The kneeling iconographer wielded a mahl stick to steady his brush and protect the surface of the painting he endeavored to restore.
He carefully but confidently added facial highlights to the image of St. Damian gracing one wall of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church in Butte.
He paused, stood back and studied the results from his perch atop scaffolding. He tapped the mahl stick rhythmically in his open left palm.
![070324-stnd-nws-frescos-002.jpg](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C888 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C984 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/77/877947be-38a7-11ef-8853-175f0e578f1e/668451f583a14.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1175 2008w)
Shayne Swenson works to restore frescoes inside the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church in Butte.
The sounds of recorded Orthodox Christian chant filled the otherwise hushed and resplendent nave, sanctuary and dome.
Iconographer Shayne Swenson worked that June morning surrounded by frescoes portraying icons of the Serbian Orthodox Christian Church — saints, martyrs, angels, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, the Holy Mother of God and more. Swenson’s labors had begun at 3 a.m. He planned to work until 6 p.m.
People are also reading…
“The whole reason I paint iconography is because of the things I believe about God and about reality. And about Christ,” Swenson said.
A native of the Pacific Northwest and a military veteran, Swenson’s artistic path has included work as a tattoo artist. After converting to Orthodox Christianity, he continued in that role but found a new artistic path and spiritual calling in painting icons of the church.
He trained under Ugljesa Mileta of Serbia, one of the six iconographers from Belgrade who painted the original frescoes at the Butte church between 2003 and 2006. (The church refers to the paintings as frescoes even though they were not painted on wet plaster.)
![070324-stnd-nws-frescos-004.jpg](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C888 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C984 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/ea/8ea7ea04-38a7-11ef-9fbb-ffd26d2e3941/668452018f3ce.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1175 2008w)
Shayne Swenson mixes pigment and water to create paint in a process called mulling on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. 'I'm homogenizing the pigment particle size and combining it with water before I add the medium, and what that does is it creates an easier to use paint to work with,' Swenson said.
Two years ago, a drenching rainstorm streamed through what turned out to be a faulty new roof at the church on Continental Drive. The profound water damage and associated black mold required some interior portions of the church to be stripped down to supporting studs. Large sections of the frescoes, painted on plaster, were lost.
Litigation followed. The roofing company ultimately agreed to pay a confidential settlement.
Father Russell Radoicich nodded when asked about the loss of so many frescoes. The misfortune communicated spiritual lessons, he said.
“A church is not a museum,” Russell said. “It’s a dynamic interaction with God.
“And so, if you see the church not as a museum and the iconography not as museum pieces, this is no different than a person when they interact with life and things demonic, demonic influences, damaged people,” he said. “And then they go to Confession, clean up and get repaired, so to speak.”
When a person with an alcohol problem quits drinking, his or her recovery benefits the person and many others in a larger circle, Fr. Russell said.
“So, that same dynamic takes place right here, in pigment and paint,” he said.
Swenson’s soul-driven work is akin to an offering, Fr. Russell said — like a lit candle that eventually burns out or an oil lamp that has consumed its fuel.
“Shayne is doing the same thing. He is offering his life, the time he has on earth, and then he’s gone,” he said.
The church had a photographic record of the frescoes that adorn walls and ceilings and those images have guided but not completely restrained Swenson’s work.
Butte’s first Serbian Orthodox Christian Church was established between 1897 and 1905 and built at the corner of Porphyry and Idaho streets. It served the Mining City’s many immigrants from Slavic countries. Later, the church suffered structural damage due to subsidence caused by underground mining.
Construction of the new church was completed in 1965. The frescoes came later. The work has been described as stunning, magnificent, breathtaking and inspiring.
The frescoes also serve a larger purpose. They teach. They depict the major Feast Days of salvation history and all the events that eventually led, as the Church teaches, to the salvation of mankind.
![070324-stnd-nws-frescos-003.jpg](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C889 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C985 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/b0/8b0d7a08-38a7-11ef-8c17-bbf06f9c3f9e/668451fb845b2.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1176 2008w)
Paint bottles are arranged in a small carrying container as iconographer Shayne Swenson makes paint on Tuesday, July 2.
Even a parishioner who cannot read can grasp the Church’s fundamental lessons its icons convey, Swenson said.
“A good place to start is to say that these are paintings of people who took the medicine that the church has to offer and were healed,” he said.
Swenson enjoys his work as a tattoo artist, he said. Yet serving as an iconographer, considered a holy labor, provides a deeper connection to his faith.
“I worship Christ and so I’m going to get a lot more out of that work, obviously, coming in and being a good steward with what God has given me and offering that back to God through this work,” he said.
Which does not mean that every minute spent creating or restoring frescoes is shot through with spiritual import.
“There may be times when I’m making paint that I might say a few choice words,” Swenson said, smiling.
“Paint is functionally two things: It’s dirt and glue,” he said. “There are different dirts and different glues but, generally speaking, paint is dirt and glue.”
With the dirt being natural pigments.
Making paint, using an acrylics medium, is time consuming.
“It’s usually a two- or three-day process just to make a few bottles of paint,” Swenson said. “So, it’s labor intensive and annoying. But just like anything in life that you put time into, you inject love and you invest time into the paint itself and you’re just going to have a better result.”
When ready to paint, Swenson starts with the Zorn palette, a limited palette of flake white, ivory black, yellow ochre and vermilion. He adds ultramarine blue and chromium oxide green to round out the palette.
![070324-stnd-nws-frescos-005.jpg](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C888 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C984 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/22/922ab04e-38a7-11ef-a715-bfd15bdf2345/6684520774975.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1175 2008w)
Shayne Swenson rinses off equipment used to make paint inside the custodian's closet at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church Parish Center on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.
“Every single time you start a new project, whether it’s small or large, it’s a spiritual struggle — not just to get it to look right aesthetically, but also during the process of painting the icon as an iconographer, you want to be doing it in a prayerful way,” Swenson said.
He said Mileta, his teacher, offered advice when the project began last year.
“He said, ‘You need to restore, but I don’t want you to copy. We need to bring it back to what it was but, at the same time, we need to improve on what is there.’”
Orthodox Christian iconography’s Byzantine aesthetic relies on “an inverse perspective” in composition, instead of the traditional vanishing point perspective of much Western art.
In inverse perspective, instead of lines converging at a vanishing point on the horizon they converge on the viewer. Images appear to be coming toward the observer.
Iconographer Christine Hales described that dynamic in an article published by the American Association of Iconographers.
“The icon is a window where we have access to the Kingdom of God, God’s perspective, to His presence,” Hales wrote.
Swenson’s toil to recreate or restore the frescoes at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church started about a year ago. He returned to Butte in April after a prolonged break and hopes to complete the work by September.
Russell said the church’s recovery offers a lesson akin to Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead. Jesus acted not because of his friendship with Lazarus but so the man’s return to life would strengthen the faith of his disciples and others.
The Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church in Butte has long been renowned for its moving iconography.
“If this was a gem of Montana, the gem just got a little shinier,” Russell said.
![070324-stnd-nws-frescos-001.jpg](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=150%2C100 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=225%2C150 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=990%2C660 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C690 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C888 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C984 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/mtstandard.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/2c/82c17e8a-38a7-11ef-8e20-87dcf4489db4/668451ed97ffb.image.jpg?resize=1763%2C1175 2008w)
Shayne Swenson works to restore the iconography inside the Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church in Butte.