The Catholic Church celebrates
All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1, but Celeste
Ingraffia Robbins has been celebrating saints for years — 1,000 saints to be exact.
Six years ago on Good Friday, Robbins was praying the Stations of the Cross and reflecting on how busy her life had become. With her love for both teaching and painting, she decided to make more time for her artwork, but not just any art.
“I thought that if I’m going to spend time doing something, I really wanted it to be for the greater glory of God,” she said. “I had painted saints before but thought I could make a collection and originally thought I’d paint 100 saints but then decided 1,000 saints sounded like a good idea.”
She immediately ordered 1,000 canvases and her 1,000 Catholic saints project was born. It did not take long for word to get out, and people began contacting her, asking for a particular saint. She fulfilled any and all requests, even if she had to research a specific saint. Some saints were familiar to her and popular requests; in other words, she painted 1,000 canvases not 1,000 individual saints. Each hand-painted and signed 4-by-12-inch canvas features matte acrylic paint because Robbins prefers the “folk art feel” and simple finish of the medium.
A teacher by trade, Robbins enjoyed being the student during the project. Although she remains partial to the Blessed Mother, she has a hard time choosing a favorite.
“I get asked that question a lot, and I can’t say I have just one,” she said. “I really enjoyed learning about new saints.”
Robbins is one of the founding faculty members at St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School in Austin, where she chairs the fine arts department and teaches studio art and photography. As an educator, she has spent 20 years writing, developing and implementing numerous pre-K through 12th grade fine arts curricula for art, music and theater, and the integration of all three. This is her 25th year teaching visual arts, 23 years have been in the Diocese of Austin and 11 at St. Dominic Savio. She also established the fine arts program at St. Theresa’s Catholic School in Austin.
It should come as no surprise that Robbins grew up surrounded by art and culture in her native New Orleans, which had a huge impact on her love of the arts in general.
“New Orleans is a city that loves the arts,” she said. “I grew up in a family where creativity and artistic experiences were nurtured. You can’t grow up around that and not have an appreciation for it.”
Robbins hopes her students also gain a simple love yet true appreciation of art. Although none of them were part of her 1,000 saints project, they knew about it and often asked what number she was painting. That type of confident curiosity is a trait she holds dear in her teaching and strives to instill in each of her students.
“I want them to learn about artists and materials and supplies and how to make great art, but ultimately I want them to know God loves them no matter what,” she said. “High school students have so many pressures today, so my hope is that students have time to also breathe a bit.”
Make no mistake, education is important to Robbins, who has a bachelor’s in fine arts as well as a master’s in art education. But art is just part of what she hopes her students learn.
“I often tell my students that it is important to me that they become good artists, but it’s way more important that they become great people,” she said.
Robbins is sure to take time for her other interests. She has written a children’s book and is in the process of penning a novel, and she loves painting children’s portraits.
“I love trying to capture the expression of a genuine smile of a child as there is nothing more sincere than a child’s natural smile,” she said. “Interestingly enough, my saints have no faces. I left the faces blank in hopes that after learning about the lives of these great men and women, the owners might see themselves in the paintings.”
Robbins said her 1,000 saints project was not about her or her talents but all the men and women celebrated on All Saints’ Day.
“As I worked on the project, I enjoyed sharing images of saints on their feast days, but I love the idea that they all have one day to celebrate together,” she said.
For information on Robbins and her work, visit
www.celesteingraffiarobbins.com.