In the fall of 2014 I lead a beginners icon writing workshop in Chemainus on Vancouver Island. My parents, Mike and Terry hosted us for 7 days. They have an in-home studio where they worked as graphic artists before retiring a few years ago. It was the perfect size for our group of 7 adult participants. We worked on prepared Claybords using egg tempura and gold leaf.
Terry very kindly had an amazing lunch prepared each day for all of us. We painted "Our Lady of the Passion". On the last day we went to the Poor Clare sisters' chapel and had a traditional Eastern Catholic "Blessing of the Icons" ceremony accompanied by young students from a previous workshop I gave, followed by a reception. The blessing was given by Father Steven Basarab accompanied by Father Alfredo.
Participants included two Poor Clare sisters and a Franciscan Brother, my parents, my daughter-in-law and a family friend. Everyone enjoyed the technical aspect, the theology behind it and the prayerfulness needed to complete a beautiful icon. The only thing that didn't want to cooperate was the gold for the halos, as the weather was cold and very dry!
This was the second of many icon writing workshops that I hope to lead in the coming years on Vancouver Island.