Brian Matthew Whirledge lives in Goshen, Indiana, with his wife, Rebekah, and their son George. He paints icons with the blessing of Bishop Anthony of Toledo and the Midwest, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Brian is an ordained reader and serves as cantor and choir director at St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Goshen, Indiana. Pursuing the visual arts his entire life, he has painted hundreds of traditional Orthodox Christian icons for private and church commissions since 2007. To ensure these icons will last generations, Brian uses only the finest materials and traditional methods: egg tempera with mineral pigments and gold on gessoed wood panels.

It was in Jerusalem, during a family trip to the Holy Land, that he first experienced Orthodox churches and their iconography. The beauty of the icons contributed a great deal in his desire to join the Church. After converting to the Orthodox Christian faith in college, Brian began to learn to paint icons. As a visual artist and Orthodox Christian, Brian found painting icons in the traditional Byzantine style has been an organic way to express his Christian faith visually. The art of icon-painting originated in antiquity, was perfected through the centuries, and has been passed from master to student until today. Brian continues this living, growing tradition.

Icons are a proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not in words, but in lines, shapes, and colors. Silently, an icon bears tangible witness to the incarnation of God and declares that creation is essentially good, sanctified by the Creator’s incarnate presence in His world. Creation itself is transfigured into the likeness of the Creator and his Saints, bringing together the three kingdoms: vegetable (wood panel), animal (egg), and mineral (pigments). Radiant and never tarnishing, 23-karat gold leaf brings heaven into the icon. The dancing, reflective light interacts with the viewer unlike any other material.

Brian teaches several iconography classes locally each year. To see more of his work, learn about a workshop, or to commission an icon, please click here

Icons overflow with heavenly vision, becoming a palpable presence. They are not only windows to heaven, but also doors, inviting viewers to enter. Icons depict transfigured reality. They do not depict the world outside, but the heavenly world within. The light in icons is not Renaissance chiaroscuro, but rather the uncreated light of Christ, shining forth from within. Features are abstracted, clothing is geometrized, and the landscapes are enlivened to reveal a spiritual vision of reality. The postures and composition are balanced and hieratic, yet graceful curves and subtle asymmetry suggest motion. The clothing falls on the figure in vibrant, geometric highlights.

Brian paints within the tradition of the church and follows traditional depictions, colors, and compositions, but he does not simply copy old icons line-for-line. Each icon breathes the vibrant life and creativity of the Holy Spirit, so every icon should be fresh and new, rather than a static copy. Working solidly within the tradition, he takes the best which historical icons have to offer and synthesizes the best fit for the patron and context in which the icon will be placed. Harmony of color, proportion, and style leads to a beauty that encourages encountering Christ and His saints in prayer. If the Church building is the body, then iconography is its soul. Holy icons become a holy presence in the Church by visually presenting the salvific events from the life of Christ, as well as making present the “great cloud of witnesses.”

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“Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” - St. Paul, Epistle to the Colossians

December Artist Brian Matthew Whirledge