Second Layer of Roskrish: Looking "through a glass darkly"

I applied the second layer of Roskrish today.  It's a little darker, but for the most part, you can hardly tell the difference. It is forming, though. The chiton and himation are the most prominent and easily distinguishable right now (these are the garments they are wearing).

This reminds me of the passage in I Corinthians 13:12, where Paul is going to great lengths to pour out his passion for what Love really is. And the entire time he is outlining God's love. The perfect love. And the love that inspired this icon, which is God at it's core. And in verse 12, he hits the climax by saying that one day, we shall see face to face. Can you picture it? Face to face?
I imagined my face being inches away from another person's. The things you see and experience with another person are completely different when standing at normal distance. There is a comfortability that you feel when you are literally SO close. You know them differently. And creator and creation will meet face. to. face. Paul says.

But for now, "we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror", a foggy mirror. This is what the second layer of Roskrish did for me. It's intensity in color and it's deepness in meaning, invoked a meditation on the "already, but not yet". And as you can see, it's a foggy reflection right now.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, 

but have not love, 

I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy
and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, 

and if I have a faith that can move mountains, 

but have not love, 

I am nothing. 

If I give all I possess to the poor
and surrender my body to the flames,

but have not love, 

I gain nothing.
 

Love is patient, 

love is kind. 

It does not envy, 

it does not boast, 

it is not proud. 

It is not rude, 

it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil 

but rejoices with the truth. 

It always protects, 

always trusts, 

always hopes, 

always perseveres. 

Love never fails. 

But where there are prophecies, 

they will cease; 

where there are tongues, 

they will be stilled; 

where there is knowledge, 

it will pass away. 

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 

but when perfection comes, 

the imperfect disappears. 

When I was a child, 

I talked like a child, 

I thought like a child, 

I reasoned like a child. 

When I became a man, 

I put childish ways behind me. 

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; 

then we shall see face to face. 

Now I know in part; 

then I shall know fully, 

even as I am fully known.

(NIV, 2 Cor. 13:1-12, spacing my own)

Finishing the first layer of Roskrish

Roskrish is a muddling. It was almost upsetting to me, a type-A, "in the lines" kind of person. But, this world was muddled before it was defined. First God separated out the light from the dark. Then he separated the land from the oceans. And so on. It didn't start with the intricate leaf, or the structured snowflake. It started a little muddled. And so was the Roskrish.

Another thought as clear as mud-- every time I sit down, pray, and paint, I seem to have all this stuff leftover. The bits of dried pigments, the unclean brushes and the water, you guessed it-- clear as mud.
As I was contemplating the trinity and the making of the earth out of chaos, I was struck by God making everything out of nothing. And he had nothing to clean up. Just a declaration, "And it was good, and there was evening and there was morning," that day.

"To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God" (1 Tim. 1.17a)

Roskrish, layer 1

Today I applied the Roskrish colors. Traditionally, the next step would be to do any gilding, or "gold leaf" sections. Since I didn't have any gilding to do, I skipped applying bole and gold leaf. Roskrish colors are dark and muted. They represent the base materials that life (and this icon) are formed from.

So, first off-- mixing the egg tempera. This is prepared, as everything in iconography with intentionality and prayer. The yoke of the egg is separated out and punctured to release the inner yolk, from the membrane. Eggs are such a symbol of new life; and this is no exception. This is one of the first steps to "birthing" an icon, if you will. It is combined with a thinning and acidic agent, which for me was a vinegar/distilled water mix. (Dry white wine can also be used.)

With my egg mixture, I was ready to mix. Mixing is probably the largest mystery to me. I took a tiny bit of the all-natural pigment, and used my dropper to add the egg mixture. I found that I needed about 4-6 drops to get the consistency below:

From here, I started with the background of my icon. Generally, you would first start with the main image of the icon. However, my images are fairly small, so I needed to practice the special brush stroke for icons.

"A long wide brush stroke is considered the
narcissistic 'mark of the artist,' and
unbecoming to an iconographer."
-Betsy Porter

Therefore, the brush strokes are in small circular patterns. I found this extremely serene to paint. It is concentrated and precise. I found myself, while painting the robes, able to meditate on the meaning of each color, and it's attribute of God. I started dwelling on the difference of Christ's Reddish robes relating to Christ coming to the earth as a man, representing the dirt that man was created out of by the father versus the Holy Spirit's greenish robes relating to the Spirit's presence amid creation and life, in a subtly different way. Both have come to earth, and yet each in their own unique way of relation. It reminds me once again of the way that community has such a part to play in the Trinity and therefore our relationship with God. Even when encountering the same thing, we experience and relate to it different than others. We were created as individuals, with different talents and gifts, and it seems precisely in the image of God, who also relates to us in different ways.

What do you see, in the formation of these figures?