Comments on: Can nuns be visual artists? http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/ Catholic Sisters and Nuns in Today's World Thu, 24 May 2012 22:10:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Sister Julie http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-33862 Sister Julie Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:44:04 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-33862 Nice to meet you, Joan! Nice to meet you, Joan!

]]> By: Joan C. DiStefano SFO http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-33506 Joan C. DiStefano SFO Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:34:31 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-33506 What a wonderful surprise to come across this website! I am a Secular Franciscan, and a professional artist who mainly supports myself through stained glass conservation projects . I wish all of you peace and all good! What a wonderful surprise to come across this website! I am a Secular Franciscan, and a professional artist who mainly supports myself through stained glass conservation projects . I wish all of you peace and all good!

]]> By: Deborah http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14593 Deborah Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:36:37 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14593 Check out Ministry of the Arts - http://www.ministryofthearts.org This is the ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph in LaGrange Park, Il. These sisters are musicians, painters, sculptors and writers. We get our Christmas cards from them each year - they are beautiful. Check out Ministry of the Arts – http://www.ministryofthearts.org
This is the ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph in LaGrange Park, Il. These sisters are musicians, painters, sculptors and writers. We get our Christmas cards from them each year – they are beautiful.

]]> By: Meg Holden, FSP http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14291 Meg Holden, FSP Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:52:18 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14291 I am a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Peace. I am a visual artist using the media of photography. I create photocards of scenes of flowers, water and trees. I then give them as gifts. For me, photography is a way of prayer. Bi-weekly, I visit a botanical garden where I send the day photographing. As I enter the garden I spend time in being present to the world of nature that I will be moving through. I then begin walking, slower my pace, looking at the beauty around me and taking photos. I end the day in the garden with an hour of silent prayer giving thanks to God for this experience. I am a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Peace.
I am a visual artist using the media of photography.
I create photocards of scenes of flowers, water and trees.
I then give them as gifts.

For me, photography is a way of prayer.
Bi-weekly, I visit a botanical garden where I send the day photographing.

As I enter the garden I spend time in being present to the world of
nature that I will be moving through. I then begin walking, slower
my pace, looking at the beauty around me and taking photos.

I end the day in the garden with an hour of silent prayer giving
thanks to God for this experience.

]]> By: Jean http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14196 Jean Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:18:57 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14196 Sister Julie - Thanks for that explanation (and for clearly being willing to play). I love that explanation. I am starting discernment about religious life and your site, with its humor, pleases me to no end. You have a new nunfan. Sister Julie – Thanks for that explanation (and for clearly being willing to play). I love that explanation. I am starting discernment about religious life and your site, with its humor, pleases me to no end. You have a new nunfan.

]]> By: Sister Julie http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14189 Sister Julie Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:35:55 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14189 Jean, so glad to meet you. Helen David has done some pretty stunning stuff with our foundress, Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin and our IHM history. I've seen a few of her saints too. Remarkable! Oh, and "my nuns" refers to sisters that belong to the Monroe IHM community which is the one I belong too ... kind of like referring to "my family" or "my friends". Monroe IHMs are "my nuns"! Jean, so glad to meet you. Helen David has done some pretty stunning stuff with our foundress, Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin and our IHM history. I’ve seen a few of her saints too. Remarkable!

Oh, and “my nuns” refers to sisters that belong to the Monroe IHM community which is the one I belong too … kind of like referring to “my family” or “my friends”. Monroe IHMs are “my nuns”!

