ECVA Newsletter


	This icon, painted in the old world style of egg tempera on wood, was written during a class, The Spiritual Journey, with The Rev. Mary Beth Wells, Director of the Diocesan School for Christian Studies in the Diocese of Southeast Florida. — Cheryl Astern

The Pain from the Frame
By Cheryl Astern

While attending the Diocesan School of Southeast Florida, a first year required course was entitled The Spiritual Journey. Required reading for the class was an excellent book, Soul Feast, An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life by Margaret Guenther. There are 8 or 9 chapters with a selection of exercises at the end of each meant to help you develop your own inner journey. Since I write icons, I naturally embraced a suggested meditative exercise at the end of a chapter titled Chewing the Bread of the Word that suggested taking the “backwards” perspective of viewing an icon.

The lines of perspective in an icon painting lead to a vanishing point in the center of the icon (if viewing an icon with buildings in contrast to viewing an icon of an individual Saint). Instead of receding to this vanishing point in the center of the icon, the exercise says to imagine that all the lines of perspective move toward you – the viewer. Place yourself at the center of the icon, looking outward.

By reversing the perspective, I actually dared to put myself in the center of the icon, and looked out into my environment and beyond. Past my immediate surroundings, the world and the universe as we know it came into view, with all the planets and the galaxies. I wondered about what lies past what is known by science. I wondered about what that part of the world that cannot be documented by science, meaning the spiritual realm of God’s love and grace.

As I meditated on the exercise, thinking about God’s love, how it relates to our environment, I was able to reach out of my distorted image of myself in the center of the icon and look into the world. What do I see and how do I feel as I view these images from within the icon?

My first calling is from the hungry, to reach out and feed them. I am called to defend, protect and feed the mothers and babies that are starving in third world countries (as I sit in my comfortable, leather recliner writing this essay). I hear the cries of unwanted babies and children without mothers to hold them, comfort them or sing them to sleep. My heart aches for the children who have lost limbs stepping on a landmine. I wonder about the person that planted the landmine and their relationship with God, as I am not to judge others. The tears flow as I think of the children suffering through the pain of chemotherapy, as cancer ravishes and engulfs their little bodies. I am angry when I view the evil drug pushers enticing both the young and old into a false sense of nirvana, as they have not yet discovered that the high they are seeking comes from God’s love and grace. As in the title of the Simon & Garfunkel song, these are “The Sounds of Silence”.

How can I help all these people? How can I participate to overcome all the evil in the world? How can I feed all the hungry? What can one person do to ease the pain of all the human suffering of the world? My answer is prayer and action. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. My prayer is to surrender myself to God and ask him to direct me. God, what will you have me do? Dear Lord, show me the way.

When I step into the icon and look out into the world and beyond, no one can see me but God. However, the Word does reveal us truthfully to ourselves. It opens us up to a radical transformation of those points, through the light of Christ. The Bible gives us a foundation to build on and the light guides our path.

In John 13:12 Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” The words of this scripture are informational as well as directional. It is what Christ wants us to do. To follow Him, we need to show love and compassion to all.

Performing the exercise of the icon helps to take us to a deeper level, giving us a living insight that can grow with personal involvement and relatedness. Thomas Merton said, "… Only on this second level, this deeper level, are we ‘Chewing of the Bread of the Word’ and it is then that the Bible really grasped … the task of acquiring information is simply the ‘front porch’ of spiritual reading”.

Cheryl Astern
This mediation was written while taking a class, The Spiritual Journey, with The Rev. Mary Beth Wells, Director of the Diocesan School for Christian Studies in the Diocese of Southeast Florida. In addition to writing icons, Cheryl also creates icon quilts.

Email: castern@advocacyweb.org
Parish: St. George Episcopal Church - Summerville, SC

New at ECVA.org

Exhibition

Visio Divina: Visual Art and Spiritual Formation

"The Holy Spirit speaks many languages, among them the language of art in all its forms." With these words, Frank Tracy Griswold, 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church opens our understanding of what the role of art in a life of faith might be, and what it might become. This exhibition showcases seven Episcopal communities across the United States where the visual arts nurture people's spiritual lives. More . . .

	News and Events

	The Frick Bellini of St. Francis and his Canticle to the Sun The Visual Arts Program at Saint Mary the Virgin Times Square, NYC, presents The Frick Bellini of St. Francis and his Canticle to the Sun By Dr. Pamela Tudor-Craig, Lady Wedgwood, Monday, October 2. Dr. Pamela Tudor-Craig is a distinguished art historian who will be in the New York region from 27 September to 12 October 2006. A gifted and entertaining speaker, she is a foremost authority on art and spirituality. She has recently been studying the influence of St. Francis and St. Clare on Gothic art and could lecture on that subject as well as on the iconography of St. Francis¹s sermon to the birds. For more information, visit www.stmvirgin.org/VisualArtsProgramAtSaintMarys or call The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin at 212-869-5830.

	Really Mixed Media II St. Andrews Cloister Gallery, Marblehead, Massachusetts, presents the work of three well known artists with widely varied talents. "Really Mixed Media II" will be on display through October 9 in The Cloister Gallery at The Church of St. Andrew, Lafayette Street in Marblehead. Most of the artwork is available for sale. For directions and information call the St. Andrews office at 781-631-4951.

	Threads of Evidence Work by ECVA artist, Mary Ann Breisch, will be included in the "Threads of Evidence" exhibition at The South Wing Gallery, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, OH. The exhibition will be held through October 28th. www.stpauls-church.org

	A Glimpse of the Kingdom: Writing Icons "Writing icons" is a discipline developed during the Byzantine period of styling religious art as language. This conference is for everyone who would like to experience icon writing in an atmosphere of prayer, silence, Eucharist, and chant. No artistic skills required. All supplies will be provided. Presented by Teresa Harrison, Iconographer and Icon Lecturer, on October 29 - Nov. 3, for her third year of teaching icon writing at St. Mary's Sewanee. Located on the bluff of the Cumberland Plateau in East Tennessee, St. Mary's Sewanee is just minutes from the University of the South at Sewanee. For more information: www.StMarysSewanee.org, email: dschwert@sewanee.org or stmaryscc@sewanee.edu.

