Valentin my dear husband called to me to come down and see what he found tucked in to the side of the mountain. It was a small little church, or shall I say, what was left of it. It had only two walls standing and no roof but there in front of me was a faded holy of holies exposed to Gods abundant air and sky. The holy of holies is the place the Priests retreat into to prepare the Eucharist and special prayers for the people, usually it is protected by a big wall of icons, an iconostasis which separates the congregation from divine space. The public never goes into the sacred divine space behind the iconostasis.
Well, the separation was gone and I was over joyed to be standing before not only the remains of a forgotten past  but the remains of another artists fine hand. It was a perfect symbol of where icon painting had taken me over the years. Icon painting is a nitch market with little interest these days.The organized Orthodox church is dying and leaves me feeling the tradition and beauty of icon painting is fading and forgotten.

So I took it upon myself as a meditation to give this little altar a face lift

We noticed by the wall some scaffolding and a ladder left over from renovations perhaps abandoned 10 years ago. In the middle of the Greek financial crisis it was doubtful whether anyone would return to finish renovating this poor little byzantine jewel. The signs to get there had fallen down years ago and the path to it overgrown and steep. I wondered how many people had seen it or comment afterwards on the faded beauty left here to bake in the sun. Did they see the details the artist had skillfully painted with reverence. I wondered who the artist was and how many other paintings there were on the island done by the same hand. Most icons are painted for love of God mixed with a bit of church politics and money. There are thousands of Church interiors just like this one, older and more beautiful but what struck me was how it was going to be lost forever in just a few more years.
Afterwards Valentin and I went down the mountain to have a coffee, I kept thinking about the little chapel with two walls and the powerful sun fading it as we sipped our coffee. I arrogantly thought the discovery of the chapel could be an invitation from the universe, maybe I could simply add a bit of love and color. I surprised myself saying, “Hay, why can't I go fix it?” So the next day we went to find the officials, the office, the phone numbers, the one in charge, even though we did not speak Greek. What was I expecting? The fellow we found said the place was abandoned and there was no money to fix it and more than likely it was not on any register to be repaired. I would be on the island 7 months thinking it would take 7 months to find the official political unit in charge and maybe never get permission, all the while the colors fade even more... After talking it out with Valentin my friend and advocate, he was going to support me in this ridiculous idea. After considerable research on the internet and talking with a few experts in Italy, I decided to go and paint. I said I would paint just a corner to see if it would look better or worse and if it would crumble if I touched it.
I did think about what were the consequences if caught and where did this desire come from in the first place. Life is full of signs from beyond.  After all, this is not my country, I am not orthodox, the site belongs to someone else, it would be a lot of work, in the hot sun and what if I made the icon paintings worse! Who did I think I was! Ironically, three weeks earlier a woman iconographer had given me some of her pigments as a gift to encourage me to paint while i was visiting Greece, the land of icons. We went back up the mountain but this time I took her pigments and an egg just in case.
The end result was only a bit more color, I had researched it and been extremely gentle. In the end the paintings are the same with a bit more love and life in them. Easier for everyone to appreciate when they can see what is beneath. To anyone reading this, Forgive my arrogance and I will never do it again.
At least I think I won't. Peace on the planet.