Five contemporary artists

Art for the Liturgical Year’s Christmas list featuring Ivanka Demchuk, Hilary White, William Rerick, Daniel Mitsui, and Liturgy of the Home

From L to R: Dream of Saint Joseph by Daniel Mitsui, Calendars by Michaela and Jeremiah Harrison, My Heart and Flesh Cry Out by Hilary White, the Annunciation by Ivana Demchuk, and Saint Michael by William Rerick

Ever since I wrote about the magnificent windows at Chartres Cathedral I have been thinking about the cobblers who gave the windows. Our understanding of art patronage is so influenced by the Renaissance idea of patronage, where wealthy aristocrats would provide totally for artists, that we forget patronage is not only for the richest among us who can afford a personal artist as the royal families did. This patronage is of vital importance now as we face the double onslaught of AI art and what Roger Scruton called “a cult of ugliness” which has spread even to our sacred spaces. Although we may not have much influence at the Vatican or at Notre Dame, we can all be patrons of the arts.

The culture war is a losing battle if we do not have any living culture to defend. There are many ways to participate in culture building and one is by supporting the works of living artists, and encouraging our parishes to do so as well. Although we may not be able to commission the Sistine chapel our own, we can support artists in the small ways, even if it is only by spreading the word, telling people “No! The arts are not dead, and I know of some wonderful artists. Let me show you.”¹

Since starting this substack, I have wanted to highlight some contemporary iconographers and artists who incorporate the sacred aesthetic cannon in their artwork. Now that I have more than a few subscribers, I thought Advent would be a good time to share works from some of my favorite artists who are living today and make art which can enrich a home.²

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Ivanka Demchuk

I first learned of Ivanka’s iconography from Rod Dreher a couple of years ago. Since then, she's become a pretty big name. Demchuk is part of the Lviv school of iconography in Ukraine where icon writer Roman Vasylyk teaches students how to incorporate certain modern techniques into traditional iconography.

Annunciation by Ivanka Demchuk

Hidden Life in Nazareth by Ivanka Demchuk

I love the way she depicts water in her icons of the baptism and in her icon of Moses in the Red Sea. We have a print of her Moses icon, and I like to think of it as a reminder of the way God makes a path for us and for the Church in the midst of the deluge.

Crossing the Red Sea by Ivanka Demchuk

You can find her portfolio here and order from her shop here.

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Hilary White

“I wanted to put it as a print onto a wood panel to give customers the chance to have a version of it that is as close as possible to the original, which is painted traditionally on a wood panel in egg tempera, over a gold leaf ground. I loved the colours in this, which in the original were very highly saturated and brilliant. It's my image of the soul coming in prayer to live face to face with the living God.”—Hilary White

You may know of Hilary through her fascinating substack the sacred images project. She also happens to be one of the few artists alive today working in the Italian Gothic and the Italo-Byzantine tradition. The image above is a picture of her visual meditation on Psalm 84, “the soul coming in prayer to live face to face with the living God.” Although clearly influenced by Byzantine iconography, it is an original composition which reveals her mastery of a number of techniques and her understanding of traditional visual metaphors.

I have been eyeing this wood panel print for a while and finally bought it as an engagement gift for my sister and her fiancé. I put a layer of shellac over it, per Hilary’s recommendation which really brought out the vivid colors.

You can find the print here. Below are images of the full panel painting from her website.

“How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.”

“A graphite drawing on paper, of the typical style of crucifixion figures, painted in egg tempera on large wood panels, of the mid-13th century ("Duecento" in Italian) in Umbria, popularised by the new Franciscan mendicant order. It is rendered in graphite on paper. It is an original work, not a copy of any existing work from the period or contemporary painters”—Hilary White, print

I have also really enjoyed seeing her progress on a recent commission:

Hilary has some beautiful print offerings as well as cards and ornaments available on her website which you can find here.

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William Rerick

William has worked as an artist his whole adult life, but since coming back to the church he has turned his focus to more religious subjects. He grew up in small town in North Dakota, far away from any grand art museums but he did grow up going to a beautiful church. Hde remembers marveling over the stained glass windows as a young boy and says these windows have been a lasting inspiration for his art.

I had never gone to a museum to see art until I was eighteen so my understanding of art was primarily formed by the beauty of the stained glass, statues, murals, and architecture in this romanesque parish.