	Prosopon School of Iconology 2006 2007 The Prosopon School of Iconology Philadelphia Branch meets at All Saints' Church, Wynnewood, PA, for regular monthly meetings, exhibition, and instruction. Teaching the theory and practice of egg tempera and gold leaf Byzantinestyle iconography by using traditional materials is under the direction of founder and master Vladislav Andrejev. During the week there will be lectures on the theory and history along with hands on practice making an icon on a gessoed wood panel. Students will be directed through the process of gilding and painting with explanations of board preparation and oil finishing given. The emphasis is placed on personal spiritual discipline and growth through a study of Christian Church teachings and principles. Please contact ECVA artist Susan vonMedicus at eikon@aol.com or 215-646-3424 for more information.

	ECVA Calls

	Exhibition Unto Us a Child is Born The seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany will soon be upon us. During this time we will journey from darkness to light as we await, receive, and celebrate the birth of a wondrous child unlike any other. At a time of uncertainty and war, where even Bethlehem, the birth place of our Savior, is surrounded by what many have recognized to be an Apartheid Wall, the birth of this luminous child unlike any other birth in the history of humanity represents hope, peace, joy, and love – in infinite quantities and dimensions. Visual artists working with art media of all types are invited to explore this theme and share their vision by submitting their work for consideration in the upcoming exhibition: Unto Us a Child is Born. For more information, please click here.		Call to Writers Episcopal writers are invited to submit poems and essays for consideration in the Illustrated Word and the eNewsletter. For more information, please see the Submissions section below.

From the ECVA Registry:

...and Joseph feared not...
Corinne Collymore Peters
Cranbury, New Jersey
(Oil, 2005, 49 1/2" x 30 ")

Remarques
The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts now has its own weblog or blog, "Remarques", online at www.ecva.blogspot.com. Remarques provides a welcoming place for discussion without having to receive a flurry of email messages. For more information, please click here.

Registry
If you are an artist, part of an organization, or just an individual with an interest in the arts, please join our registry. ECVA Registry

RSS Feed
ECVA now offers a RSS feed for use in news reader programs. By subscribing, you will automatically be notified when a new ECVA newsletter is available at our Web site. Use the XML-based information linked to the button below and follow the instructions in your news reader to add a new channel. For more information, please click here.

Submissions

ECVA is seeking submissions from artists and writers within the Episcopal community. All work should be based on the topics listed below. For examples of what we are looking for, view our current features online at www.ecva.org and view past features in our Archive. All submissions can be sent by email to editor@ecva.org or by postal mail to:

ECVA
PO Box 4765
Wilmington, NC 28406

Please include your name, desired contact information, local ECVA Chapter (if applicable), parish or other Episcopal Church community, and concise biographical information (optional).

Congregations
We are seeking stories about congregations with works of art. Please include information on the artwork, artist, church, and provide photos.

Community Arts
We are seeking stories about congregations or institutions using the visual art as part of their ministries or community outreach that incorporate the visual arts within the church. Please include information on how the project was developed, those involved, and provide photos.

Articles
We would like stories reflecting on the visual arts and its intersection with church life. Please include images on the topic.

Visual Essays
The concept is to feature an artist's work that was created as a series based on a single theme where the images tell the story. The theme is the choice of the artist and could be anything related to the church, worship, or that is inspirational. We would prefer five or more images and an artist statement reflecting the work and the theme.

Illustrated Word
Writers are invited to submit up to 3 poems at a time for consideration. There is no limit in length, though the shorter, the better. Previously published poems are accepted. After a poem has been selected, a work of art will be selected as an illustration for the poem. The poem and image will be posted together at the Web site.

Multimedia
We are seeking multimedia presentations that bring together image, word and/or sound. Presentations could be videos or Flash graphics.

Resources
We are interested in art related projects designed to celebrate a season or holy day that is usually temporary and involves the members of the congregation in its creation. It could be something used during Advent, Lent, Easter, or Pentecost.

Events and Books
Send us your news releases and information on upcoming events at editor@ecva.org. We will list the announcement on our Events Web page and in the News section of our eNewsletter.

eNewsletter
Writers are invited to submit short essays (300 to 600 words) for consideration in our monthly emailed newsletter. The theme is the choice of the writer and could be anything inspirational relating to the visual arts.

The Worship Well
Church Publishing Incorporated has partnered with ECVA, the Office of Liturgy and Music, and the All Saints Company to provide an online community for conversation, collaboration, education, and the sharing of liturgies, images, music, art, multimedia, scripture tools, and more. The goals for ECVA are to increase visibility of ECVA and ECVA artists through The Worship Well; support increased use of art and image in worship and liturgy; and create support for ECVA artists in the areas of how to use art in church situations and how to ask for remuneration for the use of their art in church situations.
www.theworshipwell.org.

	About ECVA

	The mission of The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA) is to encourage artists, individuals, congregations, and scholars to engage the visual arts in the spiritual life of the church. ECVA values the significance of visual imagery in spiritual formation and the development of faith, and creates programs to support those who are engaged in using the visual arts in spiritual life. To learn more about ECVA, please visit www.ecva.org.		If you know someone who might enjoy our newsletter, please forward this issue to them so they can learn what is happening at ECVA. To subscribe, visit www.ecva.org/newsletter.htm for information.

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The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts