Made By Hand

I didn't grow up with a clear picture of what it meant to be a woman. Raised by my father with two brothers, I had to find pieces of womanhood in the women I worked with, read about, or admired. But slowly, I built a life of intention, crafted with purpose.

As a wife, mother, and business owner, I believe the choices we make, the way we build our homes, the clothes we wear, the meals we prepare, these all shape the lives we lead. It's about creating a space for joy and peace, not by accident, but by design.

We'll explore the stories of people who live life with intention, people who don't wait for life to be perfect, but embrace the beauty and meaning in their everyday choices. Because living a life of faith and beauty isn't something we wait for, it's something we create.

And through these stories, we discover new ways to flourish, one intentional step at a time. Every work of art begins with a hand, an idea, and the courage to create. At the Catholic Makers Market, I'm meeting artisans who shape wood, paint, and canvas into beauty that lifts hearts and serves the community.

Here, creativity becomes a way of living with intention. As the founder of the Catholic Makers Market, what inspired you to create such, like, a wonderful family-friendly event? My friend and I had the idea. We were, it was during COVID, and we were kind of starving for community, and we felt like other people were too. There's also a time everyone's shopping local and buying, you know, from your local coffee shop or your local restaurant and stuff, and we just thought, you know, wouldn't it be cool if we could create kind of a Catholic economy in Denver, where people, like, know the people they...

You know, I think it has brought a lot of people out of the woodwork that, you know, you didn't realize, you know, that that person had that artistic talent. I know a lot of parishioners have mentioned that they're just like so wowed by, you know, that person in the pew next to them. They had no idea like what they were capable of.

How's it going at the market? Good, yeah. Have you been here before? Is this your first time? Third year we've done it. I don't know, it brings people together in a way that's really neat. So, with the religious art, how do you kind of see that contribution?

I knew this elderly priest who once told me, our feet are always in the mud. You can be as mystical as you want, but at the end of the day, you're going to encounter God in the concrete. And so, I'm a carpenter, so this is where I'm going to find God.

And opening my heart to that also opens my heart to Him. In Peter's hands, wood becomes more than material. It becomes devotion, each carving serving as a reminder of the sacred. There's always somebody needing something built or something fixed. It keeps me busy, which has been a huge blessing that I've been able to work that way.

One of the disadvantages of going from a large company to working for myself is I just didn't mentally calculate how many man hours go into something. There was a whole season where I felt like every Sunday, my son would... Follow me out here and ask me to make him something, and it's just neat. I'm aiming to transition more and more into more of a shop job, which has a lot of flexibility with it, being more present to the family. I think it's funny how often our lives develop in ways that we don't expect God has a plan that...

It's just always greater than whatever we could imagine. There's that psalm, teach me to know the value of my day. Every day, what is this meant to be? And so often, it's off script and not what we plan.

Relationships, trust, building confidence, those aren't things you can put a value on, and they're easy to miss. That's what's most important. Tell me about this piece. Was this a commissioned piece? So, actually, this one was just a fruit of prayer. I was struggling to forgive someone, and I was also meditating on the thought of Christ giving himself to Judas, even knowing that he was about to betray him. Wow, and so that prayer can now become tangible and impact all of us.

That's what I love about your artwork. This is what I feel very called to do, and I want to serve the Lord in this way and make his story known. Our churches should be beautiful where we are encountering the person of Christ. It's such a humbling experience that I can have a small part in such a very grand.

Gesture. Brie paints not only with color, but with intention. Each canvas an invitation for a deeper appreciation of God's presence. I've been participating in the Catholic Makers Market since it started a few years ago. It's really nice to do markets, and to see and meet people, and to hear what it means to them.

There's a lot of ways to tell a story, and I feel like I was given this gift to tell these stories through a paintbrush, through a canvas. Sacred art is needed. I think art and beauty has a way of piercing people when they're not looking for it, when they're resistant to the gospel.

Art can strike through any hesitations that someone might have. I was talking to some people that were just enthralled by some of my prints, and it's very humbling. And they were just going on and on about how, like, prayerful it is, and I think that's, like, the biggest compliment to say that my work is prayerful. Like, that's what I want you to use it for. I want you to, yeah, go deeper with the Lord, and if my artwork can facilitate that, then praise God.

What a gift. It has a unique way of helping us feel connected. So, is this January Jane's first time at the market? This is our second time. We came two years ago, and now we're back again this year. Okay, and what does it mean to kind of be able to sell local? It's just really humbling to actually witness people be touched by something that I made.

Things people know me for is I do a lot of subtlety in, like, putting faith into things. So, like, people might not know this has such a deep meaning behind it, and then they might ask you about it, and you can tell the story, you know, and you can... You can evangelize through the beauty. Yeah, yeah. And what is one of the most rewarding parts of your art? When I get to actually be in my little art studio, I feel like it's such a sacred time to be in conversation with the Lord about, what do you want me to bring into this world next?

Jana's art reminds us that beauty is not extra. It's essential. It draws us closer to what is true and eternal. I think creativity and imagination are... Both, those are both principles that were really instilled in us at young ages, from my mom and my dad. Being able to share that joy with other people is when it really comes alive for me. Anything that I am able to do with my hands and my creativity has always been connected to my God-given nature, and It is a way for me to allow the Holy Spirit to just bring what He wants to bring to the world through my ideas as well.

It's really fulfilling as an artist to be able to bring your work to the community. There's nothing wrong with digital art, but I like to take the long way because that is where I start to come alive, that is where I connect, and that is where I feel.

Like the Holy Spirit has room to work inside of me. I really see the Lord in nature and in the details of creation, especially in flowers. The goal would be to create a space where people can sell their things, but it is more than just about selling and buying, you know, have relationships with the people they are selling to and vice versa. I would love to see this be something that pops up in other places.

In our diocese alone, I would love to see it spread to the more northern part. You know, a lot of those people don't drive this far to come to this. It would be cool if there could be sort of a network of these markets, and I would love for that to be sort of like a big unified effort.

Part of our goal here was to have the vendors really take ownership and work together to put this together and stuff. It's really all them. At the Catholic Makers Market, art is more than a craft. It's a gift. These makers show us that to create with intention is to serve both God and community. And in supporting them, we remind ourselves that beauty made by hand still has the power to change hearts.