I met icon-makers during my youth in the country. I remember that an icon-maker before starting to paint, or a maker of wooden crosses before starting to carve, would fast for a few weeks in a row. They prayed continually that their icons and crosses would be beautiful.
Constantin Brancusi, Artist and Sculptor, quoted by Cameron J. Anderson, “Transcendence and Immanence: The Sculpture of Constantin Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti,” in God in the Modern Wing: Viewing Art with Eyes of Faith, edited by Cameron J. Anderson and G. Walter Hansen
Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Brancusi observed something that should be true of all good Christian work: everything begins with prayer.
