The snow is piling up outside here on the mountainside…another six inches has fallen on the existing two feet. Against this white backdrop, a single red cardinal is sitting in the rhododendron in front of our picture window. It’s absolutely beautiful…and I’m not going outside today for anything. What a perfect day to begin the physical work on an Icon.
My first step will take all day. I need to make rabbit-skin glue for two purposes: first, to attach cheesecloth to my board; and second, to use as an ingredient in the gesso I’ve decided to make from scratch. I’ve added 8 Tablespoons of dried “pelletized” rabbit skin glue to four cups of water in a square, see-through plastic container, where it needs to soak for about 2 hours before I can proceed. And so, this is a good time to write another installment of my Journey.
The theological concept of a ‘veil’ permeates Christian theology. In our Judaic roots, a veil separated the Ark of the Covenant in the “Holy of Holies” from the rest of the priests and people in the Temple, the same veil that Matthew records as ripping from top to bottom at the crucifixion of Christ.
All Eastern Orthodox churches use an “Iconostasis,” a form of veil between the altar area and the congregation. It is usually wooden, and painted with Icons of Christ, Mary, John the Baptist, and other saints. But its purpose is not really to “separate” these parts of the church, as much as it is to bring them together; it actually serves as a link between heaven and earth. The Iconostasis represents Christ, who is the connection, the door, between both realms.
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say , his flesh..." Hebrews 10:19-20, King James Version
I admit to preferring the more traditional western “Rood Screen.” Many medieval western churches – particularly Anglican churches – installed some type of ‘veil’ before the altar area; like a window screen, one could always see ‘through’ it to the altar area. The word “rood” comes from the Saxon, “rood” or “rode,” meaning "cross." That is because at the top of the rood screen was the “rood” itself, a large cross or figure of the Crucified Christ. As a child, my home church of St. Clement’s used a fisherman’s net; from the ceiling hung a Ships lantern (which we used instead of an ‘eternal flame’ or ‘sanctuary lamp’.)
And in Celtic lore, there is often reference to the very thin ‘veil’ that exists between the world of the ‘temporal’ and the world of the ‘spiritual,’ with spiritual locations called ‘thin places’ and All Hallows Eve (Samhain) being described as a time when the ‘veil between the worlds’ is very thin.
(Rood Screen at Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA)An Icon is itself a veil between the worlds, a ‘window into heaven,’ a way to represent heavenly truths and invite the prayerful into those truths. Every step I take with this Icon will reflect the order of creation itself; how important, then, to begin by affixing a cheesecloth 'veil' to the Board. As the veil, it represents Christ himself – He whom was swaddled in linens at the incarnation, and wrapped in linens again after His crucifixion – and who has become the Veil through which we enter heaven, according to the author of Hebrews. And as the Eternally Existent One, affixing the Veil to the Board before any other activity reminds us not only of His pre-existence, but of His Presence in each subsequent act of creation.
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Two and half hours later, the rabbit glue pellets seem saturated with water. I poured the mixture into a small pot, placed it in a colander, and lowered the colander into a larger pot of near-boiling water. In no time at all, the rabbit mixture turned into a smooth, thin glue (a little thinner than I expected, actually...and making me a little nervous that this wouldn't work). As it heated, I cut a piece of unbleached, natural cheesecloth large enough to fold over once and cover the board I had chosen. Putting a small amount of glue in a small plastic dish, I soaked the cheesecloth in the glue (alternating between using my burning fingertips and a wooden spoon), and then stretched the glue-laden cheesecloth over the icon board. To insure that the cloth remains affixed evenly across the board, I poured some extra glue across the surface, and, using the spoon and my hands, worked the glue and the cheesecloth out to each edge to remove wrinkles and cover the surface.
An hour later, it was still wet, but I can tell from how some of the spilled glue is setting that it appears it's going to work just fine.
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