THIS is the key to creating beautiful Catholic art

(LifeSiteNews) — On this episode of Faith and Reason, sacred artist and provost of Pontifex University David Clayton joins John-Henry Westen and Deacon Keith Fournier to discuss his incredible conversion story from an atheist to a devout Catholic through the integration of his artwork with the faith. The panel then analyzed why Catholic artists like Mel Gibson can produce beautiful sacred works despite personal struggles, the importance of sacred artists living virtuous lives, and more.

The panel opened the episode by asking Clayton to share his conversion story. Clayton explained that while he was raised in a Methodist household, he had no real faith growing up. Then, in his mid-20s, he began drifting without a sense of direction after studying science at Oxford.

“I suppose you could say I fell into a depression and that life seemed meaningless. I looked at the people around me; my peers from university were all soaring away in their careers, and I looked at their lives, and I couldn’t even see that that was worth striving for on the face [of it] because I had everything going for me and was just not motivated to follow through,” Clayton said.

But he eventually had a chance meeting at a cafe with a man named David Birtwistle who had mentored one of his friends, and they discussed how he was unhappy with where he was headed and wanted to be an artist. He encouraged Clayton to go through a vocational discernment process.

“And he said, ‘Well, you know, if I think through this, we can discover if that’s what you’re meant to be, and I can show you a way of allowing that to happen.’ And what he did [was] he took me through a series of spiritual exercises, and he introduced the idea of God by presenting me with a form … of Pascal’s wager. He effectively said, ‘Do the things that are consistent with the idea of God, and just see if it works,’” Clayton said.

David asked Clayton to try the routine for 30 days and see if he felt any different. At first, Clayton didn’t notice much difference after trying the spiritual exercises, but it didn’t take long for him to start seeing the fruits of his efforts.

“Well, before 30 days, I knew that something remarkable was [happening] here. And the other thing that I want to stress that really attracted me was that he was uncompromising in saying that God wants us to be happy. … So He’s not giving us a path that we have to be able to sort of discern like we’re filling out the New York Times crossword puzzle with all sorts of cryptic clues that we’re reading,” Clayton said.

“[David] just said, ‘You just do the best you can take, put one step in front of the other. And as long as your goal isn’t intrinsically bad or sinful, then that will open up the path in front of you if you trust in God. Really, what he did was show me that path and then encourage me, and it started to happen,’” Clayton added.

From there, Clayton began taking evening art classes, and doors began to open to a career as an artist. Meanwhile, his faith continued to blossom, leading to his eventual conversion to Catholicism and his faith inspiring him to create sacred art.

Later in the episode, the panel turned to Catholic artists like Mel Gibson, who, despite personal shortcomings, made the incredible The Passion of the Christ film showcasing the beauty of the faith. Westen asked Clayton what to make of Gibson and similar sacred artists who fall short of living virtuous lives.

Clayton compared Gibson to Caravaggio, a great Italian baroque artist who made great sacred paintings during the Catholic counter-reformation.

“He was a deeply troubled person; I think he murdered somebody [and] had to flee Rome. And he lived in the gambling dens and bars of Rome, or he spent much time there. Yet he produced this beautiful art. And so when I think about him and maybe Mel Gibson, it in some way, in a general way, corresponds to this pattern. Then what I would say is that, first of all, there’s no accounting for whom God chooses to inspire and who is capable of responding to that inspiration; it’s a mystery in one sense,” he said.

Clayton then underscored that there’s a false notion today that to be a great artist, one has to live without a moral code and connect with their passions.

“And I think that’s nonsense. If you’re going to be an artist, then you engender an openness to God’s inspiration. And the best way to do it is [to] try to lead a good and virtuous life in other aspects of your life as well,” he said.

For more discussion on living a virtuous life to create beautiful sacred art, Mel Gibson’s work, David Clayton’s full conversion story, and more, tune in to this episode of Faith and Reason.

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