The sacred and the profane

Or what's God got to do with it

I’m always pleased and surprised to find people are reading my ramblings and I really appreciate when you take the time to comment. I would, obviously, love to have more people reading and commenting so please feel free to share this email with anyone you think would enjoy it. If anything I write resonates with you please do comment. It's always nice to know I'm not just talking into the void. Anyway, on with the show.

I went through this whole period of several months fascinated by the icon style paintings of the saints, Brigit, Columba and the like.

This kind of thing. I liked the idea of capturing the essence of a person in an icon by layering them with symbols that told us everything important in one image.

I tried my hand at watercolour copies. Even tried one of my own of Peter Greg

The cross, the mic, the beard, the casual layered clothes. I'd probably put a pen or a book in his free hand if I did it now.

I mention all this because it it helped clarify my thoughts on something. The connection between art and the sacred.

There was a fear some years back that the Internet would lead to the death of the written word, we were becoming a post literate society. In many ways the opposite has happened. The written word simply migrated to this new platform. Newspapers, magazines, books all aimed to become available on screen. In game communication for many teenagers takes place on discord, which, as far as I can tell, is partly a texting type platform so communication is both written and spoken. Despite TikTok and YouTube the written word is very much alive and kicking.

Both art, and the written word give an opportunity for clarity that the spoken word often misses. The written word offers the opportunity for contemplation and revision before sharing. Art offers the opportunity to pare something down to it's core, it's essence, which draws us closer to seeing the sacred in it

While I approach this from a Christian viewpoint, the concept of the sacred is universal. Most belief systems, and I'm including scientific and humanist in this, have a space for something they consider sacred, even if they don't use that term. With religions finding the sacred is easier, but for humanists the idea this life is all there is, is a sacred concept, although they'd probably balk at the word.

Anyway, the point being that art brings you close to the essence of it's subject, the spirit, the soul, the sacred and allows you to see something words may struggle to capture. An example?

I currently reading a book of Van Gogh’s letters and on the cover is this painting.

Portrait of the postman Joseph Rouli

n

It's a wonderful painting full of personality and you can immediately get a feel for the man in a way a pen portrait would need time and pages of writing to come close to. The painting opens up the man as Van Gogh saw him and you can see how God or the world has formed him. The gnarled hands, the weather reddened face, the open, comfortable pose, the clear eyes, the upright posture. All give you an instant window into this man.

Landscape and urban scenes achieve much the same about their subject but that's for another time.

I hope you found something of interest here. If you did, please share it with someone like minded. If you didn't, well, please feel free to share it with someone you think will.

And then go make art.

Pete