bio Rachel Sherman

Rachel Sherman 1907-2008

Level II teacher - Emeritus Status

Click here to read a letter from Rachel.

As an adult student of Opal Gilpatrick, Rachel Sherman first attended Windswept in 1952. From that time to the present day, Rachel has been played a vital part in the development of the Creative Motion work.

Rachel is a true artist, not only as a musican and but as a gifted painter as well. Rachel has been a greatly valued asset to the continued study of Creative Motion. She has served on the faculty numerous times, assisting in the body tuning classes, working privately with workshoppers, and leading other classes.

Her home was in Columbus, Ohio.

Shortly after the 2000 workshop Rachel Sherman wrote the following letter to webmaster Tom Pasley, sharing some of her thoughts and memories about Creative Motion.

Dear Tom,

Marylin brought me the Journal of C.M. and the C.M. Memory book last evening and I have devoured both. In fact they brought so many feelings to the surface that I feel compelled to write you some of them.

First of all I felt the sadness that comes over me when I realize I have missed these last two years of workshop. It was always something I looked forward to to not only see my friends but to renew my spirit for another year. I think with the exception of the first three years, I did not missing being there. In fact, going back to Windswept I felt was as close to heaven as I would ever get. It was such an inspiration to just be there.

My missing these last two years was of course because of my preoccupation with my survival. I just couldn't have participated as usual & made it - alas.

When I think of C.M. I am flooded with such memories I scarcely know where to begin. When my boys were 6 & 8 I found the new teacher in town to give them piano lessons. I sat in on their lessons and after coming home I would sit down to play & I couldn't believe the result. Finally at the the end of their lesson I would say " Opal can I play my piece for you?" The result was obvious, Opal said "Rachel you study with me". So after a music degree from Wis. Un. I studied with Opal for at least 10 years and taught many more.

My first lesson was such a revelation, I thought I had never studied music before. It was like a new religion and my lessons gave me a new lease on life. Not just a light-weight body but Opal, being the sensitive person she was, she was a perfectionist. We would spend sometimes two hours on a phrase until I had experienced every aspect of it's musical content. I was so light I always felt I could have flown home under my own power.

My son Bruce at the age of 7 studied only one year with Opal. He has never been without a piano and he improvises a great deal. When he sits & plays it is always with a C.M. quality. This is a miracle to me. Opal always said "Rachel, don't give it up, go back to the experience and then play what comes."

I taught many years and was always interested in the effect of C.M. teaching had upon the child, not just musically but kinesthetically. It not only relaxed them but put them together and they played with a tone one couldn't describe, nor could you tell them how to get it - only through the experience of C.M..

Now, I hate to say it but I am 93. It is only a number but when I am asked "How did you do it" my answer is always the same -" I studied and lived with C.M."

P.S. When I was in college, 1924, we had a visiting lecturer in my music appreciation class, Mr. Pommer. I am sure he was in his nineties, he was a musician, a composer, and he had studied piano with Liszt, so he always told us he touched the hand that touched the hand of Beethoven.

I always felt this way, studying with Opal - I touched the hand that touched the hand of Martha Russell - What a privilege.

Rachel Sherman

Just as Windswept 2008 was set to begin, we learned of the passing of Rachel Sherman, long-time Creative Motion teacher and colleague. An article from the Columbus, Ohio may be read by clicking here. Rachel will be missed, but we celebrate her very long a productive life and many fondly recall her contributions to Creative Motion.

Rachel Sherman | 1907-2008
Writer, watercolorist taught music at OSU
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 7:29 AM
By Matt Tullis
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ohio State University art students made three pieces of glass sculpture as a gift for Rachel Sherman, who turned 101 on Jan. 23.
The first two had been delivered to Sherman, a former OSU music instructor who took up painting and writing at 80. Dorothy Gill Barnes, a visiting glass artist at the university and a friend, was to present the third piece Sunday.
About 8 that morning, Barnes received the news that her friend of almost 50 years had died.
Sherman was the widow of Hoyt L. Sherman, a former chairman of the OSU Art Department for whom a studio art center is named.
Several years after her husband's death in 1981, Sherman started writing and painting. She sold hundreds of watercolors. In 1993, she was a founding member of the Collage of Women Artists, a group that meets monthly and presents art shows frequently.
"Both she and my father were Type A's," said son Richard Sherman, who lives in California. "She cultivated a group of younger people all her life, so she had a substantial support system here in Columbus."

Rachel Way was born in Missouri and moved to Columbus in 1928 to teach voice and music at OSU. She married Hoyt in 1934, and they had two sons.

She left the university but continued teaching voice and piano from her North Side home until she was almost 90.
Shortly after her 100th birthday, Sherman visited the Hoyt L. Sherman Studio Art Center. She hadn't been there in several years, and Barnes wanted her to see it in a whirl of activity. Barnes had arranged for a seat for Sherman, but she preferred to walk around in the studio.

"She just had a wonderful time there," Barnes said.

Sherman was featured Aug. 26, 2007, in a Dispatch story about 20 central Ohioans older than 60 still active in their artistic pursuits.
She is survived by sons Richard and Jed, both of California. A memorial service is planned, but no date has been set.
Cook & Son-Pallay Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Windswept 2007 was dedicated in part to the celebration of the life and contributions of Rachel Sherman - long time teacher of Creative Motion who celebrated 100 years in 2007. (She was born in January 1907!)
Workshop participants prepared a special gift for Rachel filled with drawings, stories and messages of gratitude for her contributions to the work. A video message from many of her friends on the faculty was also prepared. Her reply to her dear friend and long-time neighbor Marilyn Alcala is at right.

My Dear Marilyn,

I thank you for the beautiful books which I received in the mail. I was truly overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness, the beautiful paper throughout where each wrote a note and the DVD where I come face to face with all of my dearest friends at Windswept.

What have I done to deserve this? 100 years is possible but I do not recommend this many years for everyone. You need an energized body that Creative Motion provides.

I want to thank every one of you for remembering me and for the gifts.

Love, Rachel

RACHEL SHERMAN
100, PAINTER
Though not a painter before age 80, she is right in the thick of things at 100. Sherman is the widow of Hoyt L. Sherman, a former chairman of the Ohio State University Art Department for whom a campus gallery is named. She didn't begin to paint until after her husband died in 1981. "Hoyt was a painter, a good one," she said. "I never thought to paint. . . . I was a musician all my life. I came here to teach at Ohio State; I taught voice." With her spouse, Sherman viewed the great art in European museums and picked up the process of painting by osmosis. After his death, she said, "I thought, 'What am I going to do with the rest of my life?' So many of his ideas rubbed off on me. I sort of dived in" and started painting. She works at home in an airy studio originally built for her husband. Large windows overlook a wooded tract along the east bank of the Olentangy River in the Old Beechwold neighborhood. Sherman paints landscapes in acrylics, watercolors, gouache and pastels. Her hand has a tremor, so she has loosened her style, but she has a keen eye for the vibrant colors of landscapes.

Several of her paintings are included Downtown in an exhibit at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission offices. The show, through Friday, features works by members of the Collage of Women Artists.

From the article: 20 over 60
A look at artists with a lifetime of experience
Sunday, August 26, 2007 7:26 AM THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH