God is His Partner — Artist Describes Creative Process for Sculpting Commissioned Religious Artwork

Breezy Point, NY — The religious artwork of Bernard M. Deschler is motivated by faith, hope, and love — making God his partner in the creative process.

Inspired by his faith and love of Christ, Deschler speaks with conviction of his anguish for the poor and the needy. His paintings and sculptures are symbolic expressions which reflect emotions as well as images. Much of his work can be seen on his web site at http://www.ArtForChurch.com.

"I have intentionally depicted the martyrdom of humanity through our Savior Jesus Christ," explained Deschler. "When people view my paintings and sculptures I want them to feel emotions at a personal level that they will never forget."

Deschler's simple and unique style is captivating. Churches and religious organizations often commission him to create a sculpture that will impact the lives of people for many, many years. He takes that challenge very personally, and says he relies on God for help.

"God has blessed me with a talent I now use to help others strengthen their own faith. I can feel God guide my thoughts and hands as I create," explained Deschler.

Whether he is working on a large commissioned project for a church or other organization, or creating a small item commissioned by an individual, Deschler says the process he goes through is the same each time.

"I first study the subject so that I am fully controlled by the subject. Next, I sketch the shape and the pose of the desired finished piece on paper before I create the model," he described.
Sculptors generally use two major types of sculpture making, according to Deschler. One is what he calls the "take-away" method, and the other is the "add-on" method.

"I simply draw rough sketches of the shape, pose, and action of the piece that I will change along the way. In other words, add on. Once I intimately know the subject, I am ready to create it,' he said.

A good example of this creative process is a commissioned sculpture for the St. Edmund church titled "The Cross." This 12 foot crucifix is displayed on the outside of the church where it can be seen by a larger number of people. It was created through a real labor of love and dedicated research at a very personal level.

"For years I have sculpted corpus for crucifixes and studied reports of many coroners and medical examiners on the death process of the crucified. I must have read the passion of Jesus Christ fifty times, and then hung myself on a cross to get the feeling of the agony created by the weight of the body hanging on a cross. I also hung a model on a scaffold to see and feel the position of the hips, the stomach, the rib cage and the location of the head on the chest. I then made several sketches and proceeded to create the clay model," explained Deschler.

His dedicated efforts enabled him to create a sculpture that impacts viewers in a way they never forget.

"I wanted to help people to experience the suffering of the Savior on the cross emotionally," explained Deschler.

Based on the reaction of the many people who have viewed "The Cross," Deschler is very successful at touching people in a very intimate way.

The most compelling aspects of Deschler's figurative, expressionistic, and symbolic sculptures are the passionate mysterious original motifs that intentionally recall the beginnings and martyrdom of humanity, such as the "Crucifixion of The Christ," the "Resurrection of The Christ," the "Good Friday Cross," "Palm Sunday," and many others.

Most of his sculptures are forged and carved steel, or castings of bronze from clay or plaster models. His sculptures become much more than just hunks of clay, plaster, steel or bronze.

About Bernard M. Deschler:
Bernard M. Deschler is a French-born artist with a serious gift for expressing the movement of body and soul. The physical immediacy of his art makes each creation pulse with vitality and emotional impact. He creates large and small commissioned paintings and sculptures as commissioned projects.

Press Contact:
Bernard M. Deschler
718-945-1349