ALBUM OF HOURS
Ellen Wiener is an artist whose work invites the viewer to an intimate participation in things already known. She also tucks into each page the promise of things to be discovered. Much like worship, her small works are often segmented into portions, with an organically rhythmic organization that shepherds the viewer into quiet reflection. On her website Wiener writes, "The paintings in the Book of Hours series are constructed from a mixture of contemporary and medieval references. Some of the medieval imagery and structure, although familiar to a contemporary audience through countless musical compositions, poems, prayers and histories, does benefit from the kind of text that would ordinarily accompany an exhibition or be noted in some way on the page facing each illumination. These pictures are visual responses to events and stories that medieval people would automatically know- but, for us, the traditional narratives are often subsumed, forgotten or confused with the many methods of translation that have come down to us over the years."

SENSES OF THE SOUL
In similar fashion, Dr. Bill Dyrness has studied the way art and visual elements are incorporated into Christian worship. In this podcast with Kevin Gibson, Dyrness discusses the content of his new book, Senses of the Soul: Art and the Visual in Christian Worship. This book is based on the results of research conducted with Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox congregations in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Dyrness is Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Seminary. Dr. Kevin Gibson is in his seventh year as associate pastor of worship and music at First Baptist Church, North Kansas City, Missouri. He has an undergraduate degree in music from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri and a master of church music from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2004, Kevin completed his doctor of ministry at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.

On View: Three Logics by Ellen Wiener. Oil on three panels, 9" x 36", 2003. From An Album of Hours by Ellen Wiener. See her book, The Still Small Hours, 2007, here.

About the Artist: Ellen Wiener is a painter and printmaker. She holds degrees from Bennington College and Queens College CUNY, and has taught and lectured widely at the university level since 1985. Faculty positions include appointments at Princeton University, Stony Brook SUNY, Louisiana State University, Saint Mary's Honors College of Maryland, Sweet Briar College, Suffolk Community College, University of New Mexico, Queens College CUNY and Dartmouth College. She is a founding member of The Artists Registry.

In the Name of God: War, Religion, and the Reliquaries of Al Farrow

A relic is something, like a cloak or a lock of hair, that remains after a person or event has passed. A reliquary is the container that holds the relic. In the Roman and Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical traditions, relics are usually a part of the body of a saint or martyr, or a piece of their clothing. The use of relics is found in traditions other than Christianity. Buddhist history maintains that relics of the Buddha's bones were distributed soon after his death, and archaeological evidence appears to confirm this. As far as I know, relics do not have a central role in Protestant life. But I know that, for me, they function as portals of remembrance. And I find the entire concept helpful in times like these.

Take for example the work of artist Al Farrow. Farrow’s current body of work continues to appropriate and reinterpret the traditional iconography of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religious institutions and beliefs, and their historic links to complex political, cultural, and military issues and events. His "Skull Fragment of Santa Guerra" (seen above) questions the values of a society that would make war with the living and venerate the dead bones of the past. To make his art, Farrow uses deconstructed gun components, bullets, steel shot, bone fragments and wood. He mixes them with rosaries, crucifixes and other religious symbols and creates sanctuary-like settings. At first glance, Farrow's constructions appear to be beautifully crafted scale models of European cathedrals and temples, even though they are not historically identifiable. Looking more closely, I find myself remembering my history, and the man-made events that fill its pages.

Prayer for Veterans Day
We ask for blessings on all those who have served their country in the armed forces.
We ask for healing for the veterans who have been wounded, in body and soul, in conflicts around the globe.
We pray especially for the young men and women, in the thousands, who are coming home from Iraq with injured bodies and traumatized spirits.
Bring solace to them, O Lord; may we pray for them when they cannot pray.
We ask for an end to wars and the dawning of a new era of peace,
As a way to honor all the veterans of past wars.

Have mercy on all our veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq,
Bring peace to their hearts and peace to the regions they fought in.
Bless all the soldiers who served in non-combative posts;
May their calling to service continue in their lives in many positive ways.

Give us all the creative vision to see a world which, grown weary with fighting,
Moves to affirming the life of every human being and so moves beyond war.
Hear our prayer, O Prince of Peace, hear our prayer.
~adapted from the Prayers of the Springfield Franciscans

On View: Skull Fragment of Santa Guerra, by Al Farrow. Wood, Tin Nicho, Glass, Bullets, Bone, Rosary. 16h X 12w X 4d, 1996

On Exhibition: November 8 2008 - February 15 2009, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. More>

On View Boy with a Pipe (Garçon à la pipe), 1905. Oil on canvas, 100 × 81.3 cm. Detail. Source: wikipedia.
Though we know Picasso perhaps more for his modern work that his classical style, the truth is that he began as many fine artists do, copying the work of masters. This tradition of copying has had a prominent place in the art academy for centuries. Many artists, including Picasso, submit themselves to the study of the classical for good reason. The process of faithful copying teaches the artist about the making of art, and in doing so they learn what art-making means, for others and for themselves. Copying trains the eye and the hand; the student artist discovers both the techniques of the master and the topography of their own inspiration.

There is an exhibition in Paris this winter that shows many of Picasso's master-inspired works. If you're in town, bring your sketchbox, get your tickets early and spend the day at the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais. If you were to copy El Greco, Matisse and Rousseau, and move from imitation through to creation, what would your work look like? I'd like to know: write to me at mahlborn@ecva.org.

About the Exhibition: Picasso and the masters, at the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris France. October 8 2008 - February 2 2009. 210 works form the worlds leading collections illustrate the inspiration thar Picasso drew from the great masters. Full details at the exhibition's weblink here>

Read more
- Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses on Art (London, 1769-1790)
- Robert Henri's The Art Spirit (Philadelphia, 1923).

Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, *
the son of man you have made so strong for yourself.
And so will we never turn away from you; *
give us life, that we may call upon your Name.
Psalm 80:16-17

On View: Greeting by Sr. Claire Joy, Digital art, October 2008.

I've always been drawn to the story of Mary and Elizabeth. I wanted to create an image that expressed that one elusive moment of joy and wonder... before the two pregnancies create conflict, heartbreak and misunderstanding for these women who have said "yes" to God.

About the Artist: Sr. Claire Joy is a member of the Community of the Holy Spirit, an Episcopal order of sisters in New York. Before joining the community, she worked as an artist and graphic designer for most of her adult life. See more of Sr. Claire Joy's art at her website, at The Artists Registry, and in many exhibitions of Episcopal Church and Visual Arts.