Thank you so much for visiting!
As an artist in both photography and painting, as well as a catechist, I hope to share on these pages all things beautiful that inspire.
For the Love of Beauty is inspired by St. Augustine's reference to God as 'Beauty' in his Confessions (X, 27) when he writes, "Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty, so ancient and so new."
His name for God is both poetic and revealing. Beauty has been defined, since ancient times, as that which is perfectly ordered or that which is as it should be. Both definitions reflect a profound truth about God: that He is perfection, and His perfection is beautiful.
It is for the love of God, and for the restoration of all His creation to His own beautiful perfection, that I pursue my mission: To create images and share the Catholic Faith using only techniques and content that reflect His Truth, Goodness and Beauty.
I currently work for myself as a Catholic wedding, portrait and event photographer in the DC/MD/VA areas. My intention is to use this blog to not only share some of my photography and photo tips, but to also share other images and ideas from the broader world of art that inspire me and help shape my work. I love using art to teach from and pray with, so I’ll look forward to sharing from time to time some of my favorite paintings that are rich in contemplative beauty.
An overview of my professional background:
Experience
• Photographer: Weddings, Portraits, Events, Fine Art
• Artist: Exhibit and Work on Commission
• International Speaker and Catechist Trainer at Schools, Parish and Diocesan venues, Conferences and on EWTN's Life on the Rock
• Consultant: Art, Catechetics and Conference Planning
• High School Teacher of Religion
• Director of Religious Education
• Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
• Youth Ministry
• Write and Evaluate Religious Education Materials
Education
• M.A. Theology and Christian Ministry with a Specialization and Certification in Catechetics, Franciscan University of Steubenville, 1997. Ohio, USA.
• Dip. Ed. Sec. (Graduate Diploma in Education, Secondary: Grades 7-12), Australian Catholic University, 1992. Melbourne, Australia.
• B.A. Fine Arts (Photography), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 1991. Melbourne, Australia.
• Additional Studies in Art, Washington Studio School, DC (1998); Instituto Michelangelo (2000) and Angel Academy of Art (2002), both in Florence, Italy.
• Additional Studies in Theology, Catholic Theological College, (1993-94). Melbourne, Australia
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Thanks again for stopping by!
-Renata Grzan Wieczorek
My websites:
Weddings & Portraits
Events
Artwork
Beautiful shots, Renata! I’ve seen several engagement photo shoots recently that tried for this kind of quality, but…uh, fell short. 😉 You really did a lovely job. And congrats to the couple!
Thanks a lot, Margaret! Doing this at the cherry blossoms in DC definitely has it’s extra challenges with timing, getting the pretty light, blossoms at their pinkest and most delicate stage, and *no* people! It can either look like you are in your own personal fairly tale land or a zoo! The on top of that, having such a particularly cute and affectionate couple and that’s willing to brave sub zero temps, makes it magical! At the risk of sounding cheesy even (maybe not to Cory though), Kim’s smile was the warm sunshine that got us all through the cold. It was so fun to photograph them in such an iconic place!
Renata, these are absolutely STUNNING! Your creativity and artistic talent is a real gift and we are blessed to work with you. Thank you for your kind words. You are so beautiful.
Thank you, Kim! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! You both are so precious!
Renata, your eye and talent for capturing the spirit of your subjects and the beauty of their surrounding never ceases to amaze me – it is magic what you do!
Wow, thanks Christina! I’m so humbled by that! Thank you for sharing it. I’m just so happy that what I love to do can also be a gift to people.