Sister Deborah Coffey, OSB, can see the impact that beauty has on people through her work restoring statues and creating artwork.
Sister Deborah, a Benedictine nun at the Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, has been doing statue restorations for 23 years. She began the ministry as part of her vocational call when she entered religious life in 2009. After some convincing when the convent first asked if she would restore a statue, she has been doing this work ever since.
“It really was divine providence. … God called me to do it, and it really has never stopped since that call came through,” Sister Deborah said.
Each project first begins with Sister Deborah thoroughly assessing the damage to a statue. As the only worker on these restorations, she accepts each project on a case-by-case basis. She advises people to be mindful when handling statues. Much of the damage that is done can be easily avoided.
People are often “painting with the wrong paint, … trying to put statues outside that don’t belong outside or they pick up statues inappropriately,” she said.
Commissions for her restorations come from all over the country, including New York and Pennsylvania. Not many people do the work that Sister Deborah does. If someone calls a studio to restore their statues, the studios typically outsource the work and the clients can be overcharged, she said. On the other hand, all proceeds from Sister Deborah’s work go to Holy Angels Convent.
Oftentimes, there is no advertising needed for people to reach out. Most hear about the work through word of mouth. Enough people come to the church and “the work speaks for itself.”
“You can look at a statue that may be painted, but you can really see the artistic level of the person doing it by the amount of detail and dimensions they go about it,” Sister Deborah said.
Sister Deborah is currently working on a major project restoring the convent’s Stations of the Cross. When the convent moved to Crowley’s Ridge in 1974, the stations were placed outside, but they were made to be indoors. Though time consuming, this project has been very rewarding, she said.
Each station has been put in the chapel at Holy Angels Convent as they get done. A priest came to visit and as soon as he saw one of the finished stations, he immediately asked Sister Deborah to do the stations at his church.
In addition to the statue restorations, Sister Deborah also creates commissioned artwork. She is a member of the Northeast Arkansas Visual Arts League and has branched out into areas, such as iconography and portraiture. If people are interested, they send her a photograph and she renders it into a pastel drawing. Some commissions include animals, ballerinas, family members or saints.
With many techniques involved, portraiture is the artwork she enjoys the most. She is constantly striving to improve her work.
“The skill set that you have improves over the years like anything else. The more you do it, the better you get at it,” she said.
The most rewarding part of the process of statue restorations is the reactions people have to the finished product. Sister Deborah makes sure to make the statue as perfect as possible, hand painting and taking the time needed to do her best work.
“If they see it, and they love it, they get drawn to the statue and that’s God’s grace. … I only work on the physical level. God works on the spiritual level, you know, and he attracts people with beauty” she said.
