Minor Arts
A Professionally-Built Iconostasis for a Mission Church
The iconostasis featured here is the culmination of an idea I have been developing for several years. It is installed at Saint Matthew the Apostle Orthodox Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I would like to tell the story of how it came to be, and discuss the problems it is meant to solve. The iconostasis…
Continue reading »‘Being’, The Art and Life of Father Sophrony
Archimandrite Sophrony, painting Christ at the Last Supper, early 1980s, the Monastery of St John the Baptist, Refectory.[1] Image: ©The Stavropegic Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, Essex. Editorial note: This is the second part of a series on the artistic path and iconographic legacy of Saint Sophrony (Sakharov) as seen through a collection…
Continue reading »A Retractable Icon Screen
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…
Continue reading »Coming Soon: The Liturgical Arts Academy, August 18-24 2019
English-speaking Orthodox faithful in the United States who have wanted to learn the liturgical arts of the Orthodox Church — music, iconography, vestments, architecture and furnishings design, etc. — have historically had limited opportunities to study with knowledgeable teachers. Some have had the opportunity to go overseas to countries such as Greece and Russia to…
Continue reading »A Constellation of Chandeliers – Some Recent Lighting Projects
I have written some articles in the past about large choros chandeliers that I have designed and installed. But today, I’d like to introduce a number of other lighting projects: individual or unusual fixtures, chandeliers in interesting places, and other pieces I’ve had the pleasure of making. I will start with a recent chandelier I…
Continue reading »Decorative Borders—Adding Beauty in an Orthodox Church
(Written by Nikos Pantanizopoulos and Lynne Attaway) Beauty in an Orthodox temple is something easily taken for granted, but it has deep spiritual and theological significance. It can also be realized even by those who do not have the skills of iconography. Beauty is an integral feature of Orthodox temple. We honor God when we show…
Continue reading »An American Shrine to Honor the Russian Royal Martyrs
It has been my particular honor to create a magnificent shrine and reliquary for the Russian Royal Martyrs. The shrine was commissioned by an American convert to Orthodoxy as a gift to the Hermitage of the Holy Cross, a Russian Orthodox monastery in West Virginia, USA. It was installed in time to commemorate the centenary…
Continue reading »Liturgical Furniture for an Historic Cathedral
I was asked, in 2015, to design a set of liturgical furniture for Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Baltimore. When I looked at the building, I could see that this would be a complex project with several stylistic influences in play. The monumental structure was built by a Protestant congregation in 1888 in the ‘Richardsonian…
Continue reading »A Gospel Cover Crafted in the Tradition of a Medieval Treasure Binding
I have always been fascinated by liturgical book bindings from the Middle Ages. Their perfect union of leather, wood and metal, as a supple and tactile work of functional art, is singularly satisfying. In contrast, there is something lacking in most contemporary gospel covers, which are normally made by applying decoration overtop the cardboard covers…
Continue reading »A Tale of Transformation
A TALE OF TRANSFORMATION Two New Mosaics for St George’s Orthodox Church, Houston, Texas Aidan Hart This is the story of how two large mosaics for St George’s Orthodox Church in Houston Texas came to completion this January. The genesis of a mosaic is a tale of transformation, from sand to glass, to image,…
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