I especially love William’s paintings of Mary Magdalene and Saint Michael the Archangel, which were influenced by baroque works.

print

“I looked at icons of St Michael for some of his colors, but overall I wished him to glow like precious jewels. I also adorned him with detailed jewels on his clothes and sword. St. Michael's spear comes down from outside the image frame because it is not his power but Gods that he wields. He peacefully smiles because he totally trusts God and loves Gods plans. Michael points a finger up towards the Heavens as many depictions of saints do to call our attention towards God.”—William Rerick, print

William is a brilliant colorist and I love the way Michael’s clothing shines in this painting. His portrait of my oldest child as a baby is the first real painting I ever owned, and it really captures her likeness. His portrait commissions go for less than your typical photography shoot. He also does statue restoration work in the San Antonio area.

You can find his shop and more of his artworks here.

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Daniel Mitsui

Tree of Jess by Daniel Mitsui

Daniel Mitsui’s meticulously detailed ink drawings, made entirely by hand on paper or vellum, are held in collections worldwide. He desires to make art that is faithful to tradition yet strikingly original, and vigorously medieval in spirit. Most of his drawings have religious subjects. Prints, posters, and digital downloads are available of many of his drawings. He is currently accepting commissions; contact him at danielmitsui@danielmitsui.com if interested.

My sister introduced me to the work of Daniel Mitsui when she gifted me his print of Saint Helena, my patron saint. Since then I have followed his work and his lectures which he posts prolifically on his website. I am always amazed by the creative ways he plays with symbols and elegantly weaves so many of these into his ink drawings. I love the way he pairs Saint Thomas More with Saint John the Baptist in the image below.

Saint Helena

Saint Thomas More

While Gothic art is the basis for his style, Mitsui also incorporates Celtic, Irish and Japanese influences. Some artists are evasive about what their art means, but Mitsui wants people to understand his art and writes about all of his pieces explaining the iconographic symbolism.

One of his most popular prints is his image of the archangels re-imagined in Japanese style. He has made at least six artworks in this style for various commissions. I think the fantastical ukiyo style works really well for the Great Battle in Heaven and Joseph’s dream.

“The composition of this drawing I based on an occidental work of art: the 11th picture in Albrecht Dürer’s famous series of 15 woodcuts illustrating the Apocalypse, first published in 1498. The arrangement of the angels closely matches that in Dürer’s print, but the figures have been reinterpreted as Japanese warriors. Their appearance is based on prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, especially a series showing heroes in battle with monstrous animals.”—Daniel Mitsui

He recently sent out an advent newsletter with links to his Christmas prints, cards, and calligraphy as well as a full list of the works he has available. You can find it here.

a Mitsui print from my parent’s home

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Liturgy of the Home: Micheala and Jeremiah Harrison

I can not speak highly enough of these wonderful calendars made by Michaela and Jeremiah Harrison. We have them in our home and I love how they bring the liturgical year to life for my children. Most calendars are not very appealing or useful for children but I find these calendars actually draw the attention of my children and help me practice my story telling a la Charlotte Mason. The booklets are very helpful for navigating the feasts and symbols used on the calendar.

We put our calendars low on the refrigerator so our kids can see them. I often repurpose them afterwards. Last month we cut images from the calendar and glued them on dollar store votive candles. I cut out this map of the Holy Land and intend to frame it in our school area.

Here is what they say about the calendars on their website:

Our desire is to make original art and to bring other resources together and make them easy to access for families to live with the liturgical year of the Church and always know where they are on their journey to Heaven. Our first works to this end are to illustrate the whole liturgical year and present time not so much in secular terms, but to frame time in sacred terms.

Every detail of these calendars is rich with symbolism which is thoroughly explained in the companion booklets which also feature commentary from the great liturgical commentator Fr. Dom Gueranger.

You can buy the posters on the Sophia website here or you can subscribe on their website and download the calendars and print them yourself. I use the subscription because I like using their coloring sheets with my kids and I also like printing off the hymns they upload.

The Harrison’s also offer a very thorough planner I have gifted my sister in years past, which she has found very useful. It has reading list pages, lots of pages for notes, and a meal planner. You can find the large version here and the small here.

This is just a short list, but there are so many other wonderful artists out there. I would love to hear who your favorites are.

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Which paintings stand out to you?

Who are your favorite contemporary Catholic/Christian artists or iconographers?

1. The artworks I have included in this post are mostly private devotional pieces that you would find in a home. If you are interested in seeing grand church renovations and projects I recommend looking at the Liturgical Arts Journal. Shawn Tribe does a great job of documenting these projects and has been posting a before and after series. You can find that here: https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/search/label/Painting.

2. In preparing to write this post I looked at beautiful art by over fifty artists. I had a hard time paring down my list and eventually decided to highlight five artists whose art or prints I own or whose work I have seen in person.