Archive for the ‘Oil Painting’ Category

The small church of St George in Lovran, where I was born, was built in the 12th Century and renovated and extended in the 16th century when high Baroque was at its zenith. A modest provincial church, it was my glorious temple of worship, awe for its many masterpieces. It was my first source of artistic stimulus.

My memory goes back to when I was about 4, but I became impressionable at 7, more inclined to deal with the Divine, my faith investing the frescos on the ceiling and all the outstanding paintings and statues with significance, or where the anecdotal artifacts helping in shaping that Faith?

At the age of 9, when more senses were awakened and one begins to come to terms with the concept of sensitivity, I became an altar boy and experienced transport and contemplation whilst my eyes and soul lifted to celestial images on the ceiling.

At age 11, I had a boyhood call to enter the priesthood but it was right then that my life turned on its head. Tito the antichrist and his Yugoslav communist hordes invaded! They raped and pillaged. They killed millions of innocents, most of the clergy and stole Church property. I witnessed the results of torture and termination of my relatives.

I survived communism as a student, but no amount of big brother brainwash made me renounce my faith. I had a taste of life (or death) in the Gulag and after my Orwellian nightmares I thank the Lord for pointing the way to this free and devote country.

I’m now free to paint religious and historic images. I have attempted to capture the torments of recent history, spiritual moments of our Catechism, people of the Faith who are the mentors of my Faith, Mary MacKillop, the martyred Croatian Cardinal Aloizije Stepinac, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI.

As I approach my professional moment of truth I?m particularly drawn to capture at least a hint of the great persona of John Paul II who miraculously and single handedly disarmed the domination of communism. Also, moved by the conviction that he will accomplish the balance of Pontifical brief, I will work on an image of Benedict XV1 as he gathers humanity around Him and spreads the message of peaceful Christianity like Benedict XVI.

The dismissal of art in religious context as pagan is in itself a profanation, as the Gift is a God-given Gift. The theosophists are wrong. Religious art is a breath of fresh air in my life. It had a profound and unexpected effect on me, as I have discovered the infinite inspirational potential of theological motives and the immensely positive forces of the spirit. It has made me aware of qualities I never suspected I had, both as man and craftsman.

I’m now more conscious than ever of the elusive yet ever present creative guidance from the Creator to those willing to be guided.

Billich