Rees working from the model in her Gig Harbor Studio.
Mardie Rees is hard at work on the clay monument of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary to be installed at Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw. Saint Elizabeth was a young princess from the 1200s who had a heart for the poor. She would often sneak food from the castle kitchen, hide it in her cloak and carry it beyond the base of the castle to the foothills where the poor resided. She was once caught with her secret stash of food and asked to pull back her cloak, only to reveal hundreds of flowers, known as The Miracle of the Roses. A twenty-year-old Elizabeth later received the return of her dowry upon the death of her husband and decided to build a hospital where the poor would come for healing.
This piece is sculpted in honor of Sister Jude Connelly, OSF (May 8, 1940- March 28th, 2024) who served the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health System for over forty years.
Read Saint Elizabeth's full story on Wikipedia
The portrait is easier to finish down on a sculpture stand.
The cape is on! Next comes sculpting the roses within her cape.
Can you find me? Working along the bottom edge of the skirt is hard on the knees.
Left to right: Mardie Rees, Sister Jude, Michael Cox, Danielle Langvad, Ruth Fisher, Sister Anne McNamara. Sister Jude did see the maquette in her honor before she joined Jesus on March 28th, 2024.
Celebrating Mother’s Day (my son not pictured) - My oldest graduated 8th Grade! I can’t believe it.