Growing up in Portland, Oregon, France White pretty much knew that her life would someday be tied to art.

"I don't have a lot of memories of kindergarten," says the Sister of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, "but those I do have are all about drawing and painting. It's what I always loved to do."

So it makes perfect sense that, having devoted much of her 49 years as a religious to art, Sister White would be invited to illustrate a children's book on the life of Cornelia Connelly, the founder of the religious order. And, to use as models students from Mayfield Junior School in Pasadena, founded and administered by the Holy Child Sisters, and where Sister White serves as a trustee.

"A Generous Love: The Life of Cornelia Connelly" was written by Catie McElwee, a SHCJ volunteer working in the Dominican Republic, in conjunction with Connelly's 200th birthday (celebrated in 2009). First written in Spanish, it was translated into English, and is accompanied by the illustrations of Sister White that depict scenes from Cornelia's life as a wife, mother, convert to Catholicism and religious order founder.

For Sister White --- a former teacher and graphic designer --- illustrating "A Generous Love" was, indeed, a labor of love. "It was fun," she smiles, recalling the opportunity to involve Mayfield fifth graders as models for photographs that she then used to make her drawings. With the help of the school religion coordinator, and bringing in her own props, Sister White met with the students to outline the kinds of scenes she wanted to illustrate, and found plenty of volunteer models willing to help re-create the necessary scenes.

"The children were studying Cornelia Connelly's life in conjunction with her 200th birthday," said Sister White. "Being involved this way helped them better visualize the period, and they were delighted to have a fun way to learn more; it really brought what they were learning about to life."

It was also, indeed, a labor, given her own penchant for detail and honesty. "When I draw," says Sister White, "I want to know what position the hands are supposed to be in, what gestures are appropriate. I really wanted to do a whole portrait of Cornelia. I had already done some thumbnail sketches, but having the students available allowed me to take photographs, and use those as a guide for illustrations."

Beside the people, there were others considerations --- like the fact that Connelly lived in the 19th century. "I'm a stickler for honesty and authenticity," she says. "I wanted to know, for example, what the trains of the 1830s looked like, the fashions of Philadelphia where she lived, the furniture of the period."

Google searches led her to an 1830s bed being sold on Ebay, fashions from the period, even a map in use --- all items she could incorporate into her illustrations. The Sisters of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, founded by Connelly in 1846, also had available photos and portraits of the founder and her family, "so I could do accurate renditions."

Educated herself by the Holy Child Jesus Sisters at St. Rose Elementary School and Holy Child Academy in Portland, Sister White entered the order in 1961 and taught for seven years, though she knew early on that "teaching was not my vocation." She has also ministered to handicapped adults, worked as a professional graphic designer ("before there were PC's," she smiles), and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree.

Since 1981 she has been based in Southern California and for most of that time has devoted herself to her artistic ministry, creating designs used on Christmas cards and prints. Her work has been featured at the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim and is on the SHCJ's web page (www.shcj.org).

"I look at my ministry," she says, "as portraying God's love and design for the world through art. That's one reason it was such a joy to participate in this project."