Bismarck Diocese artist turns author

Sometimes, taking a break from work has surprising consequences. Nationally-known artist, Nellie Edwards, a parishioner of St. Leo the Great in Minot, had been working on refining her painting of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“I was tired and decided to take a break from it,” she explained. “I started the face of a little girl and then thought of putting her in a communion dress and a veil. When finished, it struck me that it looked like the cover of a book.”

And what’s a book cover without a story to go with it?

Quickly, the storyline came for what is titled, “Jacinta’s Miracle Veil .” The book was released last year in time for the 100th anniversary of the Church-approved apparitions of the Blessed Mother to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. It is a story within a story, in which a little girl named Jacinta—named after one of the Fatima children—is preparing to make her first Holy Communion and learns of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.

With no plan to become a children’s author, Nellie responded to a “divine nudging,” which paired her love of the Blessed Mother with a way to help evangelize children about the Real Presence of Christ and to help spread devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.

The story follows a little girl, named for Jacinta of Fatima, who is about to make her first Holy Communion but out of vanity, thinks it’s all about the dress. Her mother is disappointed that Jacinta is not happy with the dress, which was made from her mother’s own wedding gown. She prays the rosary and is inspired to have Jacinta start a treasure hunt for her great-grandmother’s First Communion veil.

Over the course of the story, Mama introduces her daughter to the story of Fatima and this helps to reorient her prideful heart. In the end, Jacinta realizes that Holy Communion is about a relationship with Jesus and makes a touching declaration of faith in the Real Presence of Christ. “Jacinta’s Miracle Veil” is a timeless story, which brings the Catholic faith to life.

This hardcover keepsake has a page to place a photo and another to enter information about the child’s First Communion. It is endorsed by The World Apostolate of Fatima and Fr. Donald Calloway, well-known author of “Champions of The Rosary,” and is available through Catholic retailers across the country, including Mayo Drug and Gifts in Bismarck, as well as through EWTN’s gift catalogue. It can also be purchased through www.FatimaChildrensBooks.com.

Nellie attributes her artwork and book, as well as her family’s move to North Dakota from the state of Washington, with divine inspiration.

“In 1996, in spite of having no roots here, we moved to North Dakota seeking a rural way of life,” she said. They moved to the small town of Esmond. There, she, her husband Chrys (he died in 2012) and eight children began a family business, based on Nellie’s sculpted ornaments and other casted “keepsake” gift items. Chrys did the casting and packaging and the kids put in a couple hours on weekdays doing the delicate painting. Before long, “Mother of Eight Designs” was selling to more than 200 gift shops in 36 states.

In 2008, the four oldest boys started up their own business: Edwards Brothers Custom Tiling, which has become a thriving business. When the boys were asked to tile St. Cecelia’s Church in Harvey, they asked their mother to do a simple line drawing of a harp and palm leaves for an inlay that would be placed in front of the Blessed Sacrament altar. “I asked the boys to get me a PC tablet so that I could get perfect lines and symmetry,” she explained. This became the means to do digital painting, which is how she creates her images.

“I was not trained to do fine art, so when the idea came to me in 2007 to do a ‘portrait’ of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, I waved it off,” she said. “I had tried to paint off and on throughout my life, but always with a poor outcome.”

The nagging inspiration won out, however, and her first fine art image ended up being approved by the National Tekakwitha Conference and later, requested by Columbia Magazine for the cover of their issue featuring her canonization. “After that,” she said, “Mother of Life,” my portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was likewise requested by Columbia and was posted on Facebook by well-known author and theologian, Scott Hahn, causing it to go viral.”

In 1998, Bishop James Sullivan of the Fargo diocese, told Nellie he had given Pope John Paul II some of her ornaments during a visit to Rome. He told her, “The Holy Father immediately prayed a blessing for you and your family.”

Nellie said she “embraced the grace” and believes that blessing was truly the catalyst for her future endeavors.

For more information, email Nellie at [email protected] or visit her website, www.PaintedFaith.com.