NEWSLETTER

The Association of Iconographers of Ireland

Cumann Samhail na hÉireann

Vol. 19 No. 3 Winter 2011/2012

Triptych: Entry into Jerusalem with side panels, The Vigin and St John

Sr Carmel Murtagh

2

The Association of

Iconographers of Ireland Association Officers President

Eva Vlavianos

Secretary Sr Majella O Keeffe

47 Forster Street

Galway

Newsletter Editor Colette Clarke

10 Rathlin Road

Glasnevin

Dublin 9

Webpage Designer Philip Brennan

8 Meadowvale Close

Carryduff

Co. Down BT 88QZ. NI

Course Organiser Rosaleen Hogan

1 Rossfield Grove

Brookfield

Tallaght

Dublin 24

Treasurer Mary Connaughton

1 Rossfield Grove

Brookfield

Tallaght

Dublin 24

Honorary Members Solrunn Nes

Guillem Ramos-Poquí

Cover Picture

Triptych: Entry into Jerusalem with

side panels, The Vigin and St John

Sr Carmel Murtagh

Editorial Greeting to all members and I hope

you had a good Christmas. At least it

wasn’t white!

It’s with a heavy heart I send out this

Newsletter. Sr Carmel Murtagh, our

Chairperson, died the 30th December

after a two year illness. We will miss

all her hard work. May she rest in

peace.

Renewal subscriptions are due in

January, so remember to send them to

Sr Mary Connaughton, our new

Treasurer. This Newsletter includes

three articles on trips to Athens,

Thessalonika and Armenia.

I have included some tips I had from

teaching and writing icons and I’d

welcome any other tips iconographers

would like to send into me. Fr John

Reynolds was always keen on

including a “tip corner” so hopefully

this is a start!.

We are delighted Rosaleen has agreed

to tutor with the Association.

The next icon course will be in

February in Dromantine. (for details

see next column)

The Association is running a weekend

course this April in Emmaus, Dublin.

If you are interested in attending,

download and fill in the attached form

and return to Sr Mary as soon as

possible. This is a day course. Meals,

studio space and tuition will be

provided but not accomodation.

I wish to thank all the members who

contributed to this Newsletter, Patrick,

Dick, Rosaleen, Tom and Majella. It

really is great to get articles and

comments so please keep sending

them in.

Thanks to all the members who sent

in scrap gold. I have sent it to

Habberly & Meadows and await their

reply!

Please email or post any articles/

reviews to cletclarke@gmail.com or

Colette Clarke, 10 Rathlin Road,

Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

“Most of the shadows of this life are

caused by standing in one’s own

sunshine”

Ralph Waldo Emerson speaks of

how we create the shadows in our life

by standing in our own sunlight. I was

thinking how applicable this is to icon

work. If the work is to take shape and

do what it was made for, namely

bringing God present to people, I have

to empty myself and allow the light to

fill me and flow through me. When I

am empty and God’s light works

through me then not only will I

become light but my work will

transmit light. There will be no

shadows!

Colette Clarke

Dromantine weekend We look forward to Dromantine

weekend icon course which takes

place from 10th Feb-12th Feb 2012.

This is organised by Sr Grace, Maddie

Stewart and Philip Brennan and is

always well attended.The course runs

from Fri afternoon to Sun lunch.

Beginners and improvers are

welcome.Contact:Maddie Stewart, 27

Coney Island, Ardglass, Downparrick

Co. Down. BT307 OQ

This course has been helpful to

beginners who aren’t quite certain if

iconography is for them. To finish an

icon in the weekend, would be

impossible, however, one can discern

whether icons are for them or not?

Emmaus weekend Fri 20th - 22nd April 2012 This April, we look forward to

holding a non-residental weekend

course in Emmaus Centre, Lissenhall,

Swords, Co Dublin. The course runs

from Fri afternoon to Sun lunch.

Beginners and improvers are

welcome. Please download or find

enclosed/attached form. Fill out and

return to Sr Mary. All details are

on the application form.

Icon Courses If you are interested in finding out

more about icon classes, contact one

of the tutors listed below. If they are

not running classes themselves,

they’ll know where you can find one

in your area.

Richard Sinclair

dicksinclair@gmail.co

Philip Brennan

philip.brennan7@btinternet.com

tel no. 04890812613

Sr Majella O Keeffe

wprovarc@yahoo.co.uk

Colette Clarke

cletclarke@gmail.co

tel no: 0876404633

Rosaleen Hogan

rosaleenhogan@yahoo.ie

tel no. 0874160737

3

Icons in Hayastan-

Armenia I was recently in Armenia (the former

soviet republic), a small country like

Ireland. The ‘nation’ extends far

beyond the current political borders.

