I started painting angels while listenining to the exquisitely celestial music of Hildegard of Bingen, 12 century German abbess of the Benedictine cloister.

This body of works celebrates angels, guides and beings that choose to listen to their inner ‘choir of voices’.

My paints are portraits honoring Hildegard and the people that surrounded and supported her called: her fired and teacher Jutta; her scribe and confidant Richardis von State, and Saint Ursula for whom Hildegard wrote many literal songs honoring her feast day. Other portraits speak simply in response to the etherial music she compose and the angels she envisioned.

Hildegard was a mystic visionary of her time. She was a poet, composer of 77 liturgical works, healer, herbalist and theologian. She produced several religious writings – Scivias, Causes and Cures, Book of Life’s Merits and Book of Divine works. Her theories combine Christian doctrine, cosmology, medical and natural science and musical composition.

Hildegard proves an ideal of women’s choice and participation in and of spiritual life.

The paintings are images reflective of 12th century art of her ay and metaphors she used to explain her spiritual enthusiasm. I painted layers of watercolor pigment on rice paper. There are companion watercolor botanicals on arches watercolor paper. These botanicals were Hildegard’s favorite medicinal herbs and plants which she suggested for her community.

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