Sister Catherine Martin and Her Bayou Studio

A featured presenter each summer at the ICFP (the Inter- Carmelite Formation Program) is Sister Catherine Martin, O.Carm. The ICFP is a ten-day program for all Carmelites in initial formation— whether sisters-to-be, friars-to-be, or nuns-to-be, and whether O.Carm. or O.C.D. (The Discalced Carmelite branch of the Order). Each summer she leads these students in art lessons, but these are more than art lessons because of Sister Catherine’s perspective.

“Art is more than ‘how to paint’ a tree, for example. It’s much deeper,” says Sister Catherine. “The experience of art is a way of expressing what is going on within.” The students quickly learn that art is much more than what is on the canvas.

	Various portraits

Catherine Martin was born in New Orleans into a very artistic family. Her father was a graphic and commercial artist, doing works ranging from church interiors frescoes to sets for the theater. All her siblings are involved in the arts, but Catherine chose to enter the Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and began her career as an elementary school teacher, teaching for fifteen years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After that, she worked in parish ministry for a number of years. Only since 1997 has she gone into art full-time.

Her first and best seller

Her ‘career’ as an artist began because she was asked to teach at a sabbatical program called “Blessing Place” which the sisters offered at the time. More and more she began incorporating art into her lessons on spirituality, and more and more her students encouraged her to give them yet more. Sister Catherine notes, “God does speak to the person through their art. This is the sacredness of this ministry.” Then the students started offering to purchase her work. This is when she went “professional.” She became well known when some of her portrait sketches were advertised in “America” magazine. Copies of her first, of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, were very popular and sold well. Since 1997, her art has been her full-time ministry.

	The view from her studio

Sister Catherine’s studio is on the grounds of the former novitiate for the sisters in Lacombe, Louisiana. The studio overlooks Lacombe Bayou, a rather scenic slow-moving stream just north of Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana—perfect for an artist’s studio. It is a quiet, scenic area, centered in nature, with lots of trees draped with Spanish moss, and lots of magnolias, her favorite flower. Inside, the sun-filled studio showcases her favorite pieces which range from that portrait of Mother Teresa and other portraits, to paintings (mostly watercolors) of various nature subjects, to her recent endeavor, icons. All are artful, grace-filled and beautiful.