The country claims to be the first

complete country to be christianized

in 301 AD. It is believed that the

Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew

evangelized there. The first church

founded at that time is in the holy city

of Etchmiadzin which is the

“Vatican” for the Armenian Apostolic

Catholic Church (AACC). This is a

pre-Chalcedonian church, left out of

the p ro ceed ings in 4 51 AD.

Remarkably, there is indeed a 4th

century church in Etchmiadzin visible

under the additions. Armenia has

always had an interesting relationship

with the pagan Roman and later

Byzantine Empire, at times of

cooperation, acting as a bulwark

against the Persians and Turks, but

when this relationship was tried as it

often was, the Eastern borders of the

Roman Empire were compromised

and in 1071 AD the defeat of the

Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert

left the door open for five centuries of

Turkish expansion as far as the gates

of Vienna until finally checked. In

the meantime, Constantinople fell in

1453 AD, and the greatest Christian

city was a ghost of its former self.

Armenian church architecture

is distinctive in being first constructed

from solid cut stone (rather than cut

stone facing coarse stone/brick work);

large cylindrical or drum central

towers with conical outer domes.

Georgian Orthodox churches are

similar. Inside, the sanctuary is on a

raised platform and icons of the

apostles adorn the front of the

platform. There is no altar rail, but

rather a curtain which is drawn across

at the appropriate time. The altar

takes a variety of shapes but it is quite

small with a canopy atop. The curtain

may be plain or have embroidered

crosses or being heavily decorated

with embroidered icons. Examples I

saw in the Catholicate Museum in

Ecthmiadzin dating from the 17th

century displayed heavy influences

from Persian art. Other icons in the

churches do not conform to a set

‘canon’ stylistically or technique. I

observed icons in one church

consisting of encaustic, oils, and

prints in a contemporary style,

o r t h o d o x - l i k e , a n d we s t e r n

renaissance style. During a liturgy for

baptism, an icon of the baptism of

Jesus was employed in the liturgy

itself.

The Catholicate museum has a

huge collection of religious artefacts

from the dawn of Christianity to the

present day. Sanctuary curtains as

described above hung on the walls;

and a number of arm relics of

Armenian saints, with the arms in

blessing pose to be held aloft in order

to continue to bless the people; relics

of St. George the Great Martyr and St.

Thomas the Apostle; and a collection

of egg tempera icons as a succession

of gifts by the Patriarch in

Constantinople to the Catholicos of

the AACC from the early Middle

Ages. There was a collection

spanning some 700 years and the

various subjects from the 12 great

feasts and of St. Nicholas, St. Gregory

the Illuminator, etc. These were for

me one of the highlights though the

relic of my name-saint was a definite

‘encounter’ for me. What was

remarkable was that the style

remained fairly consistent for such a

long period of time, and whereas the

Cretan style is the form we generally

come across in the Association, the

Constantinopolitan style produced

faces and limbs much more elongated,

t r i a n g ul a r - s h ap ed fac e s a nd

impossibly long fingers! In some

there was quite a very dark green

proplasmos as well.

The Museum of the Mother Cathedral

is situated in the southeast section of

St. Etchmiadzin Mother Cathedral

built in 1869. The museum wraps

around the main altar on the south and

east sides. Among the treasures kept

here are:

(a) the Holy Lance, which pierced the

side of Christ, housed in a silver

reliquary;

(b) the relics of Noah’s Ark in a

reliquary crafted in 1698; relics of the

Ap o s t l e s S t . T had d eu s , S t .

Bartholomew

(c) Khotekerats Sourp Nishan

reliquary with the relic of the True

Cross (914-929);

It was a tremendous privilege to be

allowed into the museum and to have

a guided tour by the deacon curator

who spoke perfect BBC English!

The church complex at Kerkeris,

north of Yerevan, Armenia

Icon of a Vision of the Lord in

encaustic.

A fine example of a Katchkar – a

carved stone stele depicting the three

crosses of calvary surmounting a

mandala (wheel). The geometric

carvings are surprisingly familiar.

Tom McCloughlin

4

Thoughts from

Thessaloniki In mid October I had the privlege of

being able to go to Greece, with seven

other iconographers from across

Ireland.

Having been asked to produce an

acticle on my experience there, I

begin by firstly, asking you to take a

few minites and ponder on the

following: "What comes to mind

when I think of the feast day of St

Patrick?"

You are probably thinking what has

this got to do with Greece? Well, this

is the exact thought I had as I stood in

the Basilica of St. Demetrius, in

Thessaloniki.

