Growing up, I had a beautifully illustrated pocket-sized book about St Francis and his ability to talk to animals. The stories of St Francis have continued being familiar to me – from witnessing the Franciscan Friars in action in my church, to watching my mother paint her portrait series of St Francis.
The story of St Francis asking for the Stigmata has always haunted me. How could anyone ever wish something so brutal upon themselves? This manifested itself when I was approached to design an image for the Franciscan Young Adults jamboree event with the theme of “Wounds to New Life”. I awoke one night with the final image that sought to incorporate joy from such sorrow.
When Friar Derrick Yap asked me to design the artwork for the Franciscan Calendar, I reacquainted myself with St Francis’ stories. I realised that my mother’s images were the ones that had inspired me to want to know more about St Francis. I began to look at other artists’ interpretations, not solely of Francis’ stories, but echoes of it: other saints in prayer, a girl with a wolf, figures in embrace. It is not alone that I was able to come up with these images. I was not developing something from scratch but entering into a kind of meditative dialogue with those who had painted before me, seeking to imbue my own work with that same spirit of life we all share, just as St Francis lived his.
Reflecting on these other images, the ideas flowed very naturally. Each version of my illustrations took less than five minutes but developing them into the artwork for the calendar was a slow refinement of my personal style, guided by the very stories that have stayed with me through my formative years.
Ashley Jane Leow
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