John and Candace Tapert belong to the secular branch of the St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery, following the ancient Rule of St. Albert. Like the Carmelite priests and sisters, they make promises of obedience, poverty and chastity, pray the Liturgy of the Hours, and practice silent prayer. Unlike them, they are married and live outside the monastery, simply, in a hermitage of their own construction on five acres near Seattle. They help to support the monastery through the work of their hands.
For many years they had a thriving business as secular artists and designers, making jewelry and stuffed toys. But as their devotion to a Carmelite way of life began to grow, John, a cradle Catholic, and Candace, who entered the church in 1999, felt a calling to make art to glorify God.
With a lifetime of needle skills, Candace began to make hand-sewn quilted and beaded works that utilized images from postage stamps, which she found to be a treasure trove of Catholic art from around the world. She and John found Stations of the Cross that were made into stamps by the African country of Burundi. It took several years for them to assemble all fourteen; then began experiments to find the best techniques to display the rich colors and artistry of the original paintings. A process that was as ancient as gold and as space-age as computers evolved. The process, called gold imaging, allows them to take a tiny postage stamp and incorporate it on surfaces such as stone or glass, letting light bring it to life as it refracts off the 22 karat gold. Colors appear backlit, and as though they have their own light source.
John was commissioned to make a set of fused glass Stations for
Holy Innocents Catholic Church in Duvall, Washington, using the new process. The work received national acclaim in Liturgy and Ministry magazine and received their Outstanding Design Award. Most gratifying to John and Candace was the increased attendance and devotion to the Stations of the Cross fostered by the installation of the beautiful new Stations.
For more information on the Stations, follow this link:
Stations
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John Tapert: Black Madonna
