New Frame Colours for the Mosaic

Glory to God! the Mosaic was installed today!

The Completed Mosaic

The completed and much improved face of the Saint

The Face of the Saint Takes Shape

Blessing of the Iconographer Tools for the Mosaic

Today, at the Church of St. Demetrios in St Marys, following the Divine Liturgy, Fr. Nektarios, Parish Priest of St Demetrios Church, blessed the Iconographer and the tools and first set of smalti tiles which will be used on the Mosaic. Pictured below are the tile cutters, the flesh tone smalti tiles which will be used on the face and hands of the Saint, and they are resting on the fibreglass mesh to which the tiles will be adhered to form the mosaic, which will then be adhered to the wall.

Work Begins on the Church for the Mosaic. Fr. Nektarios Interviews the Iconographer.

Today, the front wall of the Church was cement rendered in preparation for the mosaic. The render has to cure for over a month before it can hold the mosaic, which is why it needs to be done early in the project. In this video, Fr. Nektarios, the Parish Priest of the Church, speaks with the Iconographer and updates us on the project.

The painted icon on which the mosaic will be based.

Ancient Art Meets Modern Technology and Some First World Problems.

Mosaic courtyard from Uruk, Mesopotamia, 3000 BC

 A Photo-journal Entry on the commencement of work on the mosaic.

Mosaic is an ancient art form, and we have surviving examples of it dating to 3000 years BC. In other words, you are a thousand years closer in time to the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, than the Incarnate Christ was to the earliest mosaics which we can still see today. Think about that. The period of time between the oldest surviving mosaics to the time of Christ is 3000 years. The period of time between the Birth of Christ to where you are now is 2000 years.



This ancient art form has continued to our time today. After the birth of Christ, it was adopted and sanctified by the Church in the depiction of Christ, the Saints, and the symbols of the Christian Faith. Today we are working on turning a painted icon of St. Demetrios measuring 0.3m x 0.425m into a mosaic measuring 1m x 2.5m.  To do this, we need an enlarged copy of the icon on one sheet of sturdy paper the size of our planned mosaic which will form the pattern on which we will build the mosaic.

How to do this enlargement? This is where modern technology meets ancient art. We decided to use the ingenuous method employed in most modern kindergartens of tracing a projected image to produce a mural for children to paint! 
So, we just needed two things: a blank section of flat wall as large as our mosaic and a computer projector placed at an adequate distance from the wall to project a large enough image of our Icon to fill the section of wall. So the hunt was on for a space which met these criteria. Unfortunately, experimentation showed that the projector had to be at least five metres from the screen to produce a large enough image of the icon, and the studio is only 3.5m long. So the hunt for the ideal section of wall to act as screen shifted to the house. After much surveying of rooms, unfortunately, the only section of wall large enough to act as a screen at this distance was the section of wall which was at floor level under the dining area window, which was behind a clothes airer, which was behind the dining table, which was behind a sofa which was behind a coffee table which was behind another sofa which sat over the section of floor where the projector had to sit in order to project the image onto the wall.

There was only one thing for it. All the furniture had to go:

 

We then placed a borrowed projector at one end of the room connected to a laptop with an image of  our icon:

And projected the image onto the "ideal" wall section:

 

 All this furniture moving took us through to morning tea time. As you can see, a poor iconographer can only afford generic instant coffee, generic Tim Tams and condensed milk for morning tea:

The next step was to tape a large piece of art paper to our screen, project the image onto it, and trace it with pencil:

Using this method, we had to be sure that we were indeed tracing the projection of the icon and not something else!

In the end, we had a feint tracing which we could then add details to:

The Finished Icon.

Glory to God! The Icon is completed!
If an iconographer was paid Australian minimum wage for their work, this icon which measures 30cm x 42cm would cost $3000 including materials.

Painting the Icon (Part Two) - Gilding the Icon

The gilded Icon

 Gilding is the application of pure gold leaf to an Icon.

A sheet of gold leaf.

Gold leaf is gold which has been beaten into tissue thinness. It comes in squares of 80 x 80 mm (3.15 x 3.15 inches), and to give you an idea of how thin it is, 1000 sheets of gold leaf weigh approximately 14 grams (less than half an ounce!)

Contrary to popular belief, an Icon is usually gilded before it is painted. The reason for this is because the gold can be painted over if need be, whereas it's well near impossible to remove gold leaf accidentally applied to a painted surface without damaging the paint.

To gild the icon, the surface to be gilded is prepared by applying a layer of "Armenian bole" (pronounced "bowl"), which is a very fine clay and which actually does come from Armenia. This is mixed with rabbit skin glue or gelatine and applied to the parts of the icon to be gilded and then sanded and polished. The bole provides a much smother surface for the gold leaf which is highly reflective and therefore will show any lumps or depressions on the surface of the icon board. It also allows for the gold to be burnished (polished).






