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.