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.

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!

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!

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.

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.