by Jill Funke

The original Last Supper painting was created by Leonardo da Vinci in 1498. To this day, the painting is considered by people all over the world to be an extraordinary creation. It is extraordinary not only because it represents one of the most important events of the Bible, but also because of the artistic merits of the piece. This painting has been reproduced countless times in history, hanging in homes, churches and museums. With so many copies in the world, Carla Manning of Larchwood says she surfed the Internet and visited the library hoping to locate a copy of the painting that would provide the quality and size she needed to paint her version of the Last Supper. Taking on the project after a request from Janelle Viereck, member of the Larchwood United Church of Christ, Carla searched high and low for a print that she could use as a model for her painting. Carla got lucky when Donna Maurer at the Larchwood Library offered to let her use a copy that she had at home. About 150 years old, this beautiful print which had belonged to Donna’s grandmother was about 2 feet by 1 foot. Ecstatic with the discovery, Carla was ready to begin her project.

Considering the length of the wall in the UCC fellowship hall where the painting would be hung, Carla decided that the painting needed to be large. Turning to Larchwood’s talented woodworking team of Marlo Stensland, Jim Christensen, Jim Wiering and Jerry Maurer, Carla had the men design a strong frame that would keep the canvas from warping after she had stretched it. Then, Carla prepared to paint. Keeping accurate dimensions when painting a 10 feet by 4 feet image from one that is 2 feet by 1 foot is almost impossible without guidelines to assist the artist along the way. After taking digital pictures of the print, Carla made grids on it and created a corresponding grid for the canvas. However, even with the lines she still admits that keeping the correct dimensions of faces and hands was especially challenging. While keeping some of the traditional parts of the painting such as the salt shaker on its side and the positions of the disciples, Carla wanted her creation to be different from the da Vinci painting and reflect more of her style. She warned everyone it wasn’t going to look like da Vinci’s painting, it was going to be her own style, a less realistic, more simplified style. One of the differences was that when painting the table, she added a shadow that was cast from the light coming in from the windows in the background behind the men. Also, Carla’s painting stops above the heads and at the bottom of the table where many prints show the legs and feet underneath the table and an expanse of wall overhead.

A project of this size comes with many challenges, one of the most pressing problems was finding a place to work on it. It would not fit in her studio, but Carla discovered that it could be brought into a basement bedroom where there was enough room to paint and keep some supplies handy. She purchased large jars of acrylic paint in basic colors and painstakingly mixed them to achieve the shades and hues she desired, storing the mixed paint in recycled yogurt containers. Some of the hardest colors to mix were the flesh tones that were used on Christ and the disciples. Considering the many faces and hands, Carla says that this is the largest and most challenging project she has ever undertaken. Estimating that it took her close to 250 hours to complete, she says that there were several times that she wondered what she had gotten herself into. Yet she would take it a little bit at a time, solving problems and devoting at least 8 hours at a time to this great painting.

After looking over the painting one last time, she found there were no more changes to be made and after signing it, was finished. The woodworking crew framed the piece and carefully transported it to the church in an enclosed trailer borrowed from Al Thompson.

Now, when she sees her painting hanging in the fellowship hall, Carla is sometimes amazed that it all worked out. As an act of stewardship, Carla would not take any money for the hundreds of hours of her time that was spent in thousands of brush strokes to get every shadow and facial expression just right. She says that even though she has had some success selling her paintings, she feels that she is becoming more and more aware of the gifts that she, like everyone else, has been given. Motivated by a feeling of responsibility for her gifts, Carla says that she has been making more of a conscious effort to share with others. Now that the Last Supper project is finished, she plans to go back to the cancer victims and survivors series that she was been working on.

Members and visitors of the United Church of Christ are thrilled with the new painting, as well as the other changes to the church. Vicki Rath once again shared her creative talents with the church by making two new banners that have been hung on each side of the Last Supper painting. To dress up the windows in the hall, church member, Tammy Flier, stenciled vines overflowing with grapes, and window treatments were hung in complimentary colors. To house the new sound system, Merlin Lippert designed a beautiful cabinet that was then built with great care by Larchwood’s woodworking team.