We were blessed that our visit

happened to coincide with the feast

day of their patron saint, St

Demetrius. In the days running up to

this feast, the streets and outside the

Basilica were decorated with buntings

and flags. Inside, countless icons,

mosaics and frescos were cleaned and

polished. Flanking the Royal Doors

are two large icons (6ft.x3ft.), on the

left Our Lady and on the right St

Demetrius surrounded by garlands of

flowers. What really moved me was

how the faithful gathered for the three

days leading up to the celebration of

the feast day of their patron saint.

They queued, up to six deep, to kiss

the relics of St Demetrius. This act

brought back memories of the visit of

the relics of St Teresa to Ireland. The

faithful of Thessalonika, did, not only,

queue up to pray and kiss the relics of

St Demetrius but also prayed and

kissed every icon and mosaic around

the church. I had stopped to look at

another large icon. Dick asked me to

take a close up photo of one of the

saints depicted in it, St David, for

Marina, back home in Derry. As I

waited for quite some time, at least 15

minutes, to get a clear shot of this

icon, I counted the number of saints

represented, 120 saints. As people

passed by the icon, they would kiss

and touch certain saints particularly

those they had a close affinity with.

A man who had been sitting close by,

came up to me and proudly told me

they were all the saints of

Thessalonika and he gave me a small

prayer card with a picture of this icon.

I was overwhlemed with emotion. A

thought occured to me, as I looked

around..............

St Patrick’s Day! How do I celebrate

our patron saints feast day?

Shamrocks, Harp, the colour green,

mass etc….

and something I had been guilty of

for too many years..... an excuse to go

to

the pub and down as many pints of

guinness as I could get down my

neck!!!

A world apart from what I was

witnessing in front of me.

Our parish church is called St.

Patricks and up until 3yrs ago it had

not one picture or statue of St. Patrick.

Before Sr Aloysius died she wrote an

icon for our church (her native parish)

which was blessed the March after she

died, on the feast of St. Patrick.

When we work on an icon we pray

that they may be a strength of

miraculous deeds and a spring of

recover and healing. Ninty nine

percent of parisioners and visitors to

our church leave, without even

visiting this icon, to pay homage to

our patron saint, St Patrick.

We have many other beautiful saints

in Ireland, St Brigid, St Oliver

Plunkett and here in Derry, St

Columcille. All their feast days pass

by hardly noticed or mentioned. They

are seldom portrayed in icons.

Certainly Sr Aloysius did her best to

address this void and wrote quite a

few icons of Irish saints in her time.

As I stood there I also thought I have

certain saints I pray to in times of

need. I have to admit, that none of

them are national ones.

So in many ways this was a very

humbling experience, which has given

me plenty of food for thought.

It’s hard to believe but my birthday

fell on St Demetrius feast day. A few

days after I arrived home from

Greece, my sister Angela, also an

iconographer, gave me a gift of an

icon of St. Patrick which she had

written. So I guess that St. Patrick is

working in mysterious ways!

Tell me now, St Patrick, how I can

put your thoughts into action and use

me as you see fit. I look forward to

this challange.

Patrick McMacken

St. Aidan’s Church in

Brookfield, Tallaght, D24 St. Aidan’s Church in Brookfield has

been refurbished. So what, you might

say. Ah, but this was different. Here’s

how it happened.

This ‘refurbishment’ started life as an

image in the mind of our parish priest

of a few tins of paint spread on the

four walls. Local women invited to

look at this image and choose colours

for these walls shook their collective

head and asked “What about the

ceiling? Something has to be done

about the ceiling.” You see the fact is

that there was no ceiling and there had

been no ceiling in our Church for the

past twenty five years. The tin roof

was the ‘ceiling’. And the

congregation all down those years

had made the acquaintance of every

seagull that whacked its dinner onto

our roof during the Sunday Eucharist.

And we knew all the dance routines of

the hailstones when they came to

perform. So, yes there was an

important question to be addressed in

“What about the ceiling?” Suddenly

the image in our parish priest’s mind

had taken wings and flown up to

include a ceiling.

Things rested so…………., but not

for long. The women then reminded

their priest of the windows and how

they rattled and banged out

accompaniments to the various

celebrations and the big winds that

5

visit now with climate change and

how coughing in the Church had risen

to a crescendo over the years and was

a worrying barometer of the general

health of the faithful. Now the image

in our parish priests mind included

windows, and yes they would be the

double-glazed variety.

