A Celebration of Life in Art

A unique, fully illustrated autobiography in full colour covering over 60 years of the life, art, and ruminations of a Catholic Priest and accomplished Sculptor…a life worth discovering and appreciating! Herman Falke was born in Holland in 1928. At a very early age he chose the religious life and enrolled at a Junior Seminary outside Amsterdam. However, the German occupation of Holland changed his reality as a young teenager. He learned how to survive, seek safety, and obey the occupiers’ orders. His daily routine was digging trenches along the German border. Food became scarce and men between the ages of 16 to 50 were rounded up in the local villages, and resistance was met with a firing squad for disobeying orders. The arrival of Canadian forces across Holland in 1945 brought an end to the Occupation and Herman returned to the Seminary to complete his studies. He also began assisting at church services and became the resident organist. Today, at 93 years of age, Father Falke still uses his art to temper the sanity in his life. He has formulated an approach and concept to express the religious stories he has found using ceramics and wood.