Del Mar’s ‘Mother Paige’ makes news with her hand-painted icons

From Delmar-

Despite the more casual, contemporary use of the word “icon,” icons are actually part of an ancient tradition of Christian art, inspirational paintings of sacred subjects that may date back to the time of the apostles, when St. Luke was said to have painted images of the Virgin Mary. Icons were particularly popular during the Byzantine Empire, when frescoes flourished, and the art of iconography spread across Europe to Russia.

These days, icons are being painted locally by the Rev. Paige Blair, rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Del Mar. Her works recently gained wider attention when several were chosen as cover art for “Forward Day by Day,” a national quarterly published by the Episcopal Church.

How did Blair, who was born on March Air Force Base in Riverside and dreamed of being the country’s first woman fighter pilot, become “Mother Paige,” a parish priest with a talent for iconography?

More here-

http://www.delmartimes.net/2014/02/05/del-mar’s-‘mother-paige’-makes-news-with-her-hand-painted-icons/