 Once the bole has been applied, it is sanded and polished, and a layer of "gold size" is applied. Gold size is an adhesive which remains "tacky" for a long time after drying, and causes the gold leaf to adhere to the surface of the icon. It takes about half an hour for the gold size to be ready after it's applied, and if any dust particles or anything else settles on it, it will show up as a lump when the highly reflective gold leaf is later applied. For this reason, prior to applying the gold size, the air in the icon studio is thoroughly sprayed with a fine mist of water to moisten any airborne dust and cause it to fall to the ground.

Burnishing the gold leaf with an agate burnisher.

Once the size is ready, the gold leaf is applied, and then burnished using an "agate burnisher" - a tool with a very smooth piece of agate stone on the end. 

The symbolism of the gilding is significant. We start with Earth (bole) and finish with Gold. The Earth is what God made us from, and therefore represents our humanity. The Gold reflects the Sun and therefore represents Heaven and Divinity. As we progress through the process of "theosis" or "deification", or humanity becomes united through Grace with the Divine Energies and shines with Uncreated Light. This is what the Haloes of the Saints in the Icons remind us of and represent.

Prayer Ropes For St Demetrios Available Online!

As stated earlier, we are making prayer ropes to sell to raise funds for the St. Demetrios Mosaic Project. 

You can now purchase your Prayer Rope online using PayPal to help contribute towards the purchase of materials for the St Demetrios Mosaic Project. 100% of the money raised goes towards the project. The prayer ropes are available via Byzantia Icons

Painting the Icon (Part One) - Transferring The Image On To the Icon Board

With the sketch completed, the time has come to begin painting the Icon onto an icon board.
The icon board is a wooden board onto which 12 layers of gesso has been applied and sanded in between each coat to leave a smooth, ivory-like finish.The sketch is then traced on to tracing paper.

The prepared Icon Board.

 The image is then traced on to the board using a special "carbon paper". The "carbon paper" is a sheet of art paper on which is rubbed the dry pigment of Burnt Sienna.

Burnt Sienna being rubbed on to art paper to produce "carbon paper".

The prepared "carbon paper"

T






The "carbon paper" is then placed face down onto the surface of the icon board and secured.

Securing the "carbon paper" on to the icon board.

The tracing paper image is then secured on top of the "carbon paper"

Placing the tracing paper image over the "carbon paper".

The image is then traced over again:

Tracing the image.

When the image is traced, the tracing paper and "carbon paper" are removed, and we are left with a feint, burnt sienna image of the icon on the icon board which can be painted over.

the image on the icon board.

Reflections on Iconography and Life

The original sketch

The new sketch

"Not a knowledge that you learn, but a knowledge that you suffer. That is Orthodox spirituality."   -Eldress Gavrielia 

 The sketch for the icon has changed, particularly with the Saint's armor where a more angular design was chosen to emphasize the Saint's manliness.

 Iconography and Orthodox spiritual life have a lot in common because, of course, they cannot exist without each other. Icons are an integral part of Orthodox theology, since they are ultimately about Christology. Christ became incarnate and sanctified the matter of the universe, therefore we can use matter to depict Him and His Saints.

When designing an icon, we begin with prayer and then the sketch. The iconographer is not really an artist. The Artist is God, and the iconographer strives to be His instrument. But the iconographer is a human instrument living under the conditions of the Fall. In sketching the icon, the iconographer sits with their design and continually looks for ways of improving it. This means using the eraser as much as we use the pencil. And Orthodox spiritual striving is like this also, is it not? It is not an end but a continual process, a journey towards God which continues throughout this life and the next. We fall, we get up, we improve, we see ways of improving more, we fall again, we get up again and so on.

Sometimes, the iconographer sits with a sketch and looks at it for a long time. They know something is wrong, but can't quite put their finger on it. They pray, they study, they look at more perfect models, they seek advice from the more experienced, and then, God willing, they see what needs to be erased and changed, what needs to be added or subtracted. Just like all of life and especially spiritual life.

St. Demetrios Mosaic Project Prayer Ropes

Prayer Ropes (Gk: "Kombokine", Ru: "Chotki") have been used for centuries by Orthodox Christians in the practice of the "Jesus Prayer" or "Prayer of the Heart". In 1Thessalonians 5:17, St Paul exhorts us to "Pray unceasingly". The original Greek version is "αδιαλέιπτως προσεύχεσθε" which means "all of you, pray without interruption". Yet we have to work, we have to tend to our families, there are dishes and laundry to do and garbage bins to put out. Is the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle, asking us to do something impossible? How do we pray unceasingly? The answer is the Jesus Prayer. The words of the Jesus Prayer are simple yet profound:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner."

