SOUTH POINT — The theme of the reception and exhibition at the Hutton Wayfarer Gallery on Dec. 14 could be seen in two of the works of its owner, Robert Hutton.

The first, “The Sacred Heart of Jesus,” hung downstairs.

Created around 1963-4, it was done when the artist was serving as a lay brother with the Catholic missionary order, Society of the Divine Word.x

Hutton said the piece, which depicts Christ overlooking the viewer, was commissioned for a calendar.

Hutton said, while he received favorable feedback from those who commissioned it, he said he later was told by someone that the group lost money on its printing.

“I was kind of taken aback by it,” he recalled.

However, it did not discourage him from his pursuit and Hutton, one of the Tri-State’s most accomplished artists, went on to teach at Marshall for decades before retiring in 1999. A professor emeritus with the university, he is the creator of one of the largest pieces of art on campus a large puzzle tile mural that is featured in the building that houses the former lab school on campus. The 13X7 work was unveiled with great fanfare on its completion in 2019.

The second painting in the gallery, bookending Hutton’s continuing body of work, is an untitled piece, based on the Biblical story of Thomas, when Christ reappeared to the disciples.

“Doubting Thomas” would not accept Jesus’ resurrection, Hutton said, unless he had seen Jesus’s wounds himself.

When Christ appeared to him, he accepted this evidence, according to the Gospels.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” Hutton said

The “Doubting Thomas” painting, which hangs near the gallery’s entrance, was finished last year, and is the first in a series for which Hutton received an Ohio Arts Council grant.

Hutton said he envisions five or six paintings for this series.

The series is part of Hutton’s return to a productive art schedule, after having two setbacks the past few years, recovering from both a stroke and injuries sustained in an auto accident.

The Hutton Wayfarer Gallery, which opened in 2019 and located at 52 Private Drive 250/County Road 144, just outside the South Point village limits, features a permanent and roasting collection of Hutton’s work, as well guest exhibitions from artists.