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Sister Jean Moore carves life lessons from her hobbies

Sister Jean Moore does woodworking in her basement.

In a cool basement just a few blocks from St. Rose Convent, washed in gold by a single light bulb, sits a woodworker, concentrated, focused, diligent. The saw squeals to life and the woodworker's steady hands guide a piece of wood toward the blade. In only moments, a shape takes form. Maybe it's a cross. Maybe an ornament or a wall hanging. The woodworker turns off the power tool and removes her protective eyewear. Sister Jean Moore has just created another work of art.

Sister Jean's interest in woodworking may seem atypical for a sister, though FSPA have always explored untraditional avenues of expression, in addition to the expected. But what really makes her a remarkable artist is her ability to glean life lessons from her everyday experiences with hobbies. Much of her ability to do that seems to stem from her relationship with her father, Joseph Moore.

"My father has always been very involved in woodworking-that was always a hobby of his-and his father was always very good at it as well, so it's kind of in the family, so to speak." The interest sparked in Sister Jean at a young age. "I would always help my dad when I was younger, fetching this or that for him and just really having an appreciation for the kind of work he did. And then when he retired he did mostly little stuff . . . Christmas ornaments and different little things you can use around the house."

Sister Jean's interest in woodworking reached new heights as an adult. "What really got me interested in woodworking and just the appreciation of wood was when I was working on the Chiara House on Cameron (Street)," she explains. "We took down all the crown molding and the molding on the first floor and we stripped four or five coats of paint off of it and brought it back to the natural wood." The wood dated back to the 1800s, and as the quality of the wood was revealed, the allure of woodworking became clearer to Sister Jean.

Sister Jean Moore is also a jewelry maker and silversmith. These are examples of some of her work.

"I started working a little bit more with my father and he started teaching me new techniques with his scroll saw, or his band saw and his radial saw." The DeWalt radial saw, a model from the 1940s, had been passed from her grandfather to her father. The same saw now sits in her basement.

"When he would visit me, we would make different things together. He and I made some bathroom shelves and he taught me how to make a table that we tiled, a little cocktail table." Together they also made a barbeque table on wheels, carved crucifixes on the scroll saw and crosses and ornaments. "He would always have little gems of ideas. He would say, 'always measure twice, cut once, because otherwise this wood gets really expensive!'"

The lessons from her father were many, and they are lessons she treasures even today. But in addition, while working with the wood, or with jewelry, another hobby she enjoys, Sister Jean takes away some valuable lessons about working with people. "Wood has its own personality. Some of it is really, really soft. Some of it is harder than all get-out. Some of it has a nice grain to it, some of it is kind of blah. You have to work differently with each personality. And, you have to be patient with it, you can't force things. You have to plan ahead all the time."

Joseph Moore's ability to plan ahead helped him through one of the most difficult periods in his life, as he was being treated for cancer, which required him to be in the hospital for a full month. Sister Jean asked him how he passed the time; he was too weak from chemotherapy treatments to even lift a book. He said he planned the construction of an entertainment center, which he eventually installed in one of his daughter's homes. "It gave me something to look forward to," he explained.

Joseph Moore has since passed away, but the lessons he taught Sister Jean, and his philosophy, live on. "There's always something to be learned by whatever project you're working on, if you're open to it," says Sister Jean.

In the future, Sister Jean plans to use two rescued wooden window frames in a woodworking project, perhaps a bookcase. And, she also has plans for a bookstand with a built-in Zen garden with a lid to prevent it from getting dusty. She also still sells jewelry in the St. Rose Gift Shop and to people who are interested in buying her original designs. It's a craft from which she is always, like her father, learning valuable lessons. Recently she took away some insights from an experience with silversmithing. "You have to really watch, with your total focus and attention, the metal as you are applying heat to it. Because if you don't apply enough heat, nothing happens, but if you apply too much heat it breaks down and melts. And I thought how much that is in life," Sister Jean reflects. "God's always watching us very attentively, and, as they say, knows how much we can handle. If it's too much, there's a breakdown. If it's not enough, we just don't make any change in our life. So the right amount of heat is good and it can shape into something beautiful."

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