BENEDICTINE ABBESS/ARTIST

In doing some monastic study research, I came across another Benedictine artist- this one in England.

After training as a mural painter in the Glasgow School of Art,MOTHER JOANNA JAMIESON, OSB  joined Stanbrook Abbey in 1956. After more than 60 years in the monastery, which included two 12-year terms as abbess, she emerged from the cloister  to undertake a one-year refresher course at the RoyalDrawingSchool in London, where she studied, well into her 70s. (Having gone back to school myself after 15 years in the enclosure to pursue a PhD, I can’t imagine what it must have been for her after such a long period).

She has made two very large murals, one of which, in the Kairos Centre in London, depicts  Mother Magdalen (Frances) Taylor, who founded the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. Pope Francis declared her venerable, a step toward sainthood, in June 2014.

Presenting the mural, 7 feet by 4 feet, Mother Joanna joked about a “swoosh effect” of curves that connect a series of vignettes of the corporal works of mercy and other aspects of the piece. The intricacy of her creation, was a technique pioneered by Lyonel Feininger, the 20th century German-American expressionist who used overlapping triangular planes of light to convey depth, space and movement.

 Mother Joanna favors this technique and used it in both commissions, because she believes it helps to create the sense that her subjects are alive. “The large interlocking curved shapes attempt to depict the dynamic flow of the sap of the Spirit through the branches to produce the fruit.”

 “The flow of movement embracing the vine, Mother Magdalen and sisters endeavors to convey the interpenetration of past, present and future,” she explained.

The painting, created over three years using acrylic on linen, is going to be Mother Joanna’s last public commission. She now will paint only for pleasure.

The second mural shows the rebuilding of Buckfast Abbey in southwest England and, when it was unveiled in April 2014, was acclaimed as “accomplished” and a “stupendous work” by the editor of the British Art Journal.

This mural alone involved the design, drawing and painting of 20 panels to create an assembled work that spans 26 feet by 18 feet.  Mother Joanna labored on the project six days a week, stopping only for bouts of hip surgery.

Mother Joanna used photos from the Abbey's archives which show the monks in their habits, hammering, chiselling and hauling loads of masonry.

The mural depicts the reconstruction of its AbbeyChurch that took place between 1907 and 1939, the team of workers being led by four monks. and was commissioned in preparation for the Abbey’s millennium year of 2018. It is situated in the 360-seat Grange Restaurant at Buckfast Abbey. 

“I am very grateful to Buckfast for asking me to do it because it has been a tremendous responsibility. It has pushed me to the limit both physically and mentally but there has been a lot of enjoyment in it as well … it really has got to be the project of my life,” said Mother Jamieson. (Catholicherald.co.uk)