It all started with her love of St. Therese of Lisieux and drawing.
Rebecca Pohlmeier, a student at Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High
School in Dumfries, recently began her business Glory Be Prints for an
unselfish reason: to attend this year’s WorkCamp. Instead of going down the
typical path of writing letters to family and friends asking for donations to
fund her trip — she wanted to work for it.
I have such a connection to the saints, praying to them and learning from them.
The 16-year-old opened a shop on etsy.com in February at the
suggestion of her parents, Melissa and Keith, Catholic
Herald advertising account manager, and within a few weeks had her trip
paid for.
“It was so exciting to get the announcement about my first sale,”
she said. “And, it’s been wonderful to see how people are reacting to the
drawings, where the prints are being used and how many places in the U.S. and
other countries sales have come from.”
Since she created that first piece of art, her favorite saint and
patron has been joined by more than 50 illustrated saints — including her
newest, Sts. Paul VI and Oscar Romero.
The illustrations are being sold only as digital downloads at
this time, but prints of the saints have ended up in some unexpected places.
Rosemary Ciccarone, a fifth-grade teacher and student council
adviser from Epiphany School in Culpeper, reached out to Pohlmeier after
hearing about the drawings from the teen’s aunt, Kathy Chada. “We discussed how
cool it would be to have each classroom choose a patron saint,” said Ciccarone.
There are 15 classrooms at the school with a patron saint and a
Glory Be Print hanging outside each door. The student council paid for the
project. “We love the prints,” said Ciccarone. “On a personal level, I also
bought a print for my home of Mary and Martha.”
Another request to collaborate with the teen came from Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) in Huntington, Ind. After
seeing her etsy shop, Gretchen R. Crowe, editor-in-chief of OSV Newsweekly, approached Pohlmeier to explore a
partnership to have a calendar printed and sold through the publishing company.
“Rebecca has a beautiful eye for design, and she captures small
details of each saint that make looking at the images both fun and inspiring,”
said Crowe. “Each image has a corresponding quote or prayer, which makes the
connection with each saint that much stronger.”
Pohlmeier was able to choose the saint for each month of the
calendar, OSV will print them and she will receive a portion of sales. The
calendar — which sold out of the first print run — is being sold through OSV’s
website and on amazon.com.
“Having OSV reach out to me and be recognized by someone so big
is awesome,” she said. “I love how many more people my drawings will reach and
that they are helping me spread the little messages of saints and are an
inspiration to others.”
Being a young business owner and running a faith-based art
business has been an incredible experience for the humble teen. She said she
has received a lot of support from her family and other Catholic artists.
When asked if she plans to expand her drawings beyond the saints,
Pohlmeier said, “I can’t imagine doing this with anything else. I have such a
connection to the saints, praying to them and learning from them.”
The teen, whose passion for the Catholic faith shines through
when you speak to her, said she took on the motto, “For the greater glory of
God,” last year, and her business name — suggested by her brother — fits her
perfectly.
Find out more
Go to etsy.com/shop/GloryBePrints. To order a calendar, go
to bit.ly/glorybeprintscalendar19.