Carrot Top Studio Blog: Insights & Inspiration
How to Look at Art When You Don’t Know Anything About Art
Learn how to look at art even if you know nothing about art history. Discover four simple questions that make art appreciation approachable and meaningful, whether you’re visiting an art museum, viewing church art, exploring sacred art, or using visual art for faith and spiritual reflection.
Seeing Ordinary Time Through Art
Explore four works of fine art for Ordinary Time worship and fall reflection, featuring Duccio di Buoninsegna, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Jean-François Millet. Discover how historic art can inspire church worship, sermons, faith formation, and spiritual reflection during the changing autumn season.
Before the First Stitch: How a Clergy Stole Begins
Go behind the scenes at Carrot Top Studio to discover how a handmade clergy stole is designed before the first stitch. Explore the creative process, from Scripture, hymns, art, architecture, and sketching to fabric selection and one-of-a-kind custom clergy stole commissions.
Why Churches Use Liturgical Colors
A beginner-friendly guide explaining why churches use liturgical colors throughout the Christian year. Learn the meaning of Advent blue and purple, Christmas white, Lenten purple, Pentecost red, and Ordinary Time green, and discover how clergy stoles, paraments, and worship visuals help tell the story of faith through color.
Pentecost: When the Invisible Becomes Visible
A reflective blog post about Pentecost exploring its biblical story, symbols like fire and wind, and the meaning of the Holy Spirit in everyday life. Includes ideas for visual worship elements such as red stoles, church art, and meaningful ways to celebrate Pentecost in modern congregations.
Visual Ways Churches Can Celebrate Pentecost
A creative guide to visual ways churches can celebrate Pentecost, including clergy stoles, symbolic art, and interactive worship ideas like flame installations, fabric movement, and prayer stations. Explores Pentecost symbols such as fire, wind, and the Holy Spirit, with inspiration for meaningful church decorations and worship design.
Favorite Public Domain Art for Ordinary Time Worship Visuals
Explore public domain art perfect for Ordinary Time worship planning. This curated list features sacred imagery and seasonal symbolism from different periods in art history to visually enhance summer sermons and church liturgies. Image pictured, a detail of “The Angelus” by Jean-Francois Millet
The Top Ten for Introducing New Art Into a Church
When considering placing new art in a church, several important discussions should take place to ensure a thoughtful and meaningful integration of the artwork into the sacred space. Jenny Gallo of Carrot Top Studio explores some ideas in this intriguing blog post.
A Communion Tablecloth
Follow along with the creation of an out-of-the-box request for Carrot Top Studio. Typically a custom request is for a stole for clergy, pastors, and chaplains but this time Jenny Gallo applied those skills and techniques to create a Communion Table cloth.
