Icons

Will Wheeler • October 21, 2019

Icons

I have always enjoyed art. I didn't actually see myself as an artist until I was in Theological collage. Thanks to an episode of Bob Ross and his happy little trees I discovered that "yes I can paint" Art and spiritual expression I believe were born at the same time. I would imagine that as the faith grew so did the expression of faith in art. As I began reading to write this I was surprised that there was a great resistance to creating art. "During the early history of the Christian Church, however, there was very little Christian art, and the church generally resisted it with all its might. Clement of Alexandria, for example, criticized religious (pagan) art for encouraging people to worship that which is created rather than the Creator." This is from an online article published by the Encyclopedia Britannica. (Yes people still use Encyclopedias).By the 2nd century despite objections Christian art is being created.Some of the oldest examples can be found in the catacombs in Rome with a depiction of Christ as the Good shepherd. Now I have always seen icons as art. Several years ago I travelled to Russia to explore the idea of Icons as art and maybe to begin to understand how they played a part in the expression of faith. This is something that we will explore as we make our journey. This past June I took part in an Icon course and actually painted one. It was there that I began to understand that Icon is really not a piece of Art but something much more although it does use art as that vehicle for expression. So here our journey begin as we will learn together and come to hopefully understand and learn about icons. Follow me as I begin to write another Icon learn about the depth of Icons as we begin this Iconic Journey together.

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In the Beginning

By Will Wheeler • November 12, 2019

In the Beginning I have chosen my Saint to write in creating my Icon so grab a brush and start. Oh wait…no. Like Julie Andrews teaching the Von Trapp children to sing, let’s start at the very beginning. When I did my Icon writing course it was wonderful. Walked in, here’s what you will need let’s get started. Different story here at the Manse. In the beginning there was finding and gathering together all you need to start. Boards? Check. Cotton cloth? Check. Rabbit skin glue? Yup. (Don’t worry I will explain in a up coming post) Gesso? Yes. Brushes? Lots of those. Light board? More on that later. Paint? Paint? Yes Paint. Ah. Icon writing uses what is known as Egg tempera paint. (not to be confused with egg tempura which is something you eat) It is a combination of fresh egg yolk, water and just a touch of vinegar and pigments. There is a character in the TV series Vikings who wants to learn the art of illumination of scriptures which is similar to Icon writing. The first thing that she has to learn is how to make the pigments. Sarah Gottesman in her 2016 article A Brief History of Colour in art writes “Artists invented the first pigments—a combination of soil, animal fat, burnt charcoal, and chalk—as early as 40,000 years ago, creating a basic palette of five colors: red, yellow, brown, black, and white. Since then, the history of color has been one of perpetual discovery, whether through exploration or scientific advancement.” Being an artist could be a very toxic profession. White was made from lead, Orpiment (a yellow) Realgar (an orange) and Cinnabar (rusty red) all contain cyanide. They are rather expensive for a few ounces and come with very large warning labels. These are all named for the mineral in which they are ground from. Other historic pigments where made from such things as Malachite (a green) and Azurite (a blue) One of the most expensive historic pigments was Lapis Lazuli (a blue) which was at times more valuable then gold. This is one occasion that my passion for collecting rocks and minerals meets my art as I have samples of these mentioned above in my collection. I have had some success in grinding red sandstone collected from the Forks of the Credit area in making a brown. The artist would learn how to find pigments how to prepare them. I have not spent hours looking for pigments but did spend a little time sourcing the pigments on line. The majority of what I will be using came from England from a very old company called Cornelissen and Sons in London. Some pigments can’t be shipped from the UK so I ordered a few of the more toxic ones from Masters Pigments in the US. All the aspects of our lives are drawn together like all that is needed to write an Icon. The elements coming together to write our story. Some very common, some needing to be handled carefully but all coming together. As God helped write the stories of the Saints, so God works with us in writing our story. God has been there in the beginning of our journey and will help us find new elements to add to our story.

Iconic Journey

By Will Wheeler • November 2, 2019

All Hollows Eve has come and gone and the day after is known as All Saints Day. The Church has always remembered those that have died for the faith. The origins of the day are shrouded in early church history, The feast of all martyrs was celebrated in the Eastern Church as early as 373ce and in the Roman Church was formally fixed 837 by Pope Gregory IV. We honour All Saints Day (at Freelton and Strabane at least) on the Sunday following the Feast Day. We see the Saints as being those that have gone on before us as compared in the Roman Tradition of formally Naming saints. (a process called Canonization.) We believe the Saints of our lives surround us. I would believe that all the Saints of the faith are with us always. Icon’s often depict the images of Saints as well as Mary, the Madonna and Child and Jesus and the events of his life. Now a little Icon terminology lesson. The process of creating an Icon is called writing. An Icon is more than just painting a picture. It is a centering of the soul to allow you to be open to the wisdom of the saints through the Holy Spirit. Prayer is the beginning of writing an Icon. It is in prayerful consideration that you start to consider what image you wish to right. In that vein you start looking at images of Icons and through the tickling presence of the Spirit and image will stick. I think part of the writing is coming to understand the wisdom that person or scene in the Icon has to share with you. For our journey, I have chosen St. Jerome one of the early church Fathers.