RMW Ramblings

  Choir of Angels Traditionally, paintings and sculpture have depicted angels with bird-like wings emerging from their shoulder blades, lacking the torsral musculature that would be necessary for actual flight.  This representation is symbolic, not realistic. Many of my Christmas paintings and Christmas cards have depicted angels.  I have used a range of angelic representations, frequently departing from the traditional and moving on in symbolism. A traditional representation is Gabriel in this painting Virgin Annunciate .  The Holy Spirit is represented by a dove hovering between Gabriel's wings.     Also in a traditional representation, is the angel from my painting Annuciato ut Pastores dominating the scene.       In my painting For Unto Us celebrating George Frideric Handel's oratorio, Messiah, s mall heavenly  angels join the terrestrial musicians to frame the composer/conductor.    The wings on this angel from a...

  Egret Rising Egrets are part of the heron family.  My egret in full display is arced above by lunar phases, and below, by glyphs of the bird in a range of postures.

  Greater Than the Moon, Lesser Than the Sun One night the Blessed Virgin Mary came to me in a dream. She requested that I create an image of her "Greater than the Moon, lesser than the Sun."   While I never considered this more than an odd dream, I kept thinking about it for a few months.   Eventually I created this painting.   The frame was salvaged from a broken mirror.  The arched top suggested the Sun/halo.   I added a pomegranate in Mary's hand.   This fruit is frequently associated with Mary in art and is considered to be the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. You will also find Mary's twelve stars, the Marian monogram familiar to Catholics from the miraculous medal, and the title phrase in Latin which I also symbolized.