Now an artist: Retired priest turns hand to calligraphy

With their mother as a professional artist and a published poet, Robert "Bob" Towner and his brothers grew up surrounded by art, and spent a lot of time at art shows, art fairs and exhibit openings. His mother cautioned, however, that it's difficult to make a living.

Ordained as an episcopal priest in 1977, Towner recently retired after a 35-year religious career. Thirteen of those years he served at Christ Episcopal Church in Cape Girardeau.

Towner now considers himself an artist, and an exhibit of his work, Wholly Writ: Calligraphy in the Key of Contemplation, is on display through October at Yoga East Healing Arts Studio, which will host a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 3.

"I kind of looked at the world as an artist since I was a little boy," Towner said, and he and his brothers were always fascinated by art. Their mother -- a painter, sculptor and poet -- show her works in Chicago and New York City. To complete the picture, Towner married an artist, as his wife, Helen, draws, paints and creates jewelry.

Towner fell in love with calligraphy after a trip to the small island of Iona in 2011. It is on this tiny rock off the coast of Scotland that he found the inspiration for his current work.

"That's where the most beautiful and important work of art from the Celtic culture was produced, way back in the 8th century," Towner explained.

Bob Towner’s art hangs during his first solo art show. The show is titled “Wholly Writ: Calligraphy in the Key of Contemplation” and is on display at Yoga East in Cape Girardeau. (GLENN LANDBERG)

Historically, the practice of calligraphy was done by monks and was a process of spiritual formation, as the calligraphers would spend weeks working on one single passage of the Holy texts.

On Iona, monks illustrated manuscripts of religious texts, and Towner was so astonished by this work that he decided to learn how to do it. He taught himself the art of calligraphy and illumination, mainly by studying it and practicing. It started as a hobby while he was still working.

"Now it's one of my major occupations," he said. "I get to exercise my calling in a new way."

His work mixes Holy Scriptures and poetry, and Towner said there are certain themes from the scriptures that he finds meaningful and tries to connect with a poetic expression.

Bob Towner explains his process in creating pieces for his first solo art exhibit now at Yoga East on Broadway.

"They speak to one another," Towner detailed. "I try to put these things together, which in my mind have already been unified, and represent them for others in hope that they might see a connection."

He added that when the Biblical text, the poetic theme and the graphic design come together, he knows he has a piece he wants to work on.

Yoga East is not only about exercise but also about the expression of creativity, and the studio hosts art shows every two months.

"It's a way of encouraging the flowering of art," Towner said. "That's been a big thing in Cape Girardeau in the last five to ten years."

Towner said he thinks there are connections between the practice of yoga and the practice of art. The meditative aspect of calligraphy, for instance, is one thing that links it to the practice of yoga.

Bob Towner taught himself the art of illumination before he retired. (GLENN LANDBERG)

"Yoga is about becoming centered in your body and your spirit together, and it's from that center that good art grows, I think," Towner added.

More information is available by calling the Yoga East studio at 573-388-7272.