The Painted Voice » Iconic art

Prophetic Art

Laurel — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:36:32 +0000

Defining Prophetic Art

God is always speaking through creation. One way God speaks through mankind is in the arts. As artists we can be inspired by the Holy Spirit to portray facets of ” Who God Is ” through the use of color, symbols, movements, sounds and images.

starting a prophetic painting

Prophetic art most often is birthed through dreams, visions and divine revelation. We can see several examples of this in the Old Testament. In this type of spiritual art, the artist is inspired to paint ” something they perceive that the Holy Spirit is speaking” to the heart of man. A deep calling unto deep! When one views this type of art there will be an emotional response in the viewer. This is a visual speech that may cause us to respond with ” Yes, Lord I hear you voice and feel your heart! “ This is a communication between God and the person looking at the art.

Visio Divina births art through meditation and prayer. It too uses color, symbol, images, movement, and sound. This is the more ancient form of spiritual art and we see it used in the creation of Iconic art. If you have read the previous blogs you will see some examples of ancient and modern Iconic art.

As a student and teacher of both styles of spiritual or mystical art, I thought I would create a painting using both disciplines. Over the next several weeks you and I can work together to produce this painting. We will walk through this process together through blogging, comments and pictures of the painting in process. If you are an artist and would like to try your hand at this type of painting let me know in the comment section and I can also work with you through email.

If you would like more information on the Prophetic from a spiritual perspective, go to my blog site ” www. cosmicwayshower.com “ Also, there is a link on my Blogroll which is located in the top left hand corner of this page, below the six pictures of my artwork.

I found this quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning that I thought you would enjoy:

Earth crammed with heaven

and every common bush

on fire with God;

But only he who sees takes off his shoes,

the rest sit around it

and pluck blackberries!

ICONIC ART created by THE PAINTED VOICE

Laurel — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:20:44 +0000

In the Name of the Lord,

God of Israel,

Be Michael to my right,

Gabriel to my left,

In front of me, Uriel,

Behind me Raphael, and

Over my head the Divine Presence of God

Before bedtime, it is traditional to say “The Prayer of the Four Archangels,” or as it is called in the Siddur , “The Bedtime Shema.” The recital of the prayer calls upon Yahweh and the four archangels for protection against the dangers of the night.

Each angel has a specific purpose. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God,” guards the children of Israel. Gabriel, whose name means “God is my strength,” gives us strength and courage. Uriel, whose name means “God is my light,” lights our way through the darkness of the night. Raphael, whose name means “God is my healer,” guards our physical and emotional well being. The Divine Presence lends God’s comfort.

My First Icon – A Painted Prayer

After studying Icons that were created by the early Christan Church, I knew that I wanted to create an iconic work of art. One day while reading the Art Scroll Siddur ( a Jewish prayer book), I came across the Bedtime Shema. Wow! what an awesome prayer, and I wanted to paint the prayer using the principals I had learned. Hence the name of my company ” The Painted Voice.”

I hope that my first three blogs have inspired you to take a second look at iconic art and try creating your own piece of mystical art.

HILDEGARD OF BINGEN

Laurel — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:50:57 +0000

Angelic Choirs

My Teacher of Spiritual Art!

Let me introduce you to Hildegard, who has been my primary teacher in spiritual art and greatly influenced my work.

A History

Hildegard of Bingen was an Abbess of a Benedictine Abbey, she was born in 1098 and died after a long rich life in 1179. Besides her role as an Abbess, she became a famous composer and author, writing books on medicine, science, and theology. She lived in the Rhineland Valley and became one of the greatest theologians and illustrators of the early Christian Church.

You might wonder how she can be my spiritual art teacher since Hildegard died about 830 years ago! In spiritual Jewish teachings..the belief is Moses teaches today, as does Abraham, and many others. They are alive today in their writings….they are with us today giving us wisdom and guidance! And so is Hildegard of Bingen, for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear.

At the age of 42, Hildegard began to have visions and they were illustrated in 34 ” illuminations “. She created a new presentation of images…a new iconography…..new symbolic forms and pictures.

Many of the people during the time of Hildegards life were uneducated. Iconography was used by the Church as a tool for teaching spiritual stories and principles. The artists drew ” word pictures”, and used colors, images, and symbols to educate the people. Art, stories, music and dance became the language of the ” folk education”.

” Iconic ” art speaks to us… speaking the ” language of the soul “…..and awakens something deep within. Mystical art takes that which is seen with spiritual eyes and creates it into a piece of art that can be seen with the natural eye.

How Creation Came About

Posted on this blog are two of Hildegard’s illuminations. These are great examples to study. What do they speak? I would love to know your thoughts. Please write your thoughts….click on the “comment” at the top right of thsi blog and a box will appear.