Here is the other icon I did for Christmas. It is Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Sorry for the bad photograph... I swear it is the camera and not me. I am currently working on, you guessed it, another crucifixion. But this one is in a more western style.
One of my goals for this new year is to read more works of fiction. Reading works on theology and philosophy all the time is fun, but variety is the spice of life. Reading good works of fiction, like listening to good music and playing music, and appreciating fine art, helps make one truly well-rounded and intellectually open. So I am currently reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, which is really good. His writing style, at least in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, is sort of like Hemingway - short, succinct sentences, but packed with meaning. It takes place in this post-apocalyptic world (just read the description I linked to on wikipedia). I mention this novel because it makes me think of the paintings of the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum, who is one of the biggest artists on the international scene today. I have often looked at his art and been amazed at the bleak world it portrays. The people are cold and dirty, like animals, which is how McCarthy portrays many characters in this novel. I wouldn't say that the novel (or Nerdrum's art for that matter) is apocalyptic in the biblical sense of the word, as Daniel and Revelation, while definitely scary in some symbolic sense, do not have the element of hopelessness apparent in these works. I do recommend The Road, though, if you are looking for a really interesting, and sobering novel to read.
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