A Mother's Heart for Art

by Laurie Manhardt

The lovely woman with the curly blond hair and blue eyes cradled her infant daughter, who had a patch over one eye.

“Emily needs surgery to remove a corneal dermoid,” she explained to the other women at the Bible study. “The doctor expects an opaque scar from a donor graft, but I’m going to anoint her eye with holy water from Lourdes and pray.” Melissa Dayton invited the women to pray with her.

To the doctor’s surprise, after surgery the eye was crystal clear. Photographs of Emily’s eye remain in medical textbooks, and the teenager has perfectly clear eyes to this day.

Her daughter’s flawless eye recovery was not the first time God had worked powerfully in Melissa’s life, and today she uses her talents as a portrait artist to share God’s healing power with other parents.

Melissa became pregnant when she was a freshman at Lynchburg College in 1987, studying art and psychology in hopes of doing art therapy with children. Friends called and wrote, trying to convince her to abort her child. But by God’s grace and with the support of her parents, Jim and Kathy Worth, Melissa gave birth to her son Christopher.

Twelve years later, while watching Christopher play basketball with his dad, Chip, at a barbecue, Melissa counted the number of abortions she knew had occurred among friends who were present. But for abortion, nine other children could have been playing with their fathers that day!

Melissa discovered the depth of grief in other mothers’ hearts due to abortion and knew that her own son was a survivor of that holocaust. Having experienced two miscarriages herself, Melissa longed to paint something that would reflect God’s mercy to the hearts of parents who had lost a child through miscarriage or abortion. One sleepless night during a pregnancy, Melissa sat in the dark, watching a television documentary on British royalty. The camera showed the crypt of Princess Charlotte, who had died in childbirth: Upon it was the most beautiful sculpture of an angel cradling a baby in her arms as she flew to heaven. The image touched Melissa’s heart; it was as if God had awakened her to see this sculpture reflecting His boundless mercy even in the pit of grief.

Although the image of the angel came repeatedly to Melissa’s mind, she pushed it aside and concentrated on her paid work. A priest had begun bringing her photographs of young people who had died, asking her to paint portraits for their grieving parents. These she would do, seeking strength and inspiration through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and through the intercession of St. Luke. She specifically prayed that God would move her hands when painting the eyes of the deceased child so that the mother could see her child in the painting.

Melissa never lost sight of her desire to work on that special painting, however, and she kept praying for an image to come to mind, sometimes even sketching on the tablecloth when out to dinner with her husband.

One day, Melissa dressed her daughter Emily in bed sheets and shot two rolls of film of her “angel” holding a baby doll. While the children were asleep, Melissa would pray in silence, sketching out the painting. Months later, “Escort to God” was complete. Melissa hoped it would be a channel of God’s mercy and healing, and lent out the painting for Rachel’s Vineyard retreats and to pregnancy counseling centers.

The Daytons’ marriage and family life provide a wonderful Catholic witness to those around them. In their own lives, Chip and Melissa have been generous with life in the midst of a culture of death. They have endured unkind remarks from people who question why a couple of modest means would choose to have six children. Without a doubt, it has demanded sacrifices: Melissa lost her studio several years ago to necessary renovations to their home. But in the midst of diapers, laundry, meals, and soccer practice, she still finds time to use her artistic talent. Chip pitches in, and the older kids and Grandpa and Grandma help out with the little ones when Melissa needs to paint. Dinner may be late and the house messy, but the grace of God holds the family together during large projects.

Friends commission portraits of their children and special projects. After the death of Pope John Paul II, Melissa pored through hundreds of photographs trying to capture the essence of this man of God. Shortly after completing “Pope John Paul II,” a friend brought a photograph from Rome and commissioned a painting of Pope Benedict XVI. Melissa has also painted huge pieces, such as a “Coronation of the Virgin” with a Madonna inspired by Murillo and the Blessed Trinity of Velasquez.

For more information about Melissa’s work, visit her website at www.pearlsofgracefineart.com.

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