Ancient Image Why take an Icon Painting Workshop?

Internationally recognized iconographer and author, Mary Jane Miller, of San Miguel Allende Mexico will be back again this year at St Clare’s Episcopal Church, Blairsville, and Holy Innocent’s Atlanta, Georgia. Middle two weeks in October and Vero Beach, Florida in November. Her workshops in egg tempera and icon painting are an extraordinary experience. The group works together, step by step to arrive at a completed icon. Lunch will be provided. GO TO Retreats and workshop page

Why take an Icon Painting Workshop?

The practice of egg tempera painting allows us to slowly witness our creative process while observing the image as it emerges in form and beauty. Mary Jane Miller describes the practice as a way to experience God and find beauty, harmony, and peace. No prior experience is necessary, only an open heart and a relaxed attitude. The word icon means image. Painting images in egg tempera is limitless meditation; the process has seduced generations of icon painters into simultaneously understanding “I am”… matter and mind. The cost of the workshop includes materials and a fee to the church of 480.00 USD.

The delicate membrane around the yolk holds the essence of life within itself, like humans whose flesh holds the consciousness of God. We are grains of sandy pigments in an array of colors screaming at the ocean of God. Expect to be astonished by the divine link, God’s action in you merges matter and spirit through painting icons. We witness our efforts as the color deepens and changes, it is transformed and highlighted all in a magnificent symphony played out in simple dirt. You Tube Video

Join us Wednesday night during the workshop, Mary Jane Miller will present her collection of contemporary icon images and share the stories behind them, including works published in her book, “In Light of Women…One Woman’s Journey with Icons”. This lecture is open to the public. Mary Jane Miller will offer reflections on the changing roles of women, drawing from her decades of experience as an icon painter, teacher, and lecturer. MORE INFO on Why take an Icon Painting Workshop. https://sanmiguelicons.com/why-take-an-icon-painting-workshop/

The color in Byzantine iconography feels ancient when you look at it because it is! The individual colors are lustrous,? granular, sandy, or soft ochres they are radiantly bright and precious. The sheen from the egg yolk can turn the surface glossy and look as if it is saturated with life.

The depth of the color is created as a result of many thin layers, each with a distinct tone and personality. When one pigment dries and another layer covers it, I grieve. I am forced to conceal the spontaneous beauty revealed by the application of another layer of color. Yet with enough layers, new forms arise, rich, and deep in quality.

The layers become transparent after 3 to 6 months, and the under painting is magnificent. The end product seems to be inevitably harmonious just because the pigments themselves were created side by side in time and space, in the same way the planet evolved. Ancient earth history mixed with the human expression for the divine, what a match!