Thinking of the artist Ioan Ardelean

I woke up this morning with the words of Ioan Ardelean, the artist and iconographer not the scientist and profesor(I am not even sure I am spelling his name correctly.), to a hipster who had told Ioan "Among other things I am a muscisian." Ioan looked thoughtfully at him and then said "You should say instead amongst myself there is a muscian." I don't know if that works really gramatically but those words have stuck with me. I met Ioan when Kate and I first came to Chicago in 1999 (its possible we didn't meet him until 2000), he had a studio in the Flat Iron Building in Wicker Park. He displayed his own persnal art not any iconography but he had pictures of icons and churches he had painted back in Romania.
Kate and I loved his paitings. He and I talked about iconography. At the time I had only passign knowlede of icons and icongraphy. He told me I should write icons. I kind of wish I had begun my study of icons with him then, but I was in the midst of seminary, and didn't really think I would write icons. But then at the end of Seminary, after Ioan no longer had a studio in the Flat Iron building and had moved from chicago (presumably) I began to study icons first to understand the theology better, again not intending to paint them. but one thing lead to another and my desire to write icons grew, and so with modern and ancient manuels set out to teach myself iconography. I kind of cringe to think of it, since it is so teribly protestant way to learn to write icons. But I studied Ouspensky and Quenot, and followed carefully the manual of Egon Sendler and Ramos-Poqui.
I am posting about all this because I realized today that I have not posted on something that I think I would have posted before now except that it feels a little odd and I don't know quite how I got here, how a seminarian who brushed off an iconographers suggestion he write icons ends up teaching a workshop on iconography as aprt of an emergent church plants summer series of workshops on art and spirituality.
so here is the announcement it is tommorrow if you see this today and are in chicago I understand that the workshop is not full.
I don't know what a protestant is doing teaching a workshop on iconography but I agreed to do it when Nannette asked. I'll let you know how it goes, and how I feel afterwards.
Prayer in Pigment and Form:
Icon painting

Saturday, July 15,
10:00 am – 1pm

Guest artist: Larry Edward Kamphausen

http://priestlygoth.blogspot.com




This workshop will introduce traditional art of Christian iconography as it was developed among Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Painting (or writing, as it is traditionally called) an icon is seen as a type of prayer and meditation as well as an art.

We’ll learn some history, theory and technique, do some practice painting on 11x14 boards, then work on a collaborative group painting of a large icon. You don’t have to be “an artist” to attend this class. There’s a part for everybody!

All materials provided
(as well as snacks!)

Sliding scale donation slides all the way down to $0!
$15 at the top …

Wicker Park Grace
@ Acme Art Works
1741 N. Western Ave.
Chicago IL 60647

just a block north of North Ave,
across from Dunkin' Donuts...