"Our Lady of Mercy, the hearts of mothers want to bestow upon their children all that they need.  The world is crying. With your boundless compassion, I humbly as that you open your tender arms to receive humankind under the cloak of your protection. May we find in ourselves the strength and courage to move through the perils we face and the patience, understanding and love to care for one another in these times of fear and threat."

 About the Artist

Lynn Garlick started carving, painting, and producing her retablos in 1993. Her workshop is located in the high desert town of Taos, New Mexico, a landscape richly steeped in religious iconography and history. The retablo, or ʻboard behind the alterʼ, was originally created in New Mexico in the 1800ʼs in response to the lack of Bibles and Icons being sent from the church in Rome. The Santero (saint maker) painted retablos from pigment collected and ground from the local surroundings. The boards were hand hewed usually of ponderosa pine or tin. The practice has carried down through the generations and is still done this way today. Lynn paints her originals retablos on traditional pine boards carving and then paints them. To create her production work the images are mounted on baltic birch.