Icon Writing Workshop

Icon Writing Workshop at St. Stephen’s| August 4-9, 2013 | Register here

Painting an icon can be a compelling experience. Using techniques developed at the end of the Iconoclast period (before the year 1000 A.D.), the painter sees a face gradually emerge from the darkness, a face glowing with an internal light.

The process has less to do with your ability to paint than with your willingness to let go and trust. All are invited to experience this joy, with no art experience required. The language of icons is the language of prayer. God’s love and God’s presence are revealed on a deeper, non-verbal level. “The process of writing an icon”, according to Suzanne Schleck, the Iconographer who will lead this retreat, “is not about finding something new but about returning to your true being.”

Icons will be made using the traditional materials of egg tempera and gold leaf on gessoed panels. New students may paint the Korsun Mother of God (pictured at far left), and those who have taken one or both of the earlier workshops will be able to write the Icon of the Good Shepherd (near left) or the Korsun Mother of God.

About the workshop: Days begin at 8:10 with Morning Prayer and Eucharist in the Holy Spirit Chapel followed by an anointing of hands in the studio. Each day ends around 5:00 p.m. The workshop cost of $350 includes all supplies. Reservations and a deposit of $100 are due July 12 (you may register here). Please contact Janet Allen or Gene LeCouteur, 804.288.2867, if scholarship assistance is needed.

About the Instructor: Suzanne Schleck of Whiting, N.J., is a recently retired public school art teacher. She has studied for more than 20 years with the Rev. John Walsted, master iconographer and expert on 14th to 16th century Russian icons, and has taken additional workshops with Robert Lentz and the Prosopon School of Iconography. Her work has been published in Episcopal Life and in several online exhibits with Episcopal Church and the Visual Arts, as well as at the 2006 General Convention and Princeton Theological Seminary. This will be Suzanne's third annual workshop at St. Stephen's. Participants--who have come from the parish and beyond--have found it a deeply enriching experience.

Register online here, or stop by the parish office to sign up and pay your deposit.