]]> By: Jean http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14181 Jean Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:48:25 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14181 Sister Julie - Thank you for your site and, first, Sister mine, why are certain nuns "your" nuns? What gives, Jules? And, second, thank you for this thread about nuns who are artists. I have not had a chance to look at all of the postings or links but could not wait to say that Sister Brancato's "Last Supper" took my breath away. As a newly returned white Catholic who has found her home in a Josephite Church in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, "Catholic" images of darker and black peoples - that just location of the Church and her people in the faces of the people who accompanied Jesus - thrill me. Years ago, I spent time in Bucharest, Romania and found my way to and fell in love with a small Orthodox community (The Stavropoleos Church was built in 1722- 1724 by the Greek hieromonk Ioanichie. The church is a UNESCO protected monument. This Orthodox Church combines late-Renaissance and Byzantine styles with elements of the Romanian folk-art style. Inside are superb wood and stone carvings and a richly ornamented iconostasis). Each time I visited the church, I then went to the Romanian Peasant Museum, which had won international awards. The most beautiful exhibit I saw at the Pesant Museum was this: the museum had gone through its collection and taken black and white photographs of all images of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Separated by subject, every image was printed in the exact size and were laid on in grids on long rectangular tables. Finally, I saw hundreds of images of the Jesus, Joseph and Mary who reflected the people, cultures, histories of the Bible. And in that honesty, I saw Jesus, not myself. Sister Brancato, your work - The Last Supper - is gorgeous. Thank you, Sister Julie, for sharing it. Jean Sister Julie –

Thank you for your site and, first, Sister mine, why are certain nuns “your” nuns? What gives, Jules?

And, second, thank you for this thread about nuns who are artists.
I have not had a chance to look at all of the postings or links but could not wait to say that Sister Brancato’s “Last Supper” took my breath away. As a newly returned white Catholic who has found her home in a Josephite Church in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, “Catholic” images of darker and black peoples – that just location of the Church and her people in the faces of the people who accompanied Jesus – thrill me. Years ago, I spent time in Bucharest, Romania and found my way to and fell in love with a small Orthodox community (The Stavropoleos Church was built in 1722- 1724 by the Greek hieromonk Ioanichie. The church is a UNESCO protected monument. This Orthodox Church combines late-Renaissance and Byzantine styles with elements of the Romanian folk-art style. Inside are superb wood and stone carvings and a richly ornamented iconostasis). Each time I visited the church, I then went to the Romanian Peasant Museum, which had won international awards. The most beautiful exhibit I saw at the Pesant Museum was this: the museum had gone through its collection and taken black and white photographs of all images of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Separated by subject, every image was printed in the exact size and were laid on in grids on long rectangular tables. Finally, I saw hundreds of images of the Jesus, Joseph and Mary who reflected the people, cultures, histories of the Bible. And in that honesty, I saw Jesus, not myself. Sister Brancato, your work – The Last Supper – is gorgeous. Thank you, Sister Julie, for sharing it.

Jean

]]> By: aneesah mcnamee http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14139 aneesah mcnamee Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:02:42 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14139 i am a Dominican Sister and an artist!!!! presently going to school for a MFA in graphic design. undergraduate was in photography and bookmaking! in our community we have many wonderful artists who have been such a support to me and mentors for sure! Art and and the creative process is VERY contemplative - and spiritual for me - deeply prayerful - i know i approach my art through a deep religious conviction - but it doesn't always have to be 'religious looking' whatever that means!!! i am getting ready to write my thesis - topic is "When you think of God, what do you SEE?" i am a Dominican Sister and an artist!!!! presently going to school for a MFA in graphic design. undergraduate was in photography and bookmaking!
in our community we have many wonderful artists who have been such a support to me and mentors for sure!
Art and and the creative process is VERY contemplative – and spiritual for me – deeply prayerful – i know i approach my art through a deep religious conviction – but it doesn’t always have to be ‘religious looking’ whatever that means!!!
i am getting ready to write my thesis – topic is “When you think of God, what do you SEE?”

]]> By: Sister Julie http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14118 Sister Julie Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:14:35 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14118 Joanna, thank you for reminding me about Cor Immaculatum -- I have seen her work and love it. I was in Scranton last month and saw the statue of Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin that you linked to -- I was all alone with her and just put my hand in hers and prayed. Joanna, thank you for reminding me about Cor Immaculatum — I have seen her work and love it. I was in Scranton last month and saw the statue of Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin that you linked to — I was all alone with her and just put my hand in hers and prayed.

