“do we squander the gifts that God has freely given to us?” To Squander The Holy Land in the time of Jesus was largely an agrarian culture and so it is no surprise that many of terms we find in scripture have their origins in agricultural practices. When the grainContinue Reading
“Creativity and originality certainly have their place in the art world,…but it is only a part” The division between sacred art and and secular art is centuries old. It began largely as a matter of patronage. The popular idea of the artist creating works of art based on his ownContinue Reading
Mary, Undoer of Knots is an ancient devotion of the Church popularized by Pope Francis. Mary is sometimes referred to as the new Eve. Her obedience to God’s plan, undid the knot of Eve’s disobedience. In the second century, Saint Irenaeus wrote, “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied byContinue Reading
“A revival of Gothic art was not limited to late 19th and early 20th century Christian sacred art.” Art can serve many functions. I believe the primary function of the gift of artistic talent is the same as all of the gifts of the Spirit, to build up the KingdomContinue Reading
“the purpose of the Gothic form is to draw the viewer into the Christian story.” Art fulfills a function. That function changes with the needs of society and culture in any given time period. In reviving the Gothic form for today we need to make sure that whatever we doContinue Reading
“If we are to make the Gothic artform relevant to today’s faithful we have to start with what is needed.” Copy or Adapt? Reviving the Gothic artform to meet the needs of the Church today is somewhat more complicated than it initially appears. We do not want to simply copyContinue Reading
“the truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.” Sometime around the year 1578, a man presented himself to the rector of the English College in Rome. The man gave his credentials and lineage, citing as his father a notedContinue Reading
“To enter a Gothic church was to enter into salvation history.” The Iconographic In the first half of the 20th century a Russian artist was having a conversation with a friend about traditional sacred art, what we would today call iconography. The two great centers of this type of artContinue Reading
“Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) In our post-enlightenment, post-Christian world, artists and artisans are perhaps most susceptible to vanity. The message for more than a hundred years now has been that society values the artist who stays true to their personal vision. To support this weContinue Reading
“a work of art may speak deeply to the heart of an individual” The Abbey in the Oakwood As artists, how do we convey timeless religious themes to an audience that has largely forsaken religion for the vague notion of spirituality? How do we render Christian images of faith andContinue Reading