Sister Diane Marie Payne brings some color to the sisters

Ursuline Sister Diane Marie Payne wanted to keep busy in her retirement. Her love of art has helped her to do that, and serve other Ursuline Sisters.

“I wanted to be active and do something for other people,” she said. “Art expresses what’s inside you. It brings the goodness out.”

Sister Diane Marie began buying adult coloring books with scripture readings on each page. She colors the drawings herself and puts them on the doors of the sisters who live in Saint Joseph Villa, the long-term care facility at Maple Mount. She’s been an Ursuline Sister for 53 years.

“I’m getting ready to do the Sistine Chapel glass windows,” she said in early December. “In the spring I’m going to do butterflies, and in the fall, animals.”

She finds coloring serves as a meditation.

“When you color, you put your whole self into it,” she said. “It’s very calming.”

Although she intended her drawings to be just for the sisters in the Villa, sisters who live in other parts of the campus asked for them too.

The sisters had different artwork on their doors for Advent, so Sister Diane Marie will return their door decorations after Christmas.