For local artist and iconographer Paul Tish, every picture tells a story.
While his job is rewarding, creating Christian icons helps him cope with the inevitable challenges.
“I’ve created images since I was a child. I never grew out of that. One day, my dad saw me trying to draw, so he doodled this intricate maze, and said, ‘Now you do it.’ I was hooked.”
As an Orthodox Christian, his art and faith merged when Tish began studying iconography. Icons are images of Jesus, the disciples, and others who loved God.
“Historically, icons taught important theological truths when many couldn’t read, inspiring Christians toward prayerful, moral lives. They communicate faith without words.”
Because an icon isn’t self-expression, but a process that follows a specific formula, it is rarely an original work. Most icons are copied over many centuries.
The subject of the painting is important.
“Part of the process is to read about the person,” explained Tish, “to study their life and understand why they’re a person of faith.”
One such person was a Palestinian monk, Euphrosynos, a cook during the ninth century, ridiculed by his fellow monks for his terrible culinary skills. Euphrosynos continued serving them with love. A visiting church dignitary dreamed that Euphrosynos was revealed as an example of a true man of God. In the dream, Euphrosynos offered the dignitary a branch bearing three apples. Upon waking, the dignitary found the branch nearby, rushing to share his dream with the others. When they hurried to the kitchen to see his glory, Euphrosynos had fled, not desiring the praise of men. Because of this story, the three fruits are always present in Euphrosynos’ icon, representing both his story and the holy Trinity.
“So, they’re not just pictorial,” said Tish. “You’re telling wordless stories with the grace of lines and colors about the lives of people who followed God.”
The creation of the icon, literally layered with meaning, also tells a story.
First, the iconographer prays that God will bless the work, attempting to keep a prayerful attitude throughout the process. Next, a simple drawing is made and scribed into a wooden board. The iconographer covers the board with a layer of red clay bole to represent the earth from which man was made. Next, gold, pounded into a sheet only a few molecules thick, is applied, representing the glory of God. The garments are painted, each highlight representing an aspect of humanity as it relates to God. Finally, the flesh and details of the face are added, then the spot of white in the eye to show that God gave life to man. Depending on the subject, other details are added, such as Euphrosynos’ apple branch, a shining halo, or glittering spots on the garments representing the light of God.
The process ends with a prayer of thanksgiving asking God to help the icon enhance the Kingdom.
One icon takes about 40 hours to create, and then, Paul Tish, who doesn’t sign his works, decides who will receive it.
“One guy visited as I was finishing an icon of Saint George. I explained the story behind it, and he thought it was beautiful. Somehow it resonated with him. At that point, I said, ‘Well, it’s yours.’”
This seems difficult to believe when spending a workweek on a project normally yields a financial or personal profit. But that’s not the point for Tish.
“I give icons to people who seem like they would benefit from them. I have a deep love for people.”
But he doesn’t give all of his icons away. At the insistence of his wife, Kim, out of the 20 or more he has created, he has kept few.
"Some of them are still hanging around," he laughed, "Just like old friends."