News Highlights!

On Sunday,October 7,2007 Pilgrim Lutheran Church dedicated a new  processional cross in memory of Laura Gelacek, a member of the  congregation who died in 2005.  The cross was designed and created by  Wendy Brusick, another member of the congregation who is a  professional artist.  Wendy shares the story of creating this cross and photos of the completed piece of art.  The cross stands in the front of the sanctuary and is used to remind us that we are people of  a crucified and risen Lord. 

Last Fall when Pastor Kohl asked me if I was interested in creating a  processional cross for our congregation, it didn’t take me long to say “yes” even though I had never made such a thing before.  I’m very interested in liturgical art even though I mostly create surrealistic paintings in a studio in my home in Cranston.  I had been hoping to use my artistic skills in some way at Pilgrim but didn’t know where my contribution would fit in.  Meeting with Pastor and Sister Carol helped clarify what style cross they were hoping for and allowed me to show them some sketches of my ideas.  We carefully considered size, materials and symbolism.  In the end I was able to go back to the studio and create what you see as the finished cross being 
carried down the aisle on Sunday.

The project took well over 100 hours of labor that span an entire year from when it was conceived.  I would work on it without interruption for a few days and then put it down to do other things or hunt for materials and then pick it up again a few weeks later.  I followed a design I had drawn on paper to its exact size and cut the cross, figure of Christ and anchor out of birch wood with an electric scroll saw.  Holes were drilled and tiny areas were routed out with a high speed rotary tool.  Colored sea glass that I found at Still House Cove and pieces of purple and white Wampum (polished Quahog Shell) were used as symbols of place - Rhode Island - and set into the holes I had made in the wood.  The gold anchor on the back is also a symbol of our state as well as of Christian hope.  The crown 
of thorns is made of antique barbed wire from old fences in the 
American west.  The nails are from the original structure of our 
house in Edgewood which was built about 1910.  Antique buttons, gold and amethyst beads were also incorporated into the design.

I was trained in the academic tradition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.  I came there with an undergraduate degree in Art from Valparaiso University, but at the Academy I really learned to hone my drawing and painting skills.  The figure of Christ is painted in acrylic on the wood shape.  It took the longest to complete this portion of the cross as it is made entirely of little brush strokes in a crosshatching technique.  The figure is a composite pose of many of the crucifixes I have studied.  The features are not of any person I know but came from my imagination.  Gold leaf was used to decorate both front and back and brown acrylic paint contrasts the gold and unifies the molding that frames the cross.

As I neared completion I struggled with how I was going to attach it to a pole for carrying.  One day as I was checking out my favorite consignment shop in Warwick, I happened to spy a vintage walnut flagpole tucked into a corner.  I immediately realized that the wood matched the cross perfectly and would be the ideal finish to the piece.  It had been there for several months and I had passed it by without really seeing it.  Was it a stroke of good luck or the Holy Spirit at work?

The front of the cross tells the entire story of our salvation.  Down on the bottom is the skull that symbolizes the story of Adam and Eve.  The serpent is there along with the red glass fruit.  Out of the death and despair of their plight comes a growth of green leaves… the Shoot of Jesse and the promise of redemption.  The crucified figure of Christ is the fulfillment of that promise and is one of  suffering and sacrifice for the sake of the world and all of us.  

Above the stretched out arms of Christ are the heavens, a comet and the sun on the left (day) and the moon and stars on the right (night).  Although we do not understand the mystery of the sacrifice, we acknowledge that it is bigger than any one of us and part of a
cosmic plan that transcends time and place. 

The shape in gold behind the figure of Christ is that of a chalice and above it the circle of  the eucharistic bread.  Inside the circle is the Holy Spirit dove and on either side are wheat and grapes that are symbols of the Eucharist.

The back of the cross is embedded with colored shells from Florida.  The heavenly shapes made of sea glass become stones in the sea viewed from this side and I added some waves and sand.  Shells are a symbol of baptism and also reinforce the theme of our ocean state.

The inscription at the base reads:

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”

1 Corinthians 1:18

Wendy Brusick