Finding Beauty in Beauty and the Beast – the Perspective of an Orthodox Christian Artist
Disney’s new live-action movie, Beauty and the Beast, has stirred up considerable controversy. Proponents of both feminism and the gay agenda have claimed the movie as a triumph for their cause. As an Orthodox Christian who has great respect for the power of fairy tales to shape our world view, I found these allegations troubling.…
Continue reading »A New Symphony Orchestra Founded upon an Orthodox Christian Aesthetic
Maestro Vladimir Gorbik, renowned choral director of the Moscow Representation Church of the Holy Trinity-St Sergius Lavra, has founded a new symphony orchestra. Maestro Gorbik, having accomplished so much as a liturgical musician in Russia, and having co-founded PaTRAM in order to share his skills with Orthodox Americans, now wishes to offer his Orthodox musical…
Continue reading »A North American Master of Sacred Arts Program
The first person to ever write about my carvings was David Clayton, who at the time was blogging for New Liturgical Movement. Since then David and I have kept in contact as he wrote his first book and has now gone on to start the first Master’s Degree of Sacred Art program in North America. This…
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 »Voice and machine: Technology and Orthodox liturgical music
Recently, iconographer Aidan Hart published the thought-provoking essay “Hand and machine: Making liturgical furnishings”. Mr. Hart’s piece is part of an ongoing exploration by liturgical artists of the question of how technology has changed, and is continuing to change, our relationship to crafts that have up until recently been done by hand. Liturgical designer Andrew Gould has…
Continue reading »Good Church Music Starts with Kids
In response to some important questions I’ve gotten about teaching kids to sing in church, I’ve asked my wife Maria Sheehan, a longtime music teacher, to write a guest post based on her experience. — Benedict Editor’s note: This article is republished from Benedict Sheehan’s blog, The Music Stand. *** I have been a vocal…
Continue reading »Making Art with an Axe
As we have just passed through the season of Theophany, I have been brought to ponder what Theophany means for art, especially liturgical art. The icon of Theophany offers much to reflect upon as we gaze at the elements it brings together. Just as in our lives and in the world, in the making of Christian…
Continue reading »Encountering God – Climacus Conference 2017
The Climacus Conference is a classical Christian intellectual/spiritual event featuring scholars and voices across the fields of Theology, Philosophy, Classical Education, Literature, and History/Politics. It is unique in that it provides an opportunity for attendees to be enriched by thinking well across disciplines. In 2015, OAJ founder Andrew Gould participated at the Climacus conference and gave…
Continue reading »An Innovative Carved Icon of Archangel Gabriel – A Collaborative Work
Occasionally Jonathan Pageau and I like to experiment with our work – to skirt the boundaries of historical precedent, to revive forgotten and archaic techniques, or to juxtapose ideas in new ways. This project, an elaborate mixed-media icon of Archangel Gabriel, is such an instance. It was not a commissioned project, but rather something we…
Continue reading »Hand and Machine: Making Liturgical Furnishings
Principles for the Design and Making of Liturgical Furnishings Aidan Hart Handing over from hand to machine A tool in the hand of a craftsperson is an extension of their body, mind and soul. He or she feels the resistance of the stone or wood. Through the tool the material speaks back to them, and…
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