Beauty Was Her Passion

Sister Helen Buening was a gifted, holy woman. She combined her artistic talent with her deep spirituality to create works of clay, serigraphy, and ceramic tiles. She was also a beloved art teacher of people of all ages. She compiled an art manual with prints of the masterpieces and examples of children's art from her time as the "Picture Lady" in area schools. She found beauty everywhere and opened others up to the beauty in and around them.

In one of her talks she conveys her view of people: “You are all artists, every person is a special kind of artist, every activity is a special art. Some of you are artists working with the soil, creating your gardens. Others will create from the harvest of your gardens. . . Some of you experience clay – the potter’s wheel where you are transformed as you form vessels. Others turn wheat into bread. All, yes, all of you are artists working with the best of clay, the living vessel, the person."

 Sister Helen lived a long life, enduring blindness and deafness in her later years. She was ever ready for God to take her home, but only "when God wills it." She died on May 15, just short of her 98th birthday. I rejoice that she is now enjoying the vision of God among all the angels and saints.

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