St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Icon of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 12.5" x 10" x 1", egg tempera using natural pigments, 24K gold leaf, on genuine gessoed board with raised edge.  Note the Wartburg castle in the background - that was her own castle (!), her own coat of arms and the icon of the Virgin & Child on the walls.  This was presented as an ordination gift to Rev. Joy Gonnerman because she did her clergy internship under my supervision along with my colleague Rev. Judy Gustafson at the Kenyon Area Internship Committee (8 ELCA churches working in a co-op for this purpose.)

Icon of "The Holy Brothers Apostles - Andrew the First Called, and Peter the Rock" written in acrylics and 24K leaf on an edge glued board with oak reinforcing on the back, set in a hand made maple frame that is also gilded in 24K gold leaf, measuring ca. 18.5" x 14.5" x 5/8" (not counting the frame.)
The model for this icon is the original icon presented by Athenagoras the Patriarch of Constantinople to Pope Paul VI on the occasion of Paul's visit to the Holy Land.  You can find this image on the internet, and then note the unique details of my icon, i.e. the framing, lettering and colors I chose.  The square knot, crosses, and expanded lettering are unique.  This is not a copy, this is an original, and as such it's protected by copyright, as are all of my icons.  Email me or call for price and terms.

GUARDIAN ANGEL, done in egg tempera, natural earth pigments and 24K gold leaf, at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral school for iconography, NE Minneapolis, MN in October 2013.  The board is solid ash? imported from Russia measuring ca. 13" x 10" x 1 1/8" routed out and coated with marble dust gesso.  My instructor was Dimitri Andriev.  Est. time to write this icon is ca. 55 hours.  To get an idea of the price, call up your plumber or electrician and ask them how much a job lasting 55 hours will cost, then add ca. $200 for "parts" (gold, pigments, board, etc.) :-)   Then, call me or send me an email and we'll discuss terms - remember we have to allow for drying time so the total time from order to delivery is about six weeks.

This icon of PENTECOST is quite large, ca. 25 x 11x .75 inches!  It has 33 figures; with Mary the Theotokos in the center, flanked by Mary Magdalene and Peter and dozens of disciples clustered around.  Done in 23.5K genuine gold leaf and acrylic paints and inks.  A similar hand written icon can be yours for $2,500.00 whereas prints are available from $50.00 up to $300.00 depending on size.  Prints can be gilded with gold leaf for an additional charge.  Hopefully you can zoom in on this photo, but if not, let me know and I'll give you another link that will blow your socks off!  :-)

St. John the Theologian with St. Prochorus

ca. 26" x 24" x 0.75"

Acrylics with 23.5K gold leaf

This is the first of two planned icons of St. John; one as the very old man who is dictating the Gospel of St. John to his disciple, St. Prochorus, and the other one will be of St. John as a very young man (teenager?) who is the "Beloved Disciple" who stood at the foot of the cross and helped bury Jesus, and who ran to the tomb on Easter morning upon hearing the news from Mary Magdalene that, "He's risen!"

This icon is set on the desert island of Patmos where St. John is in exile for preaching the Good News.  Since he can't see well enough up close to write by his own hand, he is dictating his Gospel, and also the book of Revelation, to his young disciple, St. Prochorus.  The red, orange, yellow fan shape in the upper left hand corner will have fine rays of pure gold leaf streaming toward his right ear - as a symbol of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who speaks the Word to St. John and St. John in turn speaks the words to St. Prochorus.

This is the icon "Hodegitria" or One Who Shows the Way - it was done as a 'teaching icon' for a class I taught for the Cannon Valley Elder Collegium, September to November 2012.  It measures about 9x11 inches on 3/4 thick plywood.  Acrylics and 24K gold leaf painted on gesso.  Merry Christmas!

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.

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!

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.  

This is the preliminary design for an icon of "Haakon the Good" who as a Viking king of Norway caught between the powerful pagan interests of some of his nobles, and the increasing popularity of the Christians.  The great dragon on his right represents the culture around him.  The Christ figure is taken from an ancient stone cross.  He's in the middle.

He was a Christian.  When he was elected King over Norway he asked his nobles if they would convert.  They refused to change.  He refused to abandon Christ.  They worked out a deal - the first recorded instance I'm aware of whereby "freedom of religion" was extended to all parties involved.  The net result ... many years of peaceful co-existence.  As his death approached he was asked if he wanted a Christian funeral or a pagan one.  He chose a pagan one, saying that he did not feel worthy of being buried as a Christian.  His modesty prevailed, even to the end.  His was a wise and fair reign.  Long may he be remembered - as a Christian!

The original icon was presented as a "naming icon" to my grandson, Haakon Erik Olav Homstad on his 10th birthday.  Long may he live!

Icon work & hay fever (weird combination)

I always got a kick out of irascible John the Baptist, a.k.a. John the Forerunner.  What a preacher he must have been to hear, that nearly the whole population of ancient Jerusalem hiked through the Judean desert going east to the Jordan just to hear him!  The prototypes of him that I like the best show him as a deeply sunburned hippie, carrying a scroll with a single word on it ... REPENT.  If you haven't listened to Leonard Cohen's "The Future", look it up on iTunes.  REPENT is the repeated phrase in that one.  In its vulgarity, its naked truth telling, its preaching to power ... it is the incarnation of John the Forerunner.   Strong stuff.   Sort of like hay fever that forces me to see everything through blurry eyes, hacking coughs, and sneezes - no matter what I had in mind originally!

There is an equally strong stuff sculpture of J.B. that is in the Baptistery at St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN.  Tall, gaunt, rugged and oozing power ... I can imagine him on stage singing Cohen's lyrics.  I can imagine this icon doing the same thing.  Not a comfortable being to have around.  But then, remember Leonard's poem and song, "There Ain't No Cure For Love" - look it up.  You'll find them both in his "Live From London" album.

The Incarnation of Jesus Christ, or The Nativity.   This is one of two traditional views in the Incarnation icon - one view (my favorite for theological reasons) is where Mary is facing and holding the infant Jesus; the other view is where Mary is turned away from Jesus who is sleeping in the manger.  I like all of the figures in the icon, the shepherds, the angels, the midwives, the visitors from the East bearing gifts, and Joseph and the "strange character" talking with him.  COME AND SEE THE ICONS at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4100 Lyndale Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN during Advent 2011.  The exhibit will open with an official announcement - expected to be just before the first Sunday in Advent, 27 November 2011.

Icon preparations - Advent 2011 show at Bethlehem Lutheran, Mpls

I'm currently preparing the catalog of about 24 of my icons for a gallery show at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4100 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN.  The show will open during the week starting on 7 November 2011 and remain up until January 2012.

Each of the icons will have a description and scripture link associated with it - so that's what I'm working on today.  Once those are prepared, then I'll prepare a description to accompany the icon "writing" process - from the text in the Bible, or the life of a saint, to the drawing, to the preparation of the board and painting surface, applying of genuine 23K gold leaf, colors, final varnish, and dedication.

Stay tuned.  This will take awhile!