The miracle that brought a Costa Rican artist to the Vatican

Paula en el Bosque is a Catholic artist whose works have made it to the Vatican. Her creative trajectory began when she was a child, without imagining how far her journey would take her. Last December, she exhibited a "pro-life" Nativity scene during Christmas: a historic moment.

Aleteia had the opportunity to hear the testimony of this artist in person. Her journey has been marked, without a doubt, by a deep trust in God and a constant glimmer of hope.

From an early age, she felt a calling to art. In particular, she felt a very strong connection to nature. This is where her artistic name, “en el Bosque” (in the forest), comes from, because she feels at home surrounded by trees, admiring the mountains and rivers.

"That love of art accompanied me throughout my childhood and adolescence,” she tells us. “I was inspired by the smallest things I saw on the street. It was even a problem at school because I was always drawing, lost in my imagination. But it was something that was always in me."

Over the years, that vocation grew. She decided to study advertising design and worked at a newspaper in Costa Rica, where she illustrated for children. Although she liked it, she began to feel tiredness and a deep desire for independence, so she quit to become a freelance children's illustrator.

However, it took a major event in her life for her to transform her profession into a space where she could express her faith: a vocation in which she could evangelize through art.

“This is where I say a miracle happened,” Paula says. For eight years she was unable to get pregnant. It was a very difficult period marked by deep inner turmoil, during which she even complained to God. Although she acknowledges that at that time she didn’t have a strong spiritual life, she came from a family where they prayed the Rosary every day and attended Mass on Sundays.

She suffered from severe endometriosis and, despite multiple operations, painful treatments, and injections, she reached a point where she couldn’t take it any more. She accepted that she couldn’t have children. However, a few months later, she became pregnant.

“I felt deeply that God was saying to me, ‘I was waiting for you to stop doing so many things so that it would be clear that this is my work,’” she explains. “For me, it was a miracle, and I cannot take the credit away from God.”

Then she did something very concrete in reply: “I said to God, ‘The only thing I know how to do is draw. How can I put this at your service?’ I didn’t know how to do anything else, but I knew how to do that well.”

She then began a process of discernment in which she understood that in order to love God, she first had to know Him. She began to study theology and to read the Word of God, and she confesses that from that moment on she experienced a “deep love, like a fire in her heart.”

Her first religious work was a depiction of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal designed for children. At that time, many people told her that her decision had no future, that no one believed in God anymore. Even so, she decided to trust her instincts and began distributing bookmarks with her illustrations.

“Many times in my artistic life, there came a moment when I felt the need for a more profound change,” she says.

During one of those was when she started doing iconography.

She studied at the School of Iconography of the Discalced Carmelites in Costa Rica. It was a turning point. There she understood that sacred art isn’t simply painting, but writing a prayer. She began to study more, to delve deeper into tradition, into the defense of images, into saints such as St. John Damascene.

It has been 20 years since she decided to devote herself to sacred art. Through this expression, she hasn’t only felt closer to God, but has also been able to accompany other women on their journey.

Paula shares that she has experienced very profound sorrows. She became pregnant again after her first child, this time with a girl, but she had a miscarriage. She confesses that if she hadn’t been sustained by God, she wouldn’t have been able to get through that loss as she did.

“I cried, of course, but I also gave thanks for the time I had with her. That has allowed me to accompany many women who come to my workshop,” she explains. “I’ve gone through many stages: not being able to have children, attempts at adoption, losses. When a woman says to me, ‘You don't know how it feels,’ I can truthfully respond, ‘Yes, I do.’”

Over time, she understood that these difficult experiences also enable us to accompany others and give them hope.

“We all have gifts, and when we put them at the service of God, everything is transformed into prayer,” she concludes. “That is the message I always want to leave: God gives gifts to everyone. You just need to ask for clarity to discover them and trust.”