Further Efforts Toward a Christian Culture

Editor’s Note: Though the following is not directly related to the traditional liturgical arts of the Orthodox Church, it is important to highlight the efforts of those who borrow from the art within the Church in order to influence and engage contemporary culture without. What Nicholas Kotar and his colleagues are doing is cultural missionary…

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A Contemporary Opus Sectile Icon

Last year, I promised our readers that I would try to create an opus sectile icon, that is an icon that joins different stones together to make an image.  I recently had the chance to create something that is a mix of carving and mosaic and is probably as close as I am going to…

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Russian Wooden Churches

For those readers interested in architecture or those interested in Russian Orthodox cultural heritage, the website by architect Richard Davies is a wonder.  Davies stumbled across of set of postcards from 1911 that featured some old photos and drawings of wooden churches in Russia.  Inspired by the postcards, Davies traveled to Russia in 2002 to…

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The Lives of the Saints

This is post 1 of 3 in the series “Lives of the Saints” Nicholas Kotar thinks through how the often fantastical stories in the life of the saints can still be relevant and teach us about how the world exists even today in our materialist culture. The Lives of the Saints Lives of the Saints:…

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Orthodox Banners for the March for Life

New World Byzantine Studios donated new banners for the Orthodox delegation to the annual March for Life, which took place on January 22nd in Washington D.C. The project began when members of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary expressed a desire for attractive new banners that would project the character and dignity of Orthodoxy. Andrew Gould designed and made them…

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Boston Byzantine Music Festival 2014

I am pleased to pass along  news of the upcoming Boston Byzantine Music Festival. The two-day event is hosted by the Mary Jaharis Center for Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross, and will take place on February 24-25. Byzantine art is commonly associated with mystical iconography and majestic architecture of domed cathedrals, but…

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Gilding Course to be Taught by Christabel Anderson

Iconographer, manuscript illuminator, and OAJ contributor Christabel Anderson will be teaching a fully booked eight-week course on the ancient art of gilding at the Prince’s School for the Traditional Arts in London beginning February 6. As a follow-up to this course, and the others she’s taught previously, Anderson will be conducting a five-day course at the…

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Wedding with Carved Crowns

Several months ago I posted an article on wooden crowns I had carved for a young couple.  Well, I was overjoyed when this newly married couple, Peter & Chelsea Simko sent me pictures of the ceremony using the crowns.  I thought I would share them with all of you.  May Christ crown them with glory!…

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A Choros Chandelier for a Timber Frame Church

During the fall and winter of 2013, I had the marvelous opportunity to make and install a choros chandelier for St. Thomas the Apostle Orthodox Church in Waldorf, Maryland (a parish of the American Carpatho-Russian Diocese). The project was my second large articulated choros (the first, in South Carolina, was described in this article from…

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