This prayer is repeated continually, paying deep attention to the meaning of the words. The prayer presents us with two "poles", it begins with the greatness of the Living God on the one side, and finishes with the acknowledgement of our wretchedness on the other. Like a ship in distress which continually sends out the SOS signal, we repeatedly call on the Son of God to have mercy on us and save us. Using the prayer rope to anchor ourselves, we repeat the prayer on each knot of the prayer rope.

There is an interesting story about how the design of the Prayer Rope knots came about. There was a monk who wanted to make a prayer rope in order to count his prayers. However, each time that the monk completed a few knots, a demon would come by and untie them all. The demon knew for what purpose the monk was tying his rope and out of fear and spite wanted to keep him from being able to complete it. One day an angel of God appeared to the monk and, answering his prayers for help, taught him how to make a special kind of knot composed of seven interconnected crosses. This knot was so complicated and, having on it so many crosses, the demon was unable to untie it and the monk was finally able to finish his rope.

We are currently making prayer ropes to sell in order to raise funds for the St. Demetrios Mosaic Project.We have two designs: a wrist prayer rope featuring a cross with a bead in the centre, which is worn on the wrist as a reminder to "pray continually", as well as the 50 knot prayer rope with a cross and tassel (traditionally, the tassel is for wiping the tears of repentance). Both are made from strong, durable parachute cord (paracord). The wrist prayer rope sells for $10, and the 50 knot prayer rope sells for $20. Please allow extra for postage if required. Contact us if you would like to purchase one.

Wrist prayer rope, $10

50 knot prayer rope ($20)

Sanctify Those Who Love the Beauty of Your House.

Planning a mosaic icon above the entrance to the Church of St. Demetrios, NSW.

A visitor to an Orthodox Church building is often struck by the extraordinary beauty of the structure and it's furnishings. Despite centuries of suffering of the Orthodox Church throughout the world (last century alone saw the slaughter of 50 million Orthodox Christians), Orthodox Christians have insisted on making their church buildings, or more correctly, their "Temples" (Gk: "ναοί"), as beautiful as they could. This is how it has been for the two millennia of the Church's history, beginning with the frescoes which adorned Christian catacombs in ancient Rome. There is even a reference to Christian love of beautiful places of worship in the ancient prayers of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom which the Church has used in it's for 1600 years:

"O Lord Who blesses those who bless You and sanctifies those who put their trust in You, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Protect the whole body of Your Church. Sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house..."
(From the Dismissal of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

 "Ὁ εὐλογῶν τοὺς εὐλογοῦντάς Σε, Κύριε, καὶ ἁγιάζων τοὺς ἐπὶ Σοὶ πεποιθότας, σῶσον τὸν λαόν Σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν Σου. Τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας Σου φύλαξον, ἁγίασον τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας τὴν εὐπρέπειαν τοῦ οἴκου Σου..."
(Από την Απόλυση της Θείας Λειτουργίας του Αγίου Ιωάννου του Χρυσοστόμου)

 It is with this in mind, that permission was sought and granted from the Archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia for the installation of a Mosaic Icon of St. Demetrios above the main entrance door of the Church of St. Demetrios in St. Marys, NSW, Australia.

Currently, the entrance door to the Church of St. Demetrios looks like this:

Main entry door of the Church of St. Demetrios

The potential is amazing given the large, flat surface of the wall and the beautiful arched shape of the door as well as it's centrality between two identical doors. Interestingly, the three entry doors reflect the three doors of the "Iconostasis" or Icon Screen which separates the Holy of Holies (altar area) from the Nave of the Church:

Iconostasis of the Church of St Demetrios

Above the central door of the Iconostasis (called the "Beautiful Gate") is the icon depicting the Mystical Supper when Our Lord instituted the Eucharist, which links what is happening in the Icon with what is seen happening below it on the Altar or "Holy Table".

So, what icon should go above the main entry door of the Church? Since the Church building is dedicated to St. Demetrios, the logical answer is that the Icon should depict St. Demetrios. In order to make the icon unique to the Church, it was decided to depict St Demetrios actually holding his Church building . After much research into various mosaics and several attempts at preliminary sketches, the iconographer came up with this sketch:

Preliminary sketch for Mosaic

The sketch depicts the Saint dressed as a warrior, holding the Church in his left hand while his right hand holds his spear. In the icon sketch, you can see the three entry doors of the Church.

The aim is to make the icon as large as possible without interrupting the arch of the church entrance, but rather, enhancing it. Here is an idea using raised borders that highlight both the entry door and the icon:

This is the plan. May The Lord bless our efforts!