Thanks to the Anchoress for bringing the "paint-out" of the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA to our attention. It’s a fundraiser described here:

Plein Air Painters of Georgia, Inc , some of the Georgia ‘s most talented and well-known outdoor painters, with their invited guest artists , brought their paint boxes and easels to the monastery here in Conyers , Georgia . They enjoyed a wonderful weeklong “Monastery Paint Out” during the week of Saturday. June 18 through Sunday June 26.

The remarkable “Monastery Paint Out” is the brainchild of Kelly Jordan, chair of the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, and renowned painter Suzanne Royal of Plein Air Painters of Georgia, Inc. Twenty-five renowned artists participated. The artists converged on the monastery to paint outdoors throughout the monastery grounds. Plein air artists seek the quality of natural light and atmosphere outdoors. Their artwork is in direct response to the beauty they find in nature. They use a variety of media, from oils and watercolors to pastels.

And now, their work is on sale and viewable here. A marvelous idea.

I’ve visited this monastery several times. Never did a formal retreat there, but did spend a couple of days in informal reatreat – attempting to pray monastic prayer, etc. It’s a wonderful monastery, with an interesting history – it is a satellite of the Trappist monastery in Gethsemane, built, of course, by the monks themselves. There is a detailed history that begins here.

Many people associate this monastery with Flannery O’Connor’s peacocks that she kept at Andalusia, and some of them were, indeed, placed here after her death. But none of them  survive, and their fate is noted here. The first time I went to the monastery, there was a large cage down near the pond that had a small sign affixed that read something like, "Flannery O’Connor’s peacocks used to live here," but I don’t think it’s there any more.

The monastery experienced a surge ofoverflow popularity during the 80’s when a woman named Nancy Fowler, a resident of Conyers, claimed to experience apparitions of Mary at her farm. Been there, too. Oh my   that was a time. Some of the worst hate mail I ever got as a columnist came in response to Florida Catholic columns I wrote laying out the case against the authenticity of those apparitions. Well, not hate I guess. Michael said, "You should be glad that so many people are praying for you."

Hard to argue with that.