St. Hildegard in Progress

Still working on an icon of St. Hildegard of Bingen, an amazing German lady of the 13th century--musical composer, spiritual writer, founder of a monastery, adviser to the powerful in her day--and I could go on.  She has been called an artist as well, and perhaps justifiably so, although the pictures attributed to her were probably not done by her own hand, but by painters under her direction--depicting mainly the various visions she received during her life.  If you'd like to see some of her work, or read her writings, it is readily available on the internet since she has undergone a great surge in popularity over the past few decades.  I guess she's become a sort of feminist hero and New Age spiritual guru.

Here's a snapshot of the icon in progress showing the inner part that will frame the figure of the saint.  I made the earth and sky background all wavy--not sure exactly why.  I plan on writing the text of one of Hildegard's hymns along the wavy lines of the sky, using the script of her place and time--or a reasonable facsimile thereof, since I am not a practiced calligrapher.  My first idea was to put this in as in the musical manuscript, the old-fashioned "sheet music" as it were, but have decided to keep it simple and just use the words.  Perhaps the lilting lines alone give some sense of music.

I have a bit of a backlog going--an icon of St. Brigid of Ireland and a couple other items yet to be scanned and offered as prints.  Financial constraints--so by all means feel free to hit that donate button on this page!