The first year of Divinity School, our family shared a house with a future Episcopal priest whom we teased for the tradition of smells and bells, and a Greek Orthodox student whose third-floor apartment was lined with strange paintings she called Icons. I was a Midwest Methodist bearing nothing more exotic than church potluck suppers that elevated apricot Jello with whipped cream and shredded cheese to an art form. I’ve subsequently upped my game, and my understanding of Icons as a form of prayer.
Initially these intricate paintings of early church fathers, Biblical figures and saints, seemed flat and so serious. Didn’t those guys ever smile? Then my housemate taught me that Icons are not wall art to be evaluated but windows to the holy through which to pray. I began to visualize them like the stained-glass windows of my childhood, that told stories of faith to inspire the soul.
The first time I volunteered at a small ex-pat church in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, someone handed me a book written by Mary Jane Miller. Born in New York, Mary Jane is an artist and thinker who has been dedicated to iconography for the past thirty years. Mary Jane designs and paints with egg tempera supported by the 23 kt Gold and 100% pewter repousse images crafted by her husband Valentin Gomez.
When I moved to Vero Beach, Florida to begin work at the Community Church in 2020, I visited the Center for Spiritual Care and there discovered that same book by Mary Jane with an invitation to join her for a week-long Icon Prayer Retreat. Plans for that event were soon dashed by CoVid 19. Later meeting Mary Jane over coffee in her Mexican studio, we talked of Jesus and Mary, and the church and sacramental life and the power of Icons to inspire the world.
For those of us unfamiliar with the tradition, the Sacred Art of painting an icon is a captivating blend of modernity and ancient spirituality. We’re currently featuring her work in the Viner Series for the Visual Arts here at the Community Church in Vero Beach. Each icon in the show is meticulously crafted using earth pigments, and carefully layered to create a flawless masterpiece. The technique of egg tempera captures the Earth’s essence and organic life while melding with ancient iconography as a prayer practice.
Drawing inspiration from the masterpieces of Byzantine iconographers in Russia, Greece, and Eastern Europe, the collection of work called “Miracles and Parables: Christ Story Through Image” becomes a testament to the rich artistic heritage of these regions in a contemporary format.
There are so many ways to appreciate icons. Their theological interpretation and message; their symbolism and layers of meaning; their historical and cultural story; the meditative and symbolic way in which they are created; and for the artistic technique and practice they represent.
If you’re in town, take some time to view the show. As Artist inResidence, Mary Jane Miller will teach a rare, five-day iconography
retreat and workshop from November 11 to 15 and there is still time to sign up! Space is limited. Please call the Community Church of Vero Beach to learn more.
And for those baffled by this ancient tradition, or if you live far away and can’t experience her work first-hand, look up Mary Jane Miller Icon and consider a new way to pray the icons through the sacred imagination of your heart.
God’s grace, mercy and peace,
Rev. Dr. Anna V. Copeland
Senior Minister, The Community Church of Vero Beach
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