Finally, In-Person Icon Painting Workshops are Happening Again!

Icon painting classes taking place this summer, taught by Marek Czarnecki at Enders Island and Holy Family Retreat Center in Connecticut.

At last, we have the possibility of full face, masks off, in-person icon painting classes again. I was delighted to hear of these two which will be taught this summer by Catholic Marek Czarnecki

Essentials of Iconography 

Learn a historical technique for writing icons in egg tempera on wood panels prepared with true gesso. Copying historical, traditional prototypes teaches us how the vision of the icon is manifested through the process of its creation. With color, calligraphic line, and blended tones of light, we demonstrate our understanding and love for the subject through skill. One workshop uses an icon of the face of St John the Baptist, the other the face of St Nicholas. Two Essentials workshops will be held May 1-6 and Aug. 7-12 at the School of Sacred Arts, St Edmunds Retreat on Enders Island, Mystic, Connecticut. For registration, more information on the School of Sacred Arts and its other courses, here is the link: www.endersisland.org/sacred-art-institute

Comprehensive Course in Iconography 

This is the most thorough workshop on iconography currently available in the United States. Lasting six full days, the curriculum encompasses an Essentials of Iconography course, with additional lessons in making gesso, panel preparation, gold-leaf gilding with oil size, and making pigments from raw sources. The prototype will be a 16th-century Cretan icon of the face of the Mother of God. The workshop will be held at Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center through its Monastery Gallery of Art in Farmington, Connecticut. For more information and registration, here is a link: www.holyfamilyretreat.org/calendar/icon

Marek Czarnecki is a gifted iconographer and artist, teaching and writing icons out of his liturgical arts studio, Seraphic Restorations, in Meriden, Connecticut. A student of Russian Orthodox iconographer Ksenia Pokrovsky, his icon painting has been featured in numerous exhibits, videos, and articles, including The New York Times and St. Anthony Messenger. He holds a B.F.A. degree from the prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York City. His website is www.seraphicrestorations.com

St Nicholas

St Hildegard of Bingen, painted by Marek

Where Can Catholics Learn to Paint or Carve Icons? Go to Hexaemeron.org

I am often asked for recommendations of classes that would be good for Catholics to learn traditional iconography. One place to consider is Hexaemeron.org, which has just announced the first of its icon painting and icon carving courses for 2018. They are now taking students for their “Six Days of Creation” integrated series of workshops for different levels of experience. Go to their site for more details.

Hexaemeron.org a non-profit based in the US, founded in 2003, which offers short courses and workshops in a variety of locations around the world, but has its main focus in North America. It is founded by Orthodox Christians, and is welcoming and respectful to Roman and Byzantine Catholics.

All their classes in painting, carving and embroidery are always of the highest quality, and the work of two of their teachers has been featured in the past on this site. Some readers will be familiar with painter Marek Czarnecki, who is Catholic. I wrote about two icons of Western saints that he painted for Our Lady of the Mountains, in Jasper Georgia, here.

Here is his Saint Cecilia:

Another teacher that readers may be familiar with is the Canadian icon carver, Jonathan Pageau. Here is his icon of Jonah.