By Joyce Rudolph Published: Last Updated Tuesday, June 9, 2009 10:05 PM PDT
Micheline E. Abounassar is hoping to spread peace and love around the world with her paintings —
starting with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
A copy of her oil painting, “The Savior,” which depicts Jesus Christ, is on her website. Religious officials in
Jerusalem saw it there and contacted the Glendale artist.
“They liked it so much and thought is was a great gift for His Holiness,” Abounassar said, who goes by Micha.
“And Pope Benedict has a book about Jesus of Nazareth
and his spokesman thought my painting depicted the one in his book.”
The painting, a giclee print on archival canvas, was presented to the pope during his visit to Jerusalem on
May 12 by Wadie Abunassar, media coordinator of the Pope’s
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
“The pope just said ‘thank you’ and stood for a moment of respect in front of the ‘Savior’ painting,”
Abunassar said in an e-mail.
Abounassar said she is extremely moved by the honor.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s something I’ve worked for in my life. It’s really something amazing
for me. I couldn’t believe it. It’s a really big honor.”.
Testimonial:
“I loved it,” he said. “I’m blown away with it. It’s an absolutely stunning piece.”
It was also quite a thrill knowing the pope was the first to receive a print of it,.
Abounassar, 28, first received recognition for her artwork when she was 5, winning first
place in her kindergarten class in Lebanon.
She drew a church with a nun and people going to pray on one side of the paper and people
who were playing and not going to church on the other side.
The nun was carrying a rosary with people walking behind her.
“I was trying to inspire others to go to church,” Abounassar said. “They gave me gifts
— books and coloring pencils and a rosary.
I was carrying so many gifts, I was so small you couldn’t see me.”
Her teacher asked her parents to come in to meet with her and urged them to
support her artistic talent, which they continue to do, she said.
In her painting of “The Savior,” she said people see what they want to see in it.
“I was trying to portray love and peace for humanity,” Abounassar said.
“It’s showing love to everyone. His eyes are blue interpreting sky and ocean,
and showing how he cried so much.”
The glow on his complexion shows he’s human, and not human, she added.
“He’s more like God,” she said. “You can touch and feel him and follow his words
and his message of love to humanity.”
She is now painting the Virgin Mary for the Mary of Nazareth Project, an international
center in Nazareth that is in the planning stages, Abounassar said.
“I’m honored,” she said.
“I have a passion for Jesus and Mary and the way I paint them, I want them
to look real from my heart. I want to inspire hope and love and peace for everyone.”
Photos:
Micheline Abounassar, also known as Micha, works on a painting titled "Adam and Eve"
at her home in Glendale, Tuesday.
Abounassar's painting titled 'The Savior Jesus of Nazareth The Prince of Peace'
was given as a gift to Pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem (Scott Smeltzer/News-Press)
Wadie Abunassar, left, presents the giclee print by Glendale artist Micheline E.
Abounassar to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. (Photo courtesy of Wadie Abunassar)
Micheline Abounassar's painting "The Savior Jesus of Nazareth The Prince of Peace"
was given as a gift to Pope Benedict XVI in Jerusalem. (Scott Smeltzer/News-Press)
The Crescenta Valley Sun is an Award-winning weekly,
community newspaper covering the cities of La Crescenta, Montrose,
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The Crescenta Valley Sun has a weekly print circulation of 16,000,
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Crescenta Valley Sun - Newspaper USA Artwork blessed by pope
Pope Benedict VXI recently blessed the artwork of La Crescenta resident Micheline E. Abounassar.
Executive Director of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land Wadie Abunassar
presented “The Savior,”
a painting of Jesus, at a luncheon with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the abbots and
the papal entourage
in the Patriarchate of the Latins in Jerusalem.
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The Armenian Reporter - Newspaper USA
Arts brief: Pope receives Lebanese-Armenian artist’s work
Published: Thursday May 28, 2009
Micha Micheline E. Abounassar, the artist, with print 2 of 500 of The Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, before it was
shipped from Glendale Calif., to Jerusalem, and onward to the Vatican.
Glendale, Calif. - A work by Micheline Abounassar, better known as Micha,
was presented to Pope Benedict XVI on May 12 during his visit to Jerusalem.
The executive director of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land,
Wadie Abunassar, presented The Savior to the Bishop of Rome.
The presentation took place during the Luncheon with the Ordinaries of the
Holy Land, the Abbots, and the Papal Entourage in the Patriarchate of the
Latins in Jerusalem.
The pope blessed Micha's work.
The work is a printed oil painting, number 2 of a limited edition of 500,
signed and numbered by the artist.
The work portrays Jesus as a blue-eyed man with a
light olive complexion and dark beard. The background is pitch black,
- so much so that it reflects the ambient light.
Micha, who lives in Glendale, Calif., is from Nazareth.
Her grandmother, Haigo-He Tabarjian, is Armenian.
connect:
1-818-522-7123
Michasgallery.com
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Edward K. Boghosian (1927-2006) established the Armenian Reporter
in New York City in 1967. The first issue appeared on November 2.
It grew quickly and maintained the highest paid circulation among
Armenian-American newspapers in the Eastern U.S.
Mr. Boghosian sold the newspaper to CS Media in May 2006.
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more Latest Peace news release, ‘The Savior’ The Prince of Peace oil
printed painting by artist Micha accepted & blessed by Pope Benedict XVI…
THE MARONITE VOICE - A Publication of the Maronite
Eparchies in the USA.
As of January 2005 the two eparchial (diocesan) newsletters, The Maronite Voice
and Maronites Today, have been consolidated into one monthly
publication. We have allotted space for the National Apostolate of Maronites
(NAM) to publish their news as well.
There are over 750 million Catholics (Eastern and Western) in the world.
Nearly 2 million Catholics of the Eastern Churches live in the United States
Gift to the Holy Father
Mr. Wadie Abounassar presents “The Savior” to His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI.
Mr. Wadie Abounassar, the Executive Director of the
Assembly of Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land,
presented and gifted a signed limited edition (2/500)
print of “The Savior,” an oil painting done by artist Micheline
E. Abounassar, to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on May
12, 2009. The Pope accepted and blessed the artist’s work at
the luncheon with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the
Abbots and the Papal Entourage in the Patriarchal See of the
Latins in Jerusalem.
The artist is a member of Our Lady of Mount Lebanon-
St. Peter Cathedral in Los Angeles, California.
________________________________________________________________
The Maronite Voice Volume V Issue No. VI Page 16 June 2009
Below: Pages 1, 2, 15, page 16 Gift to the Holy Father,
& page 19 Nam Convention
http://stmaron.org/maronite_voice.html
Click here for the June 2009 Newsletter:
http://stmaron.org/Maronite%20Voice%20for%20June%202009.pdf
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