Kate Askegaard of Dixon, Illinois has spent 1,500 hours of her life recreating a classic masterpiece using only dots the size of a pin tip, for the annual ArtPrize Contest. This what is called a labor of love.
Looking at Kate’s masterpiece from afar, you’d think it’s just another well-done recreation of Michelangelo’s “Pieta”, but after a close inspection you realize it’s actually made of millions of tiny dots. Entitled “True Love” this unique piece was created for the 2011 ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It started out with Askegaard’s wish to prove to herself that she was a good artist, and she got it into her head that if she could capture what Michelangelo did with his Pieta, and the public would respond, than she could call herself a good artist. Kate referenced a 12in x 12in photo of the classic artwork, which she gridded out into over 10,000 squares. She used 9 sheets of paper, each 19in x 24in, glued them on a 5ft x 5ft canvas and finally painted black around the image.
Then came the really hard part, reproducing every detail with nothing but tiny dots. Kate Askegaard worked 70 hours a week, which meant missing out on family outings and spending time apart from her 2-year-old son, and it was her faith in God that helped her go back to the canvas day after day until she finished. Along the way some people told her she was wasting time while they were doing real jobs for their paychecks, but it was a quote she heard on the radio that kept her focused on her task. It said “God will not tell you to start something and not be with you to finish it.” She realized it was God who told her to work on her art again, so she knew that as long as she kept working and remained strong in faith she would see it through to the end. After 1,500 hours of painstaking work she completed her unique masterpiece.
“True Love” didn’t make it into the Top 10 ArtPrize finalists, but that was mainly because the venue where it was showcased was pretty far from the town center, and only about 500 people came to see it. But Kate Askegaard’s stunning work did catch the eye of Ripley’s Believe It or Not who decided to acquire it for one of its odditoriums.
