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Sister Meinrad Craighead, OSB, Stanbrook Abbey, wrote as follows in her short introduction to an exhibition of some of the pictures at the Graffiti Gallery between 2 September and 3 October, 1979: ‘Many of you know that I have been designing these tree images since 1975. The imagery is inspired by the symbol of the tree in world mythology and folklore, in the imagination, and in world religions. The images are made in scraper, or scratch, board. While some of them were executed with a straightforward woodcut technique, others take advantage of the vast potential of the medium, the extraordinary variety of values and textures that can be achieved. The movement from the depths of the blacks into the transparencies, possible in this medium, suits my work which has never been concerned with colour, but rather with the exploration of darkness and the coming through darkness into light.’
I could now continue either copying the blurb on the cover, or quoting from the introductions to the various parts of the book written by the artist herself. Rather, I should like to say: have a look at these documents of unconscious imagery, and allow them to affect you. I saw this book, open, on the table in a friend's house and could not resist turning its pages. Fascinating shapes met my eyes which seemed not to be connected with the writing on the page facing them. Light and darkness, stillness and movement, pattern in space moved me deeply, and led me to meditate either on the imagery to find new meaning or words, or on the words compelling me to find my own shapes. This was proof enough of the creativity of the artist.
A closer look at detail revealed delicately drawn animals and birds, character studies of the five senses. I felt pecked by beautifully shaped beaks, scratched by claws, immobilised by tentacles, sniffed by nostrils, warmed or frozen, contained and ejected. Human shapes and sexual symbols stand out in their stark simplicity.
The format of this book, which is neither sch