I am staying for the week at the Holy Cross Monastery in West Park NY, where some may know that I am considering becoming a monk of the order. I’ve come here this time for a retreat called ‘A Brush with God’, a retreat taught by Peter Pearson, a renowned iconographer, priest and teacher. You can see his website at www.nb.net/~pearson. I am learning the art of painting an icon. What a fascinating history icons have had andthey have very specific rules to painting them. Some of the techniques I am learning have reawakened me to techniques I used to use in my painting, (like glazing, which I stopped doing for some reason) while some are totally new and are ones which I will start to use. The most important thing I’ve learned about painting an icon is that it is to be done as a prayer, and in an attitude of submitting your painting to God. It doesn’t matter if the final image is “beautiful” or not, it’s all about your attitude. I thought I’d share the stages we’ve done so far. We are painting an icon of St. Michael the Archangel.
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