Bulgarian Orthodoxy’s Inspiration

Submitted for the British Association of Iconographers (BAI) quarterly review, Issue 73, Autumn 2023.

To speak about what inspires me to paint icons – I will have to make a brief historical overview of the

Bulgarian orthodoxy.

A little bit after the official recognition of Bulgaria (year 681), Christianity was accepted as the country’s

religion through the Byzantine Empire in the year 864 by Saint Boris I (Mihail) of Bulgaria. Later, during

the Ottoman rule over the Balkan (from the 14th century until the year 1878, the Liberation of Bulgaria)

Orthodoxy through its monasteries, churches, iconographies, and frescoes retains its spirituality, faith,

and hope of the Bulgarian people for their freedom. Although churches were built almost under the

ground, through secret ministries, the Christians did not renounce their faith.

About myself and my inspiration along the way.

In the 20th Century, after 1945, the communist regime dismissed religion and threw it out of secular life.

Atheism came into fashion up until its fall in 1989.

A new rise of Orthodox Christianity began in Bulgaria.

I grew up during the communism, then my grandma would take me to church in secrecy, but there were

people on duty watch around churches and it was dangerous. As a child, I felt blessed by a secret faith,

and for me, it was exalting. I studied art for 5 years and after I graduated, democracy came into power.

With democracy, opened faculties of Theology and Iconography.I was in the first university class of this

new degree. We studied theology and iconography, all iconography disciplines and techniques, about the

old masters of the art, canons, and history. I practice for over 20 years now. When it comes to Icons, it

has always been important to me to have inner faith and feelings about how to make them.

Sometimes I look at a wooden board and I “see” the composition on it. Other times I paint for a specific

occasion – with prayer, for health or healing, success or love – the faith instils in me the feeling that the

holy imagery will help through their spiritual power. Because thought is powerful, faith is a thought -

nested into the icon this is also powerful. Through my years of practice, I created my own style in the

depiction of the icons, with all canonical rules in mind, to be distinctive. It often happens when I paint to

remake the face repeatedly, until the eyes look at me, which tells me something that I envisage.

One dream of mine confirmed to me that we are not painting portraits, but rather material depictions of

the icons, through which we remind ourselves that their soul and might are within us. At the beginning of

my studies in university, I had a dream, I was in my atelier, drawing by myself when on the podium

appeared Mandorla (the sign of lifegiving power, light with the shape of an almond). I lost my speech and

could only say “Could you come another time?” to which it replied, “Yes, I will be here, call to me.” The

image I saw was not one of a woman with red or blue robes, but that of a boy or girl with short hair and

regular clothes. Despite that, I knew it was her, the Virgin Mary, and I believe that whenever we strive to

be righteous, and we believe, the help and power of the saints will protect us.

The Icons:

“Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd”

I like this depiction because it was one of those compositions that I envisioned on the board before starting it. When I decided to paint this icon, it was when my son graduated from college and started his higher education. I wanted through the icon to send him my prayer and belief in God, to know he is protected on his journey.

As Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

“St Anne and the Virgin”

This painting was for the birthday of my son’s partner, Anna. As guardians of women, St Anne and the Virgin, it was my prayer – a gift for her. For good people, the thought, that I paint for them, always makes the process easy and enjoyable. There are no difficulties, no doubts. I believe, that when people are good, the whole universe knows it, my hand knows it too when I paint for them.

“Virgin Hodegetria”

The Virgin is one of my most beloved, as well as drawn canons. I have made many different versions throughout the years, and the imagery of the mother pointing to her child as a source of salvation, I have always found to be powerful and profound.

Technique:

The icons have been painted using egg tempera on a wooden panel, which has had

primer applied on it beforehand. Gold leaf is applied on the nimbus (halo), straight after drawing the

pencil sketch on the ground board. Once the icon is finished, a satin type varnish is applied on

top, either using a brush to spread it or using a spray coating, this is done for at least two layers.

Sometimes, if it is required to redo a certain section of the icon or make small adjustments, I remove the

varnish with fine sandpaper after it is dried until I get to the paint layer which I also slightly erase with the

sandpaper and make corrections, after which I again reapply the coating.

Nowadays it is not easier to source the paints or materials, however, it is not absolutely required to make

the icons using the old methods.

The message of the icon is most important, for me it is:

Hymn to Love:

Chapter 13 of St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians

“Love never ends. Prophecy will cease. Tongues will be stilled. Knowledge will fail. For we know in part

and we prophesy in part, but when the Fulfilment comes, the partial will be done away with. When I was

a child, I spoke as a child, I saw as a child, I thought and reasoned as a child. When I became a man, I put

away the things of a child. Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror, but then we shall

see him face to face. I do not know everything now, but then I will, just as God completely understands

me.

In a word, there are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love: but the greatest of them all is

love.”