]]> By: Sister Julie Ann http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14117 Sister Julie Ann Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:14:03 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14117 Our Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Motherhouse has often been acclaimed by the common folk who visit us to be a homey art gallery. We cherish the handiwork of our members. One Sister who wrote our most precious San Damiano Crucifix and gifted us with other art pieces is Sister Mariella Erdmann, OSF. See the following sources: http://www.fscc-calledtobe.org/living/index.php/2008/03/13/franciscan-sisters-bless-and-dedicate-renovated-chapel/ http://www.sl.edu/art/faculty.asp Our Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Motherhouse has often been acclaimed by the common folk who visit us to be a homey art gallery. We cherish the handiwork of our members. One Sister who wrote our most precious San Damiano Crucifix and gifted us with other art pieces is Sister Mariella Erdmann, OSF. See the following sources:
http://www.fscc-calledtobe.org/living/index.php/2008/03/13/franciscan-sisters-bless-and-dedicate-renovated-chapel/

http://www.sl.edu/art/faculty.asp

]]> By: Sr. Claire Joy http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14112 Sr. Claire Joy Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:25:10 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14112 I was both a visual artist and a graphic designer before entering my community. My sisters have been very supportive of my continuing pursuit of images that reflect our walk with God, as well as supporting my recent cartoon books that reflect our laughs with God. Time is always the constraint, here, but that is true in every walk of life. I was both a visual artist and a graphic designer before entering my community. My sisters have been very supportive of my continuing pursuit of images that reflect our walk with God, as well as supporting my recent cartoon books that reflect our laughs with God. Time is always the constraint, here, but that is true in every walk of life.

]]> By: Joanna http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14107 Joanna Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:54:39 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14107 Sister Cor Immaculatum Heffernan, IHM (Scranton) has done some awesome work, particularly in sculpture. One of her works can be viewed at http://ihmnew.marywood.edu/WhatsNew/9ihmstatue.htm. Sister Cor Immaculatum Heffernan, IHM (Scranton) has done some awesome work, particularly in sculpture. One of her works can be viewed at http://ihmnew.marywood.edu/WhatsNew/9ihmstatue.htm.

]]> By: Lisa http://anunslife.org/2008/10/25/ask-sister-can-nuns-be-visual-artists/#comment-14105 Lisa Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:42:16 +0000 http://anunslife.org/?p=762#comment-14105 Among my Sisters of Christian Charity, I can think of quite a few Sisters who are very talented and much appreciated artists -- in addition to our many talented musical artists, we have Sisters who are gifted painters, talented photographers, and even one (although I am not sure she considers herself an artist) who is a gifted videographer. Included among the Sister painters is one Sister who had an exhibit of her recent work and "sold" every single piece in the show as I understand (that series of work reflected her experiences of grief and healing following the death of her mother). We have Sisters who are gifted calligraphers, banner makers, decorators, and floral arrangers. And among our newest additions, we have a candidate who is a talented ballerina. We also have Sisters who are talented display makers, card makers, collage makers, and picture framers. Stepping outside "my" community, I have Sister friends who are professional sculptors who even do commissioned pieces. The Daughters of Saint Paul, whom I also know, have many Sisters with artistic talents including music, writing, and visual arts. Some are photographers; some are illustrators. Whether lived in consecrated life, married life, or single life, the relationship between one's personal life journey, and art, and theology, and the encounter with the sacred is an amazing treasure. Enjoy the wonders God has in store for you! Among my Sisters of Christian Charity, I can think of quite a few Sisters who are very talented and much appreciated artists — in addition to our many talented musical artists, we have Sisters who are gifted painters, talented photographers, and even one (although I am not sure she considers herself an artist) who is a gifted videographer. Included among the Sister painters is one Sister who had an exhibit of her recent work and “sold” every single piece in the show as I understand (that series of work reflected her experiences of grief and healing following the death of her mother). We have Sisters who are gifted calligraphers, banner makers, decorators, and floral arrangers. And among our newest additions, we have a candidate who is a talented ballerina. We also have Sisters who are talented display makers, card makers, collage makers, and picture framers.

Stepping outside “my” community, I have Sister friends who are professional sculptors who even do commissioned pieces. The Daughters of Saint Paul, whom I also know, have many Sisters with artistic talents including music, writing, and visual arts. Some are photographers; some are illustrators.

Whether lived in consecrated life, married life, or single life, the relationship between one’s personal life journey, and art, and theology, and the encounter with the sacred is an amazing treasure. Enjoy the wonders God has in store for you!

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