Znamenny Chant for the 21st Century
The subject of this article — the “Znamenny Chantlet Database Project” — is a continuation of a proposal[1] initially unveiled by the author at the 2014 Pan-Orthodox Symposium on Orthodox Composition, held at Northern Kentucky University, and in a paper[2] given in 2015 at the Conference of the International Society of Orthodox Church Musicians…
Continue reading »Teaching Traditional Ecclesial Pictorial Embroidery
I would like to introduce you to my new project, Katrusya Studio, which was established to teach people Medieval ecclesial pictorial embroidery. What is pictorial embroidery? The term “pictorial embroidery” refers to any embroidery depicting faces and figures of people. Ecclesial pictorial embroidery encompasses figures of saints, scenes from their lives, and famous historical events.…
Continue reading »Lecture: Exploring Church as the Center of Our Life
This talk was offered as part of the Fall Retreat at Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church in Rolla, Missouri. It explores the theme of community life being expressed through liturgical art – a sort of do-it-yourself guide to building an artistic culture of worship and hospitality in church, village, and home: Annunciation Fall Retreat – October…
Continue reading »The Chichester Workshop for Liturgical Art: A New Venture for Training Liturgical Artists and Inspiring Wise Commissioning
An exciting centre for training liturgical artists and inspiring commissioners was officially launched on the September 14th, 2023. It is called the Chichester Cathedral Workshop for Liturgical Art. It is based at the ancient cathedral in the south of England,which stems from a monastery founded by St Wilfrid in 681. You can learn more about…
Continue reading »Announcing an Exciting Book Project Featuring the Liturgical Arts of North America
I’m very pleased to announce that I’ve partnered with the Sacred Arts Institute at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary to produce a major book featuring the best of North America’s Orthodox Liturgical Arts. This will be a high-quality art book focused on presenting excellent color images. We will feature historic and contemporary churches, icons, furnishings, metalwork, textiles,…
Continue reading »Iconostases in Balkan Churches – Part 2: Dečani Monastery
The iconostases of Dečani Monastery are of such overwhelming interest that they warrant their own post in my photojournalism series. Dečani was built in 1327-1331. Among the hundreds of monasteries built by the medieval kingdom of Serbia, it was the tallest and grandest. Today, it is also, miraculously, the best preserved, with an extraordinary collection…
Continue reading »Icon, Religion—Abstraction: Joseph Masheck with Joachim Pissarro & Fr. Silouan Justiniano
…I looked at Russian icon painting with new eyes, that is to say, I “acquired eyes” for the abstract element in this kind of painting. –Wassily Kandinsky[i] For better or for worse the traditional icon painting revival is indebted to modernism, in particular its development of abstraction. Although, as a traditional liturgical art,…
Continue reading »Iconostases in Balkan Churches – Part 1: Serbia
Continuing my photojournalism series highlighting Balkan churches, this post features interesting iconostases I photographed in Serbia and in the Kosovo and Metohija region. These iconostases range from medieval to contemporary, and exhibit a remarkable range of styles. I find it fascinating to view them grouped together, and consider that there are such diverse solutions to…
Continue reading »Apsidal Wall Painting for St. Christopher’s Church, Codsell, UK
Definition of Apse: A large semi-circular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof and typically at the church’s eastern end. Via Latin from Greek hapsis ‘arch, vault’, perhaps from haptein ‘fasten, join’. In astronomy, either of two points on the orbit of a planet or satellite that are nearest to…
Continue reading »Interview with Andrew Gould on the New Church at Holy Cross Monastery
I invite you to watch this new interview, in which Abbott Seraphim and I discuss the new church under construction at Holy Cross Monastery. We touch on the future of monasticism in America, the importance of authentic craft to the growth of the Church, and the special role of Orthodoxy in an increasingly artificial world.…
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