Museum showcases Sister Ludden’s work VIEW GALLERY
(use arrowkeys for navigation) By Fabvienen Taylor
JACKSON — Mike Harkins, 48, peered at “Evening Over Donegal” from several angles on Thursday, Oct. 11, at the Municipal Art Gallery, 839 North State St. “I like the way the light reflects off it and how it changes depending on where I’m standing. It’s alive. I really like it.”
Earlier, Harkins purchased “Cottage on Galway Bay.” “That’s where I would like to be,” said Harkins whose ancestors immigrated here from County Langford, Ireland. Both oil paintings reflect the Ireland he loves. “It’s the real Ireland, the remote part of it, not the tourist traps.”
That “real Ireland” threads through most of Carmelite Sister Muriel Ludden’s 84 pieces of art in her solo exhibit, “With a Brush and a Prayer,” which ends Nov. 30.
“The landscapes are expressions of what I grew up with,” said Sister Ludden, OCD. Originally from Dublin and a former teacher, Sister Ludden, 70, became a Carmelite in 1993. She paints in various locations at the Carmelite monastery on Terry Road, where the sisters mainly support themselves through their gift shop.
In addition to the landscapes, the exhibit includes interiors, flowers, portraits and drawings in oil, watercolor, pencil and photographs.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 16, 21 pieces had been sold and except for one or two, will remain throughout the exhibit, according to Michael Mathews, gallery manager. Once alerted about Sister Ludden’s work, Mathews and museum board members Roy Wilkinson and Laurel Schoolar, Sister Ludden’s painting instructor, pored over her work and selected the pieces for the exhibit.
Over 250 people attended the open house. “This is a very large exhibit,” he said. “The overwhelming theme is definitely Ireland, you see it not only in the landscapes but in the interiors, the flowers. Sister Muriel goes back and forth to Ireland taking photographs. But there are also things from Jackson from out at the monastery, Millsaps College and of course there are religious pieces,” said Mathews.
“There are really some beautiful pieces like `Daffodils,’ which I can’t believe no one has bought yet,” he said. “Another really good one is ‘Wild Grasses.’”
Sister Ludden paints for two reasons. “First I will photograph a gorgeous scene or setting in an effort to retain it,” she explained. “And then I paint it. I may change the color if I want, I’m not a slave to the photograph.
“Secondly, the money from the paintings that sell is not just for me to continue on having fun painting. And it is great fun and challenging too. But I like to think the sales will make some contribution to my community. We also do a lot of other things here but our prayers are the most important thing in our lives as Carmelites,” she said.
Sister Ludden, an accomplished singer who has also had a poem published, started painting about two decades ago. “A theologian said it is healthy for contemplative sisters like us to write, to paint, to express and share our spirituality, our personality with others. As humans we are not one-dimensional, we are multi-dimensional beings created in the image of God, our creator.
“In this carmel every aspect of our personalities is free to be developed,” Sister Ludden said. “We are much more than spiritual beings, we are intelligent human beings with abilities just like everyone else. It’s not just about holiness, but wholeness.”
