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

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

My paintings are portraits honoring Hildegard and the people that surrounded and supported her: her friend and teacher Jutta; her scribe Volmar, her confidant Richardis von Stade, 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 composed 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 to be an ideal of women’s choice and participation within spiritual life.

The paintings are images reflective of 12th century art of her day with metaphors she used to explain her spiritual enthusiasm. I painted layers of watercolor pigment on rice paper. They 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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