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 Western tradition. 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.

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. In 2017 she was asked to create a painting for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Gwyneth and her husband, Andrew, launched Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs Sacred Art as their full-time family business in 2019. They live in St. Louis with their four 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

2022 Sacred Art Competition and Exhibition, Juried by Anthony Visco & Kathleen Carr, Catholic Art Institute, Chicago
Christ the King awarded Honorable Mention
2021 Sacred Art Competition and Exhibition, Juried by Cody Swanson, Catholic Art Institute, Chicago
St. Peter Damian awarded Honorable Mention
2020 Sacred Art Competition and Exhibition, Juried 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
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

2023 Triumphal Entry of Christ, private collection, Lisbon, Portugal
2022 St. Isidore the Farmer, private collection, Powell, WY
2022 Baptistery Murals, Cathedral of St. Joseph, Jefferson City, MO
2022 St. Jean-Marie Vianney, private collection, Shorewood, WI
2022 St. Charles Borromeo and Madonna and Child, St. Charles Borromeo Church, Fort Wayne, IN
2021 St. Edmund Campion, private collection, London, England
2021 St. Edmund Campion, private collection, Abbotsford, BC, Canada
2021 St. Gerard Majella, private collection, St. Louis, MO
2021 St. Peter Damian, Damianites, Port Orchard, WA
2020 St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, Benedictine monastery, Italy
2020 Ascension, Ascension Catholic Church, Chesterfield, MO
2019 St. Hugh of Lincoln, private collection, Pittsburgh, PA
2019 Pietà, private collection, Suffolk, England
2019 St. John Fisher, Our Lady of the Mountains Catholic Church, Jasper, GA
2018 Portrait of Venerable Patrick Peyton, Family Theater Productions, Hollywood, CA
2017 St. Augustine, commissioned as a gift for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Vatican City
2017 Stations of the Cross, Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Lake Charles, LA
2016 Portrait of Franc Cardinal Rodé, private collection, Brussels, Belgium

Illustrations & Cover Art

2021 Illustrator, Christmas Blossoms by Priscilla McCaffrey, Manchester, NH: Sophia Press, 2021
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

2023 “If Thy Right Eye Scandalize Thee,” National Catholic Register, January 10, 2023
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
2012 “The Interior Life of Statues,” Latin Mass Magazine, Vol. 21, Issue 3, Fall