Scottish Catholic Observer

Visitors to the Christmas crib at St Columbkille’s Church, Rutherglen, this festive season will have the chance to witness some of the finest local artistic talent as they take in the view of A Starry Night Sky.

The backdrop to the crib, which was unveiled at St Columbkille’s Church in Motherwell Diocese last weekend, was created by Vincent Deighan, an S5 pupil at Trinity High School, Cambuslang.

Call for help

Earlier this year, Fr Patrick Hennessy, parish priest at St Columbkille’s, approached the art department at Trinity High School and asked if one of the pupils would like to create a backdrop for the Christmas crib.

Vincent was chosen by school art teacher, John MacTaggart, as he has shown significant talent in the subject, following in the footsteps of his father, who is an artist for DC Comics, regularly drawing superheroes such as Batman and Superman.

“I was very proud to be picked to do this project and very excited by it,” Vincent said.

After being given the brief, A Starry Night Sky, Vincent got to work in planning and researching his backdrop. It took two months for Vincent to complete the final backdrop, though he hit a minor stumbling block when he discovered he had to use chalk. He confessed to not being a fan of using chalk and he had to wear earphones to mask the squeaking sounds.

Despite having to balance the work with a busy S5 schedule, Vincent thoroughly enjoyed producing the backdrop and spoke of a very positive experience.

“It was a great experience and I am very pleased with the finished backdrop,” he said. “Although the artist in me notices a couple of bits that I could have done better.”

Unveiling

Fr Hennessy said that, since its unveiling, the crib scene had been received very positively by St Columbkille’s parishioners.

“Parishioners are delighted that somebody from the community has such a talent,” Fr Hennessy said. “It is great that such a talent is being used to help the parish in this way.”

Vincent’s grandmother is a parishioner of St Columbkille’s and Fr Hennessy noted that it is very special to have the crib backdrop produced by the grandson of ‘long-established parish members.’

Vincent hopes to continue family traditions and plans to study at Glasgow School of Art when he leaves Trinity High School. The crib scene at St Columbkille’s will be on display until January 6.