I am surprised at how much time has gone by since we held the iconography workshop, almost a month has passed (but doesn’t summer always go by too quickly?).

It was a special week with those who participated.  Much information was demonstrated and taught, and the students embraced it.

They started work on their St. Michael using a beautiful proto-type as their guide. As their own images emerged it was wonderful to watch. These first steps are the “basic bones” of the icon, but with every stroke of the brush, we knew they were on their way to creating an icon to be cherished.

Learning to mix the egg tempera, applying gold, along with reams of steps, and days of painting kept us busy on average 9-10 hours a day.

At the beginning of the week the room fills with thoughts of….. “what am I doing here?”  Then as the days pass it leans toward,… “look what I have accomplished.”  Definitely music to my ears.

We start the workshop every morning with prayers and devotion. It is a short meditation, because we do need to move on to the work of the day, but it is a time that hopefully helps to push away busy thoughts, and will center our mind, our eyes, our hands, and our hearts.

I will blog again in the next day or so. At that time I will share what was my favorite moment of this past workshop. Stay tuned.