Drawings
In 1994 I was privileged to study in Stuttgart, Germany with a well known and respected artist in carving and woodcuts. Sister Sigmunda May, OSF welcomed me into her space to share her knowledge and love of art with me. I arrived in Stuttgart on September 29 and kept a journal of my adventures and thoughts until March 28, 1995, my return date to Mankato, MN.This year, it has been twenty years since I was thereand I am rereading my journal each day with fond memories of my experiences and reflections while I was there. During my time there I worked at three things, woodcuts, drawing and sculpture. I learned the importance of studying forms and began to see different forms in the things I observed.
Sigmunda, had one book in English on Henry Moore and I found myself reading it often to appreciate his process of sculpture. Also, the fact that most of the rest of her books were in German, a language I had really only started to hear when I arrived, made the Henry Moore book all the more interesting.One of the things that she shared with me early on was to pay attention to the things that move me because there is a reason for that feeling. I need to reflect on what is affecting me and express through my art what it is drawing out of me. My work then will express feeling and invite others into those same feelings that they are experiencing.So In this post I will share two of the drawings from my sketch book that I did each morning while I was there. Each day, I would find a picture from her art books that spoke to me and draw it. After a few weeks of drawing each day I began to feel the forms within each of the art works. Twenty years later it is still a good reminder to me of the value of drawing to improve how you can feel shapes and forms.
Maria Mit dem Kind, Saulges, St-Pierre