I travel around the U.S. teaching Sacred Icon Painting Workshops. Many people ask, who can take these classes? and the answer is everyone.
Most of us have asked at least once, why are we here? What is the point? take time for yourself to ask and maybe answer the questions.
Sacred Iconography is an organic and dynamic piece of tradition dating back 1,700 years, The practice of it has quietly endured through time and continues to speak to us across generations even today. It has proved to be a wonderful discipline, one I would like to share with others.
What inspires me is the million year old dirt I paint with.
The earth was divinely created,look at it ‘s magnificent design, not sure how or the details but one thing is undeniable, the earth governs a wide array of infinite color and diverse forms. Our spiritual life is delightfully mirrored with equally vast, limitless expression. I am always astonished when the physical activity of painting with earth pigments releases image through the strokes and movements accomplished by my hand. The mind witnesses and suddenly realizes there is matter as a result of the activity. Gazing attentively at any square inch of the painting, mine or your own, you will find a world layered in meditation, color, mystery, time and space.
A Connection through Time and Place
“I am” is an ancient concept of the divine. So like unto an icon,(meaning image). Painting images in egg tempera is limitless meditation; the process seduces you into looking at what is obvious, “I am” the matter and the mind. Painting with egg tempera has enabled me to grasp the significance which unifies matter and spirit. The delicate membrane around the egg yolk holds the essence of life within itself, liken to humans whose flesh holds the consciousness of God. The potential for spiritual awareness is trapped in million year old dirt and watching it move around as it forms image has changed my world, one inch at a time.
Can anyone take my icon painting workshop ?
Less experience is sometimes better; it is difficult to fill a cup if it is already full. The artist who is proficient in oils or acrylics will find this experience to be new and exciting, while the bigger will have a childlike experience of surprise. For 20 years I have been giving Icon Painting Workshops. St Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes Delaware will provide an environment for Iconography to be an experience of your own. Mixing dirt and mystery is amusing, every brush stroke reminds you of the moment in Genesis where breath and creation meet. Anything can happen. In the class, the painter gets to be the creator and created. Lewes Delaware, St Peters Episcopal Church.
The Icon Painting Workshops are done in solitude and contemplation, we listen to our deep human interior dialogue. The practice crosses cultures and faith traditions. Million year old dirt is trapped and suspended in egg yolk (the raw potential for life), for me it is a symbol of my own relationship with God, I am trapped in God. The process is simple, moving paint. Imagine a small consciousness shift as we blur the lines between who we are as humans and who we are as divine light all because of paint? Sacred Iconography for a more spiritual world.
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