In January I blogged about our community’s ongoing calendar reform project, in the context of a conversation some of us were having in another forum about how our various communities adapt the liturgical cycle to reflect our OC/IC situation.

In my earlier post I mentioned that it was difficult to find resources offering a varied swathe of saints and feasts to help us in developing our own festal cycle. Yesterday, quite by accident, I discovered a great resource in Wikipedia called the Saints Portal. Obviously in many ways this is self selecting – that is it’s collection is determined by the contributors, but I found I really enjoyed being able to wander through it via categories – like countries, and denomination. Moreover, I liked the fact that with most of the saints covered there is a useful bio, links to other sources, and a pic of how he/she is typically depicted.

While sauntering through this garden of holiness – I came across St. Andrej Rublev, the famous iconographer whose feast in the Russian church is 29 January. Now, this gave me . . .pause for thought. I’m an icon painter too, and I dabble in other Christian arts as well, but what made me stop for a moment was the idea of “canonising” an artist. Why?

It did not take me long to “connect the dots” as it were. Iconography is as much a spiritual discipline as it is an art form. Thus, it is not unreasonable to argue that an icon painter who is damn good – is well grounded in his/her spirituality, and is therefore a good example to others. Moreover, iconography is an important service to the spiritual and theological life of the community – the painter is freely giving something to the whole community, that they both benefit from, and appreciate.

Prayer and Service – the exemplar of a saintly life.

This got me thinking though – what about Christian art generally? Ought there not be a feast day commemorating the many artists, known and unknown whose skill with paint, chisels, and needles make us stop, reflect, and even stand in awe of God? I think so. It is in our encounter with material art that we might focus, and respond to God in a new way. I also think it is worth re-claiming an understanding of, or reminding ourselves of the fact that while art for art’s sake is fine, there is value in the understanding of art for a purpose, a cause – in this case our understanding of God, and our relationship to Christ.

Now before I introduce my “side” issue – which keeps kicking the inside of my brain whilst I’m typing this – I ought to add that having consulted a few folks already I’m liking the idea of a feast day commemorating a . . . “synaxis of Christian artists” or something like it – the question is, where on the festal cycle to place it?

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Now for my side issue – Those of you who are familiar with the thinking behind iconography will not doubt know what I’m about to say. What is “Christian” art? What I mean by this is – art is great, I’m a huge art fan – but there is the art that you enjoy because it is creative, and expresses/highlights the creative talents of the individual artist who crafted the item; and there is the art that is spiritually grounded, where the artist while technically skilled, has allowed him/herself to be open to the Spirit, and become a means of communicating grace to others.

Some, like Ouspensky, argue that there is a distinct difference – a difference that is evident in the end product. He would argue and I see his point that it is possible to be a Christian who is an artist (but not producing “Christian art” even though the subject matter is “Christian”, as much as it is possible to be a “Christian Artist” whose art is not to highlight the individual style and skill of the artist, but to point to things of the spirit, and communicate grace. Mind you, if I am remembering correctly, while I “see” his argument, Ouspensky is clearly biased against all forms of Western Christian art.

The question however, is still a valid one – yes, creativity is a gift, a grace, and it ought to be developed, celebrated and shared – but what is the difference between “art for art’s sake” and “Christian art”? Is it so easy to distinguish as Ouspensky and others might suggest?