Museum-Quality Matte Paper Print available:
12" x 16" (30cm x 40cm): $35.00
 
Sister Wendy Beckett is a hero of mine in the arts, and a person about whom Tolkien readers may like to know. Like Tolkien, she was born in South Africa, and she admired the Oxford professor who conducted her Viva Voce exams. Both were a part of the Catholic minority of England. Sister Wendy spent many years translating medieval Latin texts before becoming a public figure in her role as art historian on multiple television programs, such as "The Story of Painting".
 
Sometimes, the lives of great women and men seem to emanate out like bright ripples from a pebble dropped in a pond. Tolkien's life connected him with so many people in so many ways, and though his encounter with Sister Wendy was a brief one, their outlook on joy - evidenced in the writings of both - is quite similar and inspiring. 
 
I encountered Sister Wendy's art history programs when I was a very young artist, and her joyful response to paintings has been a lifelong source of encouragement to me, helping me not just to paint but to share my work with others.
 
This simple watercolor portrait is my loving tribute to her, and it also contains another Tolkien connection. Sister is standing in front of one of Monet's huge "Waterlily" canvases at the Orangerie in Paris, which she loved because she said they made her feel like she was swimming in them. While Monet was creating these vast public works at Giverny, Professor Tolkien was just a few miles away, fighting in the Battle of the Somme. Monet's own son fought in battles like Verdun, and the artist questioned himself about whether it was right to be focusing on scenes of light and beauty amid the horrors of World War I, but felt he must do so. 
 
As we know, Tolkien miraculously survived that terrible war, came home to England, and eventually gave us his own waterlily-filled masterpieces in the story of Goldberry. Perhaps if you look into Monet's paintings, you can see into Goldberry's world. 
 
Sister Wendy spent many decades in silent prayer in a small trailer on the grounds of a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk. It was a sacrifice for her to leave behind the deep joy of her cloister to appear on television, and I am so grateful that she gave this gift to the world. If her work and life are inspiring to you, hanging a museum-quality print of this simple watercolor could be a daily reminder of both the benefits of the contemplative life and the joy of the arts.