Editor’s Note: This essay is an interesting provocation for church architects and liturgical artists. Fr. John Finley challenges us to rethink some of the normative materials and imagery used in our churches to better conform to the vision of Heaven described in scripture. I think there is much to be said for this approach, controversial […]
Between 2016 and 2018 I created a series of wall paintings with scenes from the Old Testament for the exterior walls of a chapel in Dordogne, France. The chapel is located in the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration which was founded by Archimandrite Elie and is a dependency of the Monastery of Simonos Petras on […]
Introduction This article is the second in a series documenting the mural project at St John of the Ladder Orthodox Church in Greenville, South Carolina. This beautiful temple was designed by Andrew Gould. The previous article presented the murals in the two smaller rooms adjacent to the church’s sanctuary. Here, I will present the recently […]
In Babel long ago they wanted to build a tower that would reach heaven, and in Belfast in 1912 they wanted to build a ship that nothing could sink. When, in April of that year, the Titanic did sink, the aspirations and pride of the late Victorian era sank with it. I like to think […]
I have been asked to paint the iconographic murals in the new chapel at St. Gregory Palamas Monastery in Perrysville, Ohio. This chapel, dedicated to St. Gregory Palamas, is yet another good example of contemporary Orthodox architecture. It unites the traditional appearance of Byzantine interiors with the familiar exterior detailing of rural vernacular architecture. It […]
Parishes in the Wilderness Orthodox parishes in Britain often have to share a church with Anglican parishes. Before each service they will usually need to set up all the furnishings and icons needed for Orthodox worship, then put them all away again at the end. It’s all quite tiring, both emotionally and physically, so the […]
My design work for Orthodox Churches has been featured in an article in The Pennsylvania Gazette, the magazine of University of Pennsylvania (my alma mater). It includes an interview discussing how I came to my vocation and my philosophy of traditional church design, followed by a lengthy excerpt from the book Charleston Fancy. I am […]
At the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow … and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. —Phil. 2:10, 11 I You might remember the old song in which a man and woman argue about pronunciation. “You like potayto and I like potahto; you like tomayto and I like […]
The Exhibition In late June, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend a week in Paris, attending an exhibition in honor of the 50th anniversary of the repose of iconographer monk Gregory Kroug. The event ran from May 14th through June 30th, and included a curated exhibition of Kroug’s iconography displayed in the […]
Editor’s Note: This essay was originally written in Russian by master iconographer Anton Daineko of Minsk, Belarus. It beautifully explores the paradox of creativity within iconography from the very personal perspective of a lifelong practitioner. Anton and Ekaterina Daineko regularly teach icon-painting workshops in the USA, which are highly recommended. They have upcoming workshops in […]