Sister Mary Grace Thul
Contemporary religious and liturgical art
New Castle Delaware

CREATING

CREATING ON COMMISSION

Every job is a little different. In the case of a client I have worked with before, there is an almost intuitive communication happening; he can just say a word and I know what he wants, in terms of deadline, in terms of my potentialities, in terms of the medium, size, etc.

With others clients, it takes a little more of a process sometimes to understand what they are looking for. This process works more smoothly now that I’ve gotten conversant with new technology and experienced the ease and efficiency in communicating via e-mail. I will send a client preliminary sketches for critique, and then follow up as the work progresses.

Oftentimes, larger jobs require more collaborative thinking, for example, parish committees. That can be inhibiting when you are working with a number of people with differing views, differing with each other and with me as artist.  Yet, it is a good process to bring people into the making of something that is going to be part of their worship.

ON EXHIBITIONS

I find much fun and enjoyment in preparing for exhibitions. Usually there is a theme and a show gives motivation and actually an excuse to do new things. When doing things for a gallery, one can splurge into a more liberating, intuitive, spontaneous kind of art that comes quite naturally to me. A friend and fellow artist has remarked that my strong suit is gestural drawing or painting: a free, flick of the brush type thing. But what appeals to him, and to a gallery clientele, does not equally sit well with other audiences. Beyond making my own determinations on what to exhibit, I often consult with family members and colleagues.

AN INFORMED CREATIVITY

In between commissions I am able to be more free and just create for the sheer delight of creating something beautiful. This is, of course, the ideal and takes the artist out of the danger of being simply commercial. But as a member of a monastic community, I feel the need to contribute what I can to the support of the monastery. For me, it can’t be simply art for art's sake. My monastic life has definitely influenced not only what I create but how I create. When I first entered the monastery 42 years ago, every piece of paper was considered a matter for consideration in terms of holy poverty. Something of that spirit has never left me, and has carried over to the present, making me very conscious to not waste time or materials. And, because my artwork is done within the framework of my monastic life and our daily schedule of work, prayer, and study, it means I must be disciplined in my use of time.

My artwork is pretty much shaped by what is asked of me. This is definitely not the way a Picasso would go about things.  But then I am far from being in that category, or anywhere near it. I like to be of service to people's needs in the art line. And, I would also like to have time to do some larger, more serious and personally interpretive works, God willing.

As I describe in the ARTIST'S STATEMENT, these days I am converting my artwork to notecards, trying to help with the monastery upkeep and to add a little zip to monastery mailings etc.  I hope people will enjoy using my artwork as cards.