“NOTES FROM AN ICON”

A Pilgrim: “There he stands on a blue speck, spinning, a whisper of earth remaining and still. Everything seems possible.”

Inspiration is the name of the game. How do we keep in touch with the spiritual in life? What is it that inspires us? What does it mean to be in touch with the spirit in life? In touch with Christ, the whole story, from his birth through his death and resurrection. What do we see with our eyes, touch with our hands, kiss with our lips, that inspires us to pray?

So many times we are indifferent toward what we are seeing with our own eyes. Such is often the case with ICONS. What are they? Why do they seem so different from our accepted forms of “modern art”. What is their meaning?

They perform a significant role in spiritual development, a more vital prayer experience, unvalued often at first viewing. From a vague interest to living with them in an intimate way…takes time. They are a seamless integration of spiritual and physical action.

Icons are ancient. They are works of art painted on wood on a base of cloth and gesso, same as a canvas. They are inset by a slightly raised edge cut into the wood. They are painted on. Colors are usually tempera laid on over a base of Gold Leaf. There are no brush strokes (in newer icons since antiquity). The colors are worked with the artists fingers creating a smoothly, glowing surface. The outer edge of the frame is finished in one of the basic colors of the work, usually red, black, green or blue. In ancient times the colors were those from nature, so were very limited.

These paintings might be described in terms of sound levels; the noise of a Cecil B DeMille sound tract, for instance, or silence. The kind one searches for in art. From the ages, Byzantine, eight centuries old icons are unsigned. They are to be lighted by a single candle. They are to be kissed, adored, and prayed over, according to the need of the worshiper.

Icons play a significant role in spiritual development. They come from the infancy of art, from which the Renaissance sprang. They have a history of persecution as well as becoming a “lost culture”, buried beneath the Gulag Archipelago in Russia during the 16th Century. They are closely associated with Orthodox Religions; Russian, Greek.

In Iconic prayer there is no difference, no border, between physical and spirit life. The gestures are inseparable from prayer, even when seen in a place detached from worship, such as a museum or gallery. They make church more beautiful, far more than decorations. They are more than a non-verbal teaching device for the “Illiterate”, as was sometimes explained with condescension. Icons help to erase boarders of time and space. They help to sense the closeness rather than remoteness of the events and people portrayed.

Icons are not “worshiped” but serve as points of contact with Christ and the community of Saints. They help to overcome all that normally impedes our awareness that we live in the presence of God and in the midst of a cloud of witnesses.

An Icon may be valued as something newly painted…or perhaps brought to the Holy Land from Mother Russia hundreds of years ago and found in a Jewish souvenir shop. Worth far more than it cost and being truly a gift from God that it was found.

For your own collection of prayers you might provide an Icon Shelf and a candle. No fear of theft or fiery destruction, for no Icon can be lost. Many cards and small reproductions are available, without signatures, just the images sought. In Greek: “Ikon” the first born of all creation. Colossians 1:15

Stop in at Teague’s Mezzanine Gallery and sign-up for Bernadette’s class in Icon Painting, soon to take place in our local area. Leave your name and number to be notified when the class will take place. For a new experience in painting…for inspiration!!

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