A little over five years ago, world-renowned Macedonian painter Georgi Danevski completed what may be the largest mural in North America, at an Orthodox church in Markham. This Easter, speaking to Star reporter Verity Stevenson, he reflects on his work and the holiday, which he says is significant for his faith.
Danevski
Georgi Danevski came to Toronto nearly 20 years ago from Macedonia to paint a fresco mural for St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral. He stayed — and hasn’t stopped painting. His depiction of Christian history, still lifes and not-so-still lifes (like running horses, including Canadian Triple Crown racehorse Wando) is relentless. Here, he’s pictured with the mural he painted at the St. Dimitrija Solunski Macedonian Orthodox Church in Markham.
Eggs
The fresco in St. Clement depicts the resurrection of Christ, which Danevski says “is the best miracle of my Orthodox faith; (it’s a) victory of Christianity,” he says. That’s why he loves Easter and, found time among his large-scale projects, for a series of colourful Easter-egg paintings.
St. Dimitrija
In 2010, he completed a mural — which could be the largest in North America — at the St. Dimitrija Solunski Macedonian Orthodox Church in Markham, which sprawls 600 square metres and is a vibrant array of 1,000 icons of Christian history.
Easter
On Easter Sunday, Danevski will visit three churches, including St. Clement and St. Dimitrija, in which he would often spend up to 14 hours a day working. Bouncing from one to the other, he will pray and pay his respects in honour of the resurrection. Once he gets home, he will light candles and meditate, he said.
Classical
It all started, Danevski says, at the age of 4, when he would draw and paint after school. His after-school hobby became school. He travelled across Europe, attending different art schools, including a specialization in art at university of Slovenia. “I’m a good historian of art, only with broken English, because this is my Achilles heel,” he joked through a thick Macedonian accent. Pictured, is the ceiling mural Ode to Gladness.
Mother Nature
Danevski is best known in Europe for his Orthodox paintings reminiscent of Spanish and Polish art — and of Middle Ages Byzantine works, which he says are inspirations of his. “My idea is (to) celebrate the life,” through art, Danevski says. And his inspiration? Mother Nature, he says, “from spontaneous, ordinary things of life.”
Love
The motifs and motives behind them, he adds, are “art, faith and love,” the latter of which he says is at the core of his Orthodox faith. “But I respect every piece of faith in the world.” Always, he says, he is “hunting for light” and how it falls.
Resource: http://www.thestar.com
Danevski
Georgi Danevski came to Toronto nearly 20 years ago from Macedonia to paint a fresco mural for St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral. He stayed — and hasn’t stopped painting. His depiction of Christian history, still lifes and not-so-still lifes (like running horses, including Canadian Triple Crown racehorse Wando) is relentless. Here, he’s pictured with the mural he painted at the St. Dimitrija Solunski Macedonian Orthodox Church in Markham.
Eggs
The fresco in St. Clement depicts the resurrection of Christ, which Danevski says “is the best miracle of my Orthodox faith; (it’s a) victory of Christianity,” he says. That’s why he loves Easter and, found time among his large-scale projects, for a series of colourful Easter-egg paintings.
St. Dimitrija
In 2010, he completed a mural — which could be the largest in North America — at the St. Dimitrija Solunski Macedonian Orthodox Church in Markham, which sprawls 600 square metres and is a vibrant array of 1,000 icons of Christian history.
Easter
On Easter Sunday, Danevski will visit three churches, including St. Clement and St. Dimitrija, in which he would often spend up to 14 hours a day working. Bouncing from one to the other, he will pray and pay his respects in honour of the resurrection. Once he gets home, he will light candles and meditate, he said.
Classical
It all started, Danevski says, at the age of 4, when he would draw and paint after school. His after-school hobby became school. He travelled across Europe, attending different art schools, including a specialization in art at university of Slovenia. “I’m a good historian of art, only with broken English, because this is my Achilles heel,” he joked through a thick Macedonian accent. Pictured, is the ceiling mural Ode to Gladness.
Mother Nature
Danevski is best known in Europe for his Orthodox paintings reminiscent of Spanish and Polish art — and of Middle Ages Byzantine works, which he says are inspirations of his. “My idea is (to) celebrate the life,” through art, Danevski says. And his inspiration? Mother Nature, he says, “from spontaneous, ordinary things of life.”
Love
The motifs and motives behind them, he adds, are “art, faith and love,” the latter of which he says is at the core of his Orthodox faith. “But I respect every piece of faith in the world.” Always, he says, he is “hunting for light” and how it falls.
Resource: http://www.thestar.com
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