Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

Creating religious artwork is a calling for artist Abigale Powrie, one that gives her joy and purpose.

“It’s my own small way of glorifying God,” she said during a recent interview. “I derive joy from that, no matter how big or small” the pieces.

Powrie, 24, recently completed a composition depicting the crucifixion. The charcoal and graphite on paper image is 37 inches by 50 inches tall. It depicts Jesus hanging on the cross while his mother, his disciple John, and Mary Magdalene stand at the foot of the cross, darkness covering them.

The piece — which Powrie worked on for more than a year — was commissioned by Father Michael Schultz, who was ordained to the priesthood in June. The artwork was depicted on prayer cards for his ordination.

Powrie earned a fine arts degree in drawing from the University of Louisville in 2022. She developed a love for religious art during her college years, she said.

“Everyone loves looking at beautiful art. It’s in us,” she said. As her college studies progressed, she said she realized there was “so much ugliness in modern art.”

“As a Catholic, I wanted to see beauty. For me, there’s nothing more beautiful than Catholicism. That may sound cheesy, but that’s ultimately it,” she said. “I was like ‘I’ll show them’ and found out I loved” creating art inspired by the faith. “I absolutely fell in love with it.”

Powrie, a member of Guardian Angels Church, said her art also has deepened her faith.

“I find joy and purpose in that. I really feel a calling,” she said. “It’s kind of impossible not to grow in your faith when you make something like that… It’s impossible to create a piece like the crucifixion and not meditate on it. You have to be methodical and think of every detail and that bleeds into other parts of your life.”

Powrie — who currently draws in a studio in her parents’ home — said she’s been drawing all her life. Her mother has a photograph of her at just a year old in which she holds a crayon correctly, she said with a laugh. Her mother encouraged her by enrolling her in art classes, she noted.

She attended St. Albert the Great School and Sacred Heart Academy, all the while steadily improving her artistic skills.

“I was about 15 when things took off,” she said. “I started taking private lessons. It helped me tremendously.”

Powrie’s approach to creating a work of art starts with research, she noted. She researches color and old religious paintings.

“I compile hundreds of reference photos and I compose my own take on it,” she said.

When working on a piece, Powrie said it’s important to pay attention to the background.

“When the background is smoothed out everything pops. It gives it atmosphere,” she said. “It’s just as important to work on the background” as it is the figures in the forefront.

Powrie said she’s researching ways of selling her work but making money isn’t her goal.

“It would be nice if I got money for it but that’s not why I do it,” she said. “I love art. I can’t not make it. I can’t help myself.”