Saint Agnes  

Oil on canvas, 24" x 30"  

        In the Spring of 1997 a thirty year reunion was organized and by the end of the summer monies were collected for the portrait. During the reunion it was decided who would be Saint Agnes. One of the classmates, Tony Summe, selected his wife, Dolly Summe to be Saint Agnes. She supplied several photographs of herself in grade school and Tom took additional reference photos of Dolly.  

        The first step in completing the portrait was reading the story of the saint along with studying the statues and stain glass at the parish. A rough sketch was prepared on canvas. Discussion with various concerned parties firmed up the hair, veil, lamb and wardrobe.  

Photos of the school from the play yard and a baby lamb were taken. Just by luck, baby lambs were being birthed in Monroe, Ohio at a sheep dog training kennel. The kennel had various types of sheep so as to train the dogs and one of those breeds gave birth in the Fall. The final drawing was done and then painting started. The background was done first working towards the foreground. The lamb and clothes were painted next, then the hands and face.  

        Tom gave eight lectures at St. Agnes to educate the students about the processes of painting a portrait. During each of those lectures he selected a student from the group to be dressed up and photographed as Saint Agnes. The lecture covered all the aspects of being a full time, life long fine artist. He brought his paints and easel along with the sketched out portrait and explained their functions.  

        The portrait is a life size head and shoulders painting. The sky has a few dark clouds amongst the white clouds to signify the darkness of events surrounding St. Agnes for she was to be put to death shortly afterwards. In the upper part of the background you can see the whole parish campus with church, school and newly refurbished refuge center. The green house is located father to the right, was moved into view so that it could be included in the painting. Below the campus is the ball field with several baseball backstops and soccer goals. Saint Agnes wears a blue veil and a ochre garment. She holds a white lamb with both of her hands. A portion of her blond hair surrounds her face and she has fair skin and blue eyes. The portrait is 24" x 30" and has a large European type frame. The portrait will hang in the lobby entrance of the school between the trophy case and the statue of St. Agnes.  

        Dedication before Mass at the Church of St. Agnes, 1618 Dixie Highway, Ft. Wright, Kentucky, Friday January 23rd, 1998 at 8:30 am wth reception after Mass at St. Agnes Grade School, 1322 Sleepy Hollow Road, Ft. Wright, Ky. Principal of St. Agnes 606-261-0543, Martha Witt, secretary of St. Agnes Parish 606-431-1802, Tom Lohre, artist 513-861-4146  

Notes and News  

From the Class of 1967  

March 13th, 2001  

Just wanted to let you know this is my 30th year of teaching.  

It is my 20th year teaching the first grade.  

I hope to retired in a few years. The children are a real challenge.  

I don't want to say I am getting old. Not yet!  

Sincerely,  

Diane Storch, MargrtDian@aol.com  

 

Hi Tom, 5/30/01  

 

Here is a picture of B.J and myself in Alaska with the boys a couple years ago. The small one is Zack and the large one is Nick. Like I said the picture is two years old.  Both boys are almost bigger than me now. Talk to ya later.  

Kurt Saalfeld, Kurtsaalf@aol.com