner; his great grandfather worked for twenty-three years at Carter Hardware until he became a Deputy Clerk at the Jasper County Courthouse; and his grandfather graduating from Carthage High in 1929, worked as a credit manager for the Carthage Marble Corporation and was the owner/operator of the local Buena Vista Dairy. Jason’s mother graduated Carthage High School in 1967 and has been a very active volunteer to numerous local organizations including as a former board member of artCentral.

Besides his deeply rooted Carthage pedigree, Jason brings an impressive curriculum vitae to our board. Graduating from Carthage High School in 1991, he went on to Missouri Southern State University and earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communications and in English with a minor in Studio Art with a Sculpture Emphasis that earned awards. For artCentral’s recent Holiday Boutique Silent Auction Jason painted and donated a beautifully rendered high-bid-receiving oil on canvas of an anatomically detailed heart.

Like most of us artists, he holds a day job: Jason serves our community as Supervisor in the Child Support Division in the office of the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney. Additionally for six years he’s represented Ward 5 on the Carthage City Council where he’s chaired several committees, participated on others and is the Council liaison to several community services. Philanthropically Jason serves on the board of Art Feed National and is a frequent volunteer with Vision Carthage’s “Carthage in Bloom” project and on the clean-up committee for the Walnut Bottoms City Park.

With great pleasure artCentral’s board of directors welcomes Jason Shelfer. He’s a civic-minded creative thinker, a gifted artist and will be a fine addition to our board for he is a skilled practitioner of the Art of Happy!

Though Hyde House is a bit quieter now, our lights remain on and twinkling to welcome the New Year as we move through this memory-making season. I’ll keep my camera close at hand, as I’m sure many of you will. Taking photos is a splendid way to document the magic of our memory making.

As we danced through our spectacular Carthage autumn I was kept spinning and my shutter constantly clicking. Every time I stepped outdoors photo memories were made and savored and archived in abundance. My heart warms when I see these precious photos on my digital screens or on my studio walls beside pictures sent from New Jersey celebrating the November birth of our new petite fille. Photos, photos and more photos! I love them! Now I have beaucoup images of the Holiday Boutique waiting for my editing!
Where would we be without photography to help us record and keep our memories?
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Wikipedia provides a nice synopsis on how photography came to be “in remote antiquity with the discovery of two critical principles; the camera obscura image projection and the observation that some substances are visibly altered by exposure to light. Apart from a very uncertain process used on the Turin Shroud, there are no artifacts or descriptions that indicate any attempt to capture images with light-sensitive materials prior to the 18th century. Around 1717 Johann Heinrich Schulze captured cut-out letters on a bottle of a light-sensitive slurry, but he apparently never thought of making the results durable. Around 1800 Thomas Wedgwood made the first reliably documented, although unsuccessful, attempt at capturing camera images in permanent form. His experiments did produce detailed photograms but no way to fix these images was found.

In the mid-1820s, Nicéphore Niépce first fixed a camera image that required at least eight hours or even several days of exposure in the camera. The earliest results were very crude. Niépce's associate Louis Daguerre went on to develop the daguerreotype process, the first publicly announced and commercially viable photographic process requiring only minutes of exposure in the camera and producing clear, finely detailed results. The daguerreotype was introduced as a gift to the world in 1839, a date generally accepted as the birth year of practical photography.

The metal-based daguerreotype process soon had some competition from the paper-based calotype negative and salt print processes invented by William Henry Fox Talbot. Subsequent innovations made photography easier and more versatile. New materials reduced the required camera exposure time from minutes to seconds and eventually to a small fraction of a second; new photographic media were more economical, sensitive or convenient including roll films for casual use by amateurs. In the mid-20th century, developments made it possible for amateurs to take pictures in natural color as well as in black-and-white.

The commercial introduction of computer-based electronic digital cameras in the 1990’s soon revolutionized photography. Photochemical methods were marginalized and the quality of moderately priced digital cameras was continually improved. Especially since cameras became a standard feature on smartphones, taking pictures (and instantly publishing them online) has become a ubiquitous everyday practice around the world.”

Gifted photographer and artCentral board member Jane Ballard recently presented our board with a collection of her thoughts on the value of photographers as artists and photography as an art form.

In Jane’s notes, “The word photography is derived from Greek words meaning ‘drawing the light’. Photographers paint pictures, tell stories and record events with their images like painters do. A photographer captures a moment in time in its actuality. Although anyone who picks up a camera can be considered a photographer, to practice photography as an art form and to be considered a true photographer takes a lot of practice, creativity, imagination, technical expertise and knowledge about cameras, lighting, scenery and much more. The camera is just the most basic component of a photographer’s equipment. Photographers also use filters, flashes or strobes, various lenses and other apparatus to record an image then shape that image using editing software to look like the image they see in their minds’ eyes. Photographers are Artists! Photography is art!”

As you finish your shopping, reach out to one of artCentral’s talented Artist Photographers. Select one of their extraordinary images. Give a gift of photography! Give the gift of art! Give the art of photography!