Mary Jane Miller has been steeped in the byzantine style egg tempera icon painting tradition since 1980. It is not easy to be driven by something you can’t see, to become completely absorbed by a desire you’re afraid to follow or ignore. In her studio, painting, patience and prayer are the every day format. Iconographers live and work in a sort of double dimension where time and space are distorted, image and content change reality, and solitude speaks volumes. Miller and her spouse Valentin Gomez, are both self-taught and have been quietly working together for 25 years.

 

Valentin works in the repoussé technique and I design and paint. Living in Mexico, our dream is to add a few more icons to those existing in the world, hoping that this great sacred art tradition will continue in liturgy and prayer for a long time to come. The technique and egg tempera medium enabled us to realize something quite intimate about God, that is, “we create as we are created”. In their hearts all iconographers believe that “beauty will save the world”. I believe that the act of icon painting transmits everything that is beautiful in humanity and a growing sense of the divine in all Creation.

 

Miller is quickly becoming a catalyst for change. The bible can be thought of as hugely misogynistic. Female saints have not been included. The contemporary commentary going on about christian traditions and women is changing the landscape of religion and spirituality. Contemporary women have been waiting for over 2,000 years to be given an equal but different place in the kingdom. 'Men of God ' it is time to teach and give guidance to bring Christs' directives of love and equality into fruition. Articles about Iconography