About

About Gwyneth

Pope Benedict XVI receives painting of st Augustine by Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI receives St. Augustine by Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs

Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs is a contemporary sacred artist in the perennial tradition of Western sacred art. She is dedicated in particular to reviving techniques from the Renaissance and Baroque eras to reveal the glory of God in the midst of today’s crises. Her art decorates churches, schools, and private homes throughout the Americas and Europe. In 2017 she was asked to create a painting for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

During high school, Gwyneth studied under Tony Ortega at the Art Students League of Denver. She went on to earn a BFA at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Gwyneth also holds advanced degrees in Physics and Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. She taught college-level math for eight years, including two at the Colorado School of Mines, while continuing to study drawing and painting independently.

In 2014, Gwyneth moved to New England to study the Boston School technique under Paul Ingbretson, and began to dedicate herself full-time to art and design. She was Visiting Fellow and Artist-in-Residence at The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, NH, where she and her husband developed a year-long core course in the perception, practice, and theory of sacred art.

Gwyneth lives in St. Louis with her husband, Andrew, and their three children.

Education

2015-2016 Copied works from the Baroque collections, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2013-2015 Paul Ingbretson Studio of Painting and Drawing, Manchester, NH
Summer 2011 Way of Beauty Naturalistic Drawing Program, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Merrimack, NH
2007-2009 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Lakewood, CO
2005 Master of Science, Engineering Systems – Mechanical Specialty, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
2004 Bachelor of Science, Engineering Physics, McBride Honors Program, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
1998-2003 Art Students League of Denver, Drawing and Painting courses

Selected Exhibitions & Awards

2020 Sacred Art Competition and Exhibition, Curated by Denis McNamara, Catholic Art Institute, Chicago
Madonna of the Crown of Roses awarded Honorable Mention
2018 Art in the Age of Anxiety, Juried Exhibition, Arts Guild of Sonoma, CA
Spoils of War awarded Honorable Mention
2016 Men of God, Women of the World, Solo Exhibition at 2nd Annual Guild Night, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Nashua, NH
2015 1st Annual Guild Night, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Nashua, NH
2014 Contemporary Sacred Art Biennial, Juried Exhibition, Jubilee Museum, Columbus, OH
Before the Sacrifice purchased for the museum’s permanent collection
2014 5th Nationwide Juried Catholic Arts Exhibition, St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
St. Catherine of Siena named 2nd Prize winner

Selected Commissions

2021 St. Gerard Majella, private collection, St. Louis, MO
2020 St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, Benedictine monastery, Italy
2020 Ascension, Ascension Parish, Chesterfield, MO
2019 St. Hugh of Lincoln, private collection, Pittsburgh, PA
2019 Pietà, private collection, Suffolk, England
2018 St. John Fisher, Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, Jasper, GA
2018 Holy Family with St. John the Baptist after Perino del Vaga, Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Lake Arthur, LA
2018 Sanctuary Angels, Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Lake Charles, LA
2018 Portrait of Venerable Patrick Peyton, Family Theater Productions, Hollywood, CA
2017 St. Augustine, commissioned as a gift for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
2017 Stations of the Cross, Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Lake Charles, LA
2016 Portrait of Franc Cardinal Rodé, private collection, Belgium
2015 Christ with a Goldfinch, Catholic Digest Magazine, New London, CT
2012 Portrait of Blessed John Henry Newman, commissioned as a gift for Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, NE
2012 Coat of Arms of Archbishop Aquila, commissioned as a gift for Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver, CO
2010 Mural for the Writing Center, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
2006 St. Paul, mural for the Villa Caritas, Lima, Peru
2006 Mural for the Maison Française, Alliance Française de Denver, CO

Cover Art

2014 “St. Catherine of Siena,” Catholic Insight Magazine, July/August 2014
2014 “St. Robert Southwell,” commissioned by Joseph Pearce for St. Austin Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, July/August 2014
2012 “Blessed Beatrice of Nazareth,” Dappled Things, Vol. 7, Issue 4, Mary Queen of Angels, 2012

Publications as Author

2020 “The Ascension: A Visual Meditation,” Saint Austin Review, Vol. 20, No.6, November/December
2020 “Depicting Creation Perfected by Grace,” Saint Austin Review, Vol. 20, No.1, January/February
2013 “From Dark to Light: The Art of Ariel Agemian,” Latin Mass Magazine, Summer
2012 “The Interior Life of Statues,” Latin Mass Magazine, Vol. 21, Issue 3, Fall