Dreams Caught through Visual Arts by Kathie Daily

In many of her art pieces, there is a recurrent theme of celebrating life. It may be in an American Indian work, folk painting or paper cut. When she points out one of her beautiful dreamcatchers, one begins to realize that this Salvatorian artist is celebrating and living her dreams. According to Native American tradition, the hanging dreamcatchers move with the wind and gather dreams. Good dreams move through the center and are given by the Spirit for the dreamer's life direction and bad dreams are caught in the net and burned away by the morning sun.

Sister Clarice Steinfeldt, SDS, has cherished each moment in her rich  years of religious life. When she first started school in Port Edwards, Wisconsin, she would hurry to get to kindergarten early. She wanted to paint on the classroom easel. Later she worked on murals, did the art work for her high school newspaper and yearbook. She considered nursing at St. Mary's Nursing School, Wausau, Wisconsin, for six months. There she met the Salvatorian Sisters and chose to enter the community. She realized that she had found her vocation at the hospital, but not her profession.

After graduating with a degree in art education from Alverno, she brought her artistic gifts to the schools where she taught and became administrator in elementary and secondary levels at in Wisconsin:  Wauwatosa, Milwaukee and Wausau, and Landover Hills, Maryland.

Today Sister Clarice is one of four artists who call the former sisters' convent on the third floor at Divine Savior - Holy Angels High School their Art Studio. The other artists are: Sister Karlyn Cauley, SDS, Sister Doris Klein, CSA, and Barbara Braatz. All seasons come alive as one browses through the varied rooms that express the creative force of each artist. It is the perfect "one stop" place if you like to shop. The gifts can be framed and personalized according to each buyer's preferences for weddings, anniversaries, baptisms or sheer aesthetic pleasure.

Sister Clarice serves as a wonderful role model for us as we approach each passage of our lives. She has loved teaching and school administration and then serving in congregational leadership. She took these opportunities as new challenges that offered her a chance to stretch and grow and to take risks. And she herself went "back to school" as a mature adult and earned one Master's in Administration from Marquette University and later a Master's in Financial Administration at Notre Dame University.

She took some personal renewal time in the Fall of 1990 at Springbank, South Carolina, where she was introduced to basket weaving, pottery, water color and weaving. This was a time of reawakening and self-realization. A three month spiritual sabbatical at Dover, Massachusetts, followed.

"Our Congregation ministered to the Lakota Sioux for nearly sixty years in South Dakota. So it was a wonderful experience for me to learn about the Indians through these artistic workshops," she explained.

In 1991 one of the Salvatorian women's team members asked, "What would you like to do now, Clarice?" Her heart had been leading her back to one of her earliest passions and she was invited to join the Art Studio.

"I love what I'm doing , the work, the people. And after many years at a typical convent, four of us are now living in a neighborhood in Wauwatosa. We have wonderful neighbors and share the many joys and sorrows of living. I have had such a full life with many opportunities."

Sister Clarice is energetic and excited about many projects. In 1992, she began doing papercuts. The latter term has other ethnic names, such as scherenschnitte (German) and silhouette (French). Sister Clarice became a member of the Guild of American Papercutters in November 1995. Recently she won second place in a papercutting competition in the Guild of American Papercutters and designed the cover of the membership booklet for the Milwaukee's Cream City Calligraphers, Inc.

Sister Clarice may become what the author Ken Dytchtwald refers to as an "elder hero." She is catching and living her dreams. And there are many.

American Indian traditions have been a focus of Sister Clarice's artistic expression. Dreamcatchers and baskets are some of her favorites. Hand-painted ornaments are also some of Sister Clarice's special projects.

See more of Sister Clarice's Artwork