art Beckett spent many years translating Medieval Latin scripts before deciding, in 1980, to pursue art. Her first book, Contemporary Women Artists, was published in 1988. Sister Wendy Contemplates Saint Paul in Art was published in 2008 to celebrate the Year of Saint Paul. In May 2009, Encounters with God: In Quest of the Ancient Icons of Mary was published, which follows Beckett's pilgrimage to see the earliest icons of Mary which had survived the Byzantine Iconoclasm. Beckett continued writing about her interest in icons in the second volume of her Sister Wendy Contemplates series, published in July 2011. This book, entitled The Iconic Jesus, takes the reader through scenes from the New Testament, accompanied by Beckett's reflections. Her next book, published in 2011, The Christ Journey, consists of her commentaries on the artwork of Greg Tricker. Beckett required medical treatment as an outpatient at a local hospital. The television chef Delia Smith, a Roman Catholic convert, volunteered to drive her there each week. Smith also drove her around the country to meet the artists when Beckett was writing her book about contemporary women artists. Through this the two became good friends. Having overheard her commentary while attending an art exhibit, a film crew asked to videotape her. This brought her to the attention of a BBC producer and led, in 1992, to the debut Sister Wendy’s Odyssey. Beckett was often effusively verbal in her descriptions of the human body in paintings, both male and female. In view of her religious state, this came as a surprise to some viewers. She insisted, however, on describing the depiction of the human anatomy in art when it was called for, stating that "God did not make a mistake when He created the human body, so I am not making a mistake by describing it." Television and media work Beckett narrates the following documentaries: Sister Wendy's Odyssey (1992) Sister Wendy's Grand Tour (1994) Sister Wendy's Pains of Glass (1995) Sister Wendy's Story of Painting (1996) Saints with Sister Wendy (1997) Sister Wendy's American Collection (2001) Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum (2002) In 2006 she narrated an audio commentary for tourists to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican: Sister Wendy's Sistine Chapel Artineraries Tour (2006) Additionally, she features in the following: Sister Wendy in Conversation with Bill Moyers (1997) Three appearances on Charlie Rose (3 October 1997; 18 November 1997; 19 September