Friday, June 29, 2007

The penultimate day!


Three Christ the Teachers. Gold leafed and varnished. Whoo-hoo!
(Click on the photos for a closer view)


And the final product of our youngest iconographer. The face was a bit of a joint project between he and I, but, I think he did terrific, and it is a beautiful icon.



This one is almost finished. I have already finished the halo lines since I took this photo. Can you read the book? Christ the Teacher icons have the book open, with His own words present. The kids all picked their own verses, as long as they were Christ's words. I am so impressed with what they chose!



This one will be finished tomorrow. Since I took this photo I finished the halo lines and border. Thanks for the prayers, everyone, they really helped.

Thursday, June 28, 2007



Our youngest iconographer's progress



Mary's face is begun



Finished except the halo








Gold leaf on




A very manly Jesus

Please say some extra prayers for me as I have to apply all the halo rings with a compass and I am having real trouble with the compass. My practice did not inspire cofidence to me and I have to do it tomorrow. So , please, pray!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007


A 12 year old working on Jesus' face.



Another face of Jesus in an earlier stage



This one is waiting for the gold leaf size to dry. It is interesting to note that this student is Chinese, and I think there is an Asian look to Jesus' face.



One of the younger students working on robes



Our youngest students icon (he is 10). He has just begun the face, and I will be assisting him with the shading after this break.



This is one of my more particular students. He is moving slowly, but doing a beautiful job!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Day three photos

Okay, now it is getting more difficult. The robes are getting finished, and the faces are beginning.



This is what Jesus looks like without a beard:


A face first emerging:



Same pattern, very different icons:




More robe work:

Day three begins

Day three begins with my usual one third the way freak out. I always hit this at the time that the robes and faces are begun, and nothing quite looks as was expected. This is the time the reality and the ideal clash, and God works on softening up the hearts of the painters to hear Him instead of themselves. It's downright painful at times, but so worth it on the other side. Photos to follow this afternoon.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Day 2 Redux





Day 2 ~ The students made good progress today. The spirital lessons learned today were 1)be patient 2)don't compare your gifts to other people's gifts 3)take your time with yourself, and do not expect more out of yourself than God does 4)listen to your teacher. If you didn't need a teacher, you wouldn't be in the class.

We have a few students making very quick progress. Most are ready for robe lines now. A few are just now choosing their background and border colors. You can see who is decisive and who decisions cause great anxiety. Writing icons teaches the decisive ones to slow down and consider their options, and the axious ones to go ahead and decide, and learn to live with the decisions.

Tonight we are doing a belated St. John the Baptist bon-fire. See you tomorrow

Day 1 Redux






Photos of the progress of day one. I'll take more pictures today (day 2) and post them tonight.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Day 1

The first day went well. There is quite a difference between the nearly 11 year old and the 15 year olds in their motor control, but their concentration, intensity and passion are the same. The class was focused, polite, excited and at times, overwhelmed with the large task at hand. Many of the students got most of the base colors put in. Today we are choosing background colors and border colors. I was not surprised that these kids want to go slightly more bold with those colors (one of the few things that the iconographers can choose) than the adult classes I have helped teach. I do have some nice pictures from yesterday, and I will post them this afternoon. All in all, a good beginning, but as always when an icon is begun, it is daunting how long we have to go.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

St. Paraskeva and the studio




My Welcome Letter

St. Paraskeva Icon Studio

Under the patronage of St. Paraskeva and St. Photini

Welcome to this icon writing workshop. We will be experiencing one of the most ancient ways of passing on our Holy Faith. This is an awesome responsibility.
It must not be taken on lightly, but with prayer, charity, and desire to know
Christ and His Mother. You will become the tool of Our Lord and His Mother, the Holy Theotokos during this week. You will be asked to show them to the world, to teach eternal truths and to provide a window into heaven for all those who venerate your completed icons.

There are a few tasks that must be taken up when we are about to write an icon.

First, we must begin with prayer. Second, we must treat our time with respect. We have no time to waste here. And thirdly, we must treat our fellow icon writers with the utmost care and respect. We are all working on growing Our Lord’s Kingdom here on earth together, and there will be no disrespect tolerated.

“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph 4:29-32)


We will begin each day PROMPTLY at 9:00a.m., so please be in your seats ready to say our beginning prayer each day at that time.

We will have a 10 minute snack break at 10:30, and then break for one hour from
12-1 p.m. You should bring a sack lunch, and will be eating outside on the patio. Please take advantage of the great outdoors during our break, and run off any pent up energy. If the weather is bad, you can play down in our finished basement.

We will begin again promptly at 1:00 p.m. and continue until 4:00 p.m. There will be another 10 minute break at 2:30 p.m.

I would ask that we keep a holy silence during our class time. This does not mean complete silence, but please use a quiet voice that respects the concentration and efforts of our classmates.

I will be assigning your seating. I may change the arrangement from time to time to allow new friendships to form. Please understand that where you sit is up to me, your teacher. If you have concerns, please let me know.

I ask that you wear old clothes, so that you don’t ruin a good outfit by getting paint on it. I have aprons here, feel free to use them.

I am pleased to have you here, and look forward to assisting you in bringing your icon into existence.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Welcome!

Welcome to my icon workshop blog! Rather than clog up my other blog, crazyacres, with my workshop progress, I'll be posting updates, information and photos here. Tomorrow marks the first day of my first workshop. I have decided to ask St. Paraskeva to be my patron as she came to me in a beautiful icon and has offered me much inspiration regarding this goal of beginning an icon class. St. Paraskeva is a patron of women artisans, usually in the textile field, as well as domestic tranquility. I have also asked for the prayers of St. Photini, otherwise known as the Samaritan woman at the well. I ask her prayers that I may be as transformed by Christ as she was.

So, check in here if you are interested in the progress of my students. I will have 13 students begining tomorrow. They range in age from 11 - 16, with one mom also attending. Next post, how I turned my basement into an icon studio ~~