Lot #10: Whimsey #2 Abstract Chalk Pastel Artist Signed Sister Virginia Varley

Sister Virginia Varley experienced a life-changing artistic breakthrough at the age of 89. After spending almost 20 years of her creative journey painting mandalas highly intricate and symbolic circular artworks she traded her acrylics for oil paint, cold wax and spatulas, and started to play on canvas. The result was her discovery of herself as an abstract artist, a painter unbounded by form and open to surprises. Now, at age 93, shes self-published Alive Through Play: Challenged by Art Mediums, a joyful collection of her paintings accompanied by her reflections on the spirituality of making abstract art. Varley didnt always consider herself an artist. After joining the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto in 1947, a Roman Catholic community of consecrated women, she taught in elementary schools across Canada. Throughout this time, she sketched in her personal journal, interspersing her drawings with her reflections on everyday life. When she started taking formal art classes in 1988, she began to share her paintings with others, and in the early 2000s, she joined her artistic practice to her ministry, offering art retreats for fellow creative explorers.