About

The idea for Illustrated Prayer came about when I was trying to figure out various ways to spread the faith to my very young children. They were too little to talk, let alone pray… but I figured that I would set a good example for them by praying the Rosary. So I tried to pray the Rosary… and do you know how difficult it is to pray the Rosary with young children around? Near impossible!

And yet, they could spend hours in my lap if I read them a picture book.

Something clicked in my brain and I realized that I could share my faith a lot easier if I tried to share the faith of them through pictures. So I started to seriously collect religious artwork about the Rosary. I dusted off my old computer with all my graphic design software from back when I was in college. And I started making my book series, the Illustrated Rosary.

Karina Tabone holding up her first book, The Joyful Mysteries. Via IllustratedPrayer.com
This is me holding up my first copy of the Joyful Mysteries, or the book that I originally started for my children!

But something funny happened in this process! You see, I had originally done this with the thought of sharing my faith with my children. But as I immersed myself in these gorgeous artworks, I began to realize that they weren’t the only ones who needed this in their life.

I did.

I had been going through the motions of being a new mom, and somewhere along the process, I had forgotten to bring God along. Yet, as I looked through these beautiful artworks, I realized that I desperately needed to bring back God in my own life. These books about the Rosary that I was working on? My children would like them, sure.

But I needed it more than they did.

And so, for my own sake, I studied even more religious art. I began to seriously meditate on them. As I did so, I would do my best to involve my children and explain the stories behind the art.

And I found that art is very powerful in a way that is hard to explain. My children, as little as they were, still could grasp what was happening in the art. As for me, I found that the more I immersed myself in the art, the more I desired God. After all, it’s one thing to simply read the bible and imagine the words coming to life. It’s quite another to visually immerse yourself into the Word of God.

And so, I felt an itch to share with everyone this beautiful religious artwork. After all, I had fallen in love with Jesus through religious art. Maybe others would too! So, I put my webdesign skills to use and created this website… and now you’re reading it!

 
About Me

As far as me? I’m a wife, stay-at-home mother, writer, graphic designer, art aficionado, and recovering biochemical engineer who just happens to love Jesus. Raised a Catholic, I drifted away from the faith in college when I studied biochemical engineering… only to confront head-on with the nihilism that all too often permeates the science community! Horrified with the soul-sucking nihilism, I searched frantically for the truth — and ended up finding my way back to the Catholic faith, where I rediscovered Jesus and His Church. I live in Washington with my awesome husband and my four lovely children.