What are icons?
Icons are an essential part of the Christian faith, the pictoral confirmation that Christ did indeed become man and come among us. Icons are an aid in prayer, Church approved safe images to use on the incredibly joyful but difficult path of prayer. Icons are windows into heaven, allowing us to glimpse into the next world, giving us hope that we can get there by showing us just the tiniest glimpse of what awaits us in heaven. Icons are doors to heaven, they allow prayers to go up to God and miracles to come down to us so we can remember the truth: God is with us!
But to some of us icons are a part of a difficult process where we grapple with something that we cannot understand but can only put in color and line. They are a process of the groaning without words as we try to express to God what is true, good and beautiful. To some of us icons are a process.
Those people are known as iconographers. We see beauty and truth and try to replicate it in our admiration for it. But it's a struggle to do this, since we're all sinners, in need of mercy, and so to produce beauty one must put sin to death.
I try as hard I can to be an iconographer. Let's see where it takes me. I've been writing icons for ten years now using the acrylic medium. This blog serves a few purposes. It allows me to share with my friends and customers what I'm doing currently with my icons, to share some of the thoughts I've developed about iconography in the last decade, and to share my own theological thoughts (insignificant though they may be). The blog is named "pilgrim" because I'm on a journey to become a better person, Christian, husband, and iconographer. Please join me as I do so.
I have a Bacehlor's of Art from Benedictine College and an Associate's Degree from Franciscan University of Steubenville (Go Warriors of Light!). I'm married to my childhood sweetheart Maria and we have one incredibly sweet (and catankerous) son, Micah.
