Blessed Advent, and Merry Christmas!  This is my icon that I posted here last year!  I hope you can zoom in on this icon to see the details ... it's tricky to photograph gold (as I have complained before) because the reflections are not easily controlled ... so I apologize for the amateur photography.  

This icon is based on prototypes from the 13th and 14th centuries.  There are two common types of this icon - in this one Mary is facing and touching the baby Jesus.  In the other type, she is facing away from him and contemplating what will become of this child.  I prefer this one.  The midwives are in the lower right hand corner, Joseph and the nameless figure (The Tempter?) are in the lower left corner, the three wise men approach from the left side and the many shepherds and their sheep are startled by the three angels appearing in the gold sky.  The texture of the sky is deliberately different than the texture of the ray of light and the area of the sky it comes from as it shines on the new born Jesus.

Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles!

Mary Magdalene icon in the process of being gilded with 23.5K gold leaf!  This icon of one of my favorite apostles is smaller than the last one I did.  After the gilding is done I usually let the icon rest for at least a week or so - that way the varnish under the gold can really set up hard.  Then, when I begin painting the details it's not as likely that my sleeve or buttons will scratch the gold.

My icons at Bethlehem Lutheran, Minneapolis were well received.

Nineteen of my icons were on display in the Gallery of Bethlehem Lutheran, Lyndale Ave. South, at 41st Street in Minneapolis, and a dozen others were in the show cases, all during Advent 2011.  

The congregation chose one of my icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Jesus on her lap, "Hodegitria" for their annual Christmas card that was reproduced as a full color card and mailed to all families of Bethlehem Lutheran.

I gave two gallery talks, one to a middle school age class and one to an adult forum age group.  Lots of excellent questions and interest in the icons as "theoscopy" - or theology in full color vision!

 This large icon stood at the entrance to the Gallery.  It was dramatically lit and served well to introduce people to the icons.

 Full scale shot of two larger icons hanging on the wall.  The head of the cleric is Bishop Eivind Berggrav, the Bishop of the Resistance in Norway during WWII, and the saint who worked to reconcile Norway and Germany after the war.  The elaborate icon is of St. Olav, the patron saint of Norway.

The plaques below were mounted at the entrance to the Gallery that described the icons and their purpose.  I received many comments about the icons and the links to the scriptures that I had provided.

St. Ladislaus of Hungary - an icon in process.  This is a "naming icon" done on commission for a family.  If I ever figure out how to make him NOT stand on his head, I'll resubmit this blog entry!  But for now I'm still giggling at the silly things this blog does ;-))

At work on an icon of Martin Luther as a monk.  The official portraits of him date some twenty years after he entered the Augustinian Friars in his early 20's, so I regressed that portrait back to his early days.

My icon of the "Icon made without human hands" ready for final details and lettering.  I'm pleased that the gilding came out so nice.

Detail of one of my icons of St. Mary Magdalene.  This icon was purchased to be presented as an ordination gift to a Methodist minister.

 I'm laying out the drawing of the icon of Pentecost.  To get the scale of the figures right for the icon board I placed a sheet of white paper on the board, then I drew directly on the vellum with pencil, then I traced over the pencil with India ink.  After that I put a carbon under the vellum, removed the white paper, and traced the drawing directly onto the gesso of the board.  It's a bit round-about, but since the drawing is ca. 24 inches long and 14 inches high, the icon board was the best surface I had to work on!

 This is the exterior of a new icon I'm "writing"

the ICXC are the Greek abbreviation of JESUS CHRIST.  There is some more color to be added to the cover, and some gold too.  Below is the icon when it's open.  The labels identifying St. Mary Theotokos, Jesus, and St. John the Baptist have to be added.  The icon stands about 7 inches tall and 4 inches wide when closed.  When it's complete, I'll post another set of photos.

You might have to zoom in on the Seraphs which are lightly painted in white and black on either side of the seated Jesus.  The prototype model for this triptych is the "Diesis" type of icons - where the central icon is of Jesus, and the side icons are of Mary his mother, and John who was the forerunner of the Messiah.  Both of them are gesturing toward him with their hands and inclined heads, saying, "Don't look at us, look at him, for he is the Messiah, the Savior of the World."

The Annunciation to Mary - 

Hopefully you will be able to zoom in on Mary's left hand.  She is holding a drop spindle and was busy spinning when the angel showed up and really changed her day!  There are two traditions concerning where she was, and what she was doing, when she encountered the angel; one is that she was spinning, which is the one I've chosen here; the other is that she was at the well drawing water to bring home.  I'll probably do that icon soon.  

This is a "practice" icon - in that I did it on a lightweight "Claybord" (tm) and then framed that, and also I experimented with some of the 23.5 Karat gold leaf I used.  It seems to have worked, but we'll know for sure in a couple of centuries whether or not it is a good idea.  Stay tuned!  This is the icon I was working on when I hosted 4 middle school age girls and their home schooling teachers and mothers a couple of months ago.  Now the icon is complete and ready to be blessed so that it can contribute to the spiritual growth of all who come before it as they read this story in the gospel according to Luke.

As usual, the photography of gold leaf is tricky because it is so highly reflective at certain angles.  It's almost like taking a photo of a mirror!  It's with good reason that genuine gold represents the mystical spiritual dimensions of theology - it's constantly changing, yet it never changes at all.  

St. Olav of Norway

St. Olav (Olaf) of Norway was martyred on 29 July 1030 - killed at the Battle of Stikklestad, near Trondheim, Norway.  My icon shows him as a crowned king, holding the battle ax that killed him, and the orb of the eternal heavenly kingdom.  The large domed nails of the frame add weight and dimension to the icon.  I painted this on a one inch thick wood panel, in acrylics, using 24K gold leaf.  The patron is Norwegian and the icon now lives in Oslo, Norway.  It measures ca. 7.5 inches by 10 inches.

Mary Magdalene - Apostle to the Apostles

Mary Magdalene is the first witness to the Resurrection.  My icon of her shows her carrying an expensive container of myrrh to be used for the final anointing of Jesus' body - she is on her way to his tomb early on Sunday morning.  I portrayed her as somber, somewhat in shock at what has happened to him, with the predawn light glistening on her outer robe.  She is 30 something, now tall, strong and healthy after her encounter with Jesus who healed her and cast out the 7 devils that had tormented her.  Soon she'll arrive at the tomb - and the glorious news of the Resurrection will be made clear to her!  And, she in her turn will tell the whole world what has happened!

Copy of Rublev's "Holy Trinity" icon in process

Here's what my copy of Rublev's icon "Holy Trinity" or "The Hospitality of Abraham & Sarah" looked like as it was being painted.  The gilding is done, and the large blocks of color are being laid in place.   It's always tricky to try and photograph gold - the reflections keep blowing away the automatic exposure settings!