Posts by Mary Lowell
That Weekend in Louisville with Benedict and Maria Sheehan
Theology wedded to music has a fragile integrity entrusted to singers who must skillfully labor to reveal heaven on earth.
Continue reading »Conserve or Restore? A Question of Ancestor Kisses
Conserve: To protect from loss or harm; to keep quantity and quality constant through physical or chemical reactions or evolutionary changes. Restore: To bring back into existence or use; to return to an original condition. Close in definition, the differences when applied to art treasures can be catastrophic. Consider the botched effort to “restore” Elías…
Continue reading »Who Do You Say I Am? The Triumph of Orthodoxy
Holy icons act as signs that point to the immediacy of the depicted. The icons present to the beholder a way of being in relation with the signified. It is precisely this intimacy which many find troubling. The on-off Iconoclastic Controversy in New Rome on the Bosporus that spanned nearly a century (AD 726–87 and…
Continue reading »Third Sermon for the Pilgrim: a Balkan Journey
I have survived three pilgrimages with Fr. Ilya Gotlinsky, leader of Orthodox Tours. Each one has been a sermon. My journey through Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia (May 25 to June 7, 2014) with 27 fellow pilgrims from the Australia, England, Ireland, Russia and the United States, is the latest sermon. First Sermon: Russia 2005, “Beloved,…
Continue reading »Is “Write” Wrong?: A Discussion of Iconology Lingo
This is post 1 of 3 in the series “To Write or to Paint an Icon” Several contributors go over the common debate on whether one “writes” or “paints” an icon. Is “Write” Wrong?: A Discussion of Iconology Lingo A Symptom of Modern Blindness – Further Thoughts on the Phrase “To Write an Icon” From…
Continue reading »“The Icon is Making its Way in America”, an interview with Ksenia Pokrovsky
The life of Ksenia Pokrovsky (March 9, 1942-July 7, 2013) touched thousands of people from nearly every part of the world. Here are excerpts from an interview taken by Irina Yazikova in 2009 for an Italian magazine. Yazikova is a noted art historian and author of many books about iconography, including “Hidden and Triumphant: The…
Continue reading »The Falling Asleep of Ksenia Pokrovsky
News that Ksenia Mikhailovna Pokrovskaya had fallen asleep in the Lord on Sunday, July 7, 2013 was a profound shock. Though she had chronic hypertension, she had not been ill. She was tired, yes, for many years, but still actively sharing her wisdom and knowledge with clarity and generosity. For both her family and friends…
Continue reading »Andreas Ritzos and OAJ Nexus
When Andrew Gould launched the Orthodox Arts Journal (OAJ) in June of 2012, he had in mind the clearinghouse model it has become. It is a service that informs and engages readers in helping to create a culture that values quality Orthodox arts. It is hoped by this effort that a market will emerge…
Continue reading »The Apocalypse Art Prize
“The first rule of art is beauty.” So begins “A Primer of Pictorial Devices in Medieval Painting” written by artist Gloria Thomas. The primer is a guide to competitors in the Apocalypse Art Prize. The prize is $10,000 and the deadline for entry is December 31, 2013. Complete information about the prize and how to…
Continue reading »Iconography in the Atlantic Rain Forest
We at Hexaemeron celebrated our tenth anniversary almost 5000 miles from home base. Returning from an iconography workshop we held in the Atlantic Rain Forest of Brazil, January 19 to 26, we had time to reflect on our past and future: it seems like only yesterday when we started in 2003 with 30 students. And…
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