Things rested so…………….,but not

for long. “What about the sanctuary?”

the women asked. “What about the

sanctuary? What’s wrong with it?”

enquired our priest. “It’s the most

sacred part of the Church.” thundered

the women. “ It should be beautiful.”

There was no argument. On this point

priest and people were one. Our

priest had stood in this sanctuary often

enough and knew that the women

were right. Beautiful was not a word

you could use to describe it. Adequate

might describe it but beautiful never

would. Now beauty began to light up

the image of both priest and people.

Things rested so….,but not for long.

Then came the icons. Our priest asked

“Does

anyone

know

where we

might get a

Crucifix ?”

“We do.”

came the

reply from

two icono-

graphers

among the

women. In

a phone

call later

Colette

Clarke

gave her beautiful icon of the

Crucifixion to our Church.

Four years

before one

of the icono-

graphers had

written an

icon of St.

Aidan the

patron saint

of our parish

and had kept

it until the

priest and

people

longed for

beauty in

their

Church.

That time had arrived.

Bishop Diarmuid Martin came on

Nov. 13th to St. Aidan’s Church and

blessed the newly refurbished Church.

He incensed the walls, ceilings,

windows and the sanctuary and gave a

special incensing to The Crucifix and

to St. Aidan.

Our Church now has a sanctuary

which is truly a beautiful and sacred

space for the presence of God and the

Crucifix shines in that space with the

peace of Christ. St. Aidan looks down

from the church walls and blesses his

parish.

Rosaleen Hogan

Eight on a Greek Trip Monday 17th Oct 2011

Seven students of iconography;

Adrienne and Colette from Dublin,

Patrick, Thelma and Dick from the

Northwest plus Anne and Maureen

from the West left a wet and bitterly

cold Ireland and travelled to a balmy

Athens. We planned to spend five

days in Athens looking at icons and

the types of Churches they were

originally created for before moving

on to Thessaloniki for another five

days. We were joined in Athens on

Thursday by Philip from Belfast. On

our first evening we were weary from

travelling and as we were staying in

three different hotels we decided to

eat separately and meet up in the

morning.

Overnight notices appeared in our

hotels advising us of a planned

general strike on Wednesday and

Thursday. We had been aware of the

possibility of strikes before leaving

Ireland but had elected to go ahead

with our trip. Partly because it had

been planned for almost a year, partly

because it would feel churlish to

postpone a trip to study the Art of the

country but elect not to go if we had

to share any of the difficulties of life

there.

Tuesday 18th Oct

We meet up for coffee on a bright

sunny Tuesday morning and made our

way, using the excellent metro

system, to the Byzantine and Christian

Museum which is housed in a large

19th C villa near the city centre. It is a

beautifully arranged museum which

starts with a section on pre-Christian

art and architecture illustrating the

transition from and adaption of

Roman and Pagan art to an art able to

express the theology of the new

Christian religion. The explanatory

panels and guiding throughout the

museum are in both Greek and

English and are very clear and

informative. The rest of the collection

i s l a i d o u t i n t h e m a i n

chronologically, with some material

also grouped according to place of

origin. The greater majority of items

displayed are panel icons, as well as a

number of fresco. The quality and

number of the icons is quite

overwhelming, an impression which

is enhanced by the exceptionally

skilful way in which they are

displayed. Overall the gallery lighting

is low with light focussed on each

icon not unevenly but clearly

illuminating the complete icon. The

icons are hung at a perfect height so

you are neither stooping down nor

stretching up to encounter them.

Although a significant number of the

icons, particularly the earlier ones, are

damaged they have been beautifully

cleaned and conserved. The very large

rooms of the villa have been

subdivided by conventional as well as

clear Perspex panels, allowing double

sided icon to be easily viewed. We

stayed there until we could no longer

stand, mid afternoon, after which we

went off to our hotels to rest and

arranged to meet up later in the

evening to visit the new Acropolis

Museum.

The Acropolis Museum a stunning

modern building at the foot of the

Acropolis was completed in 2007 and

has been designed to show the

collection including the Parthenon

friezes in a new museum offering all

the amenities expected in an

international museum of the 21st

century. A majestic ceremonial

staircase leads up to the top floor

where the friezes are displayed. The

absences of the panels from the frieze,

which are still held in the British

Museum, were highlighted at every

opportunity. This gallery has been

designed to give views out to the

Acropolis as well as over the city out

to the sea. It was late evening before

we left and the views to the floodlight

Acropolis and across the city were

spectacular. Among the large holdings

of the museum is a collection of

fourteen statues, that were found east

of the Parthenon in 1886 and are now

referred to as Korai of Acropolis.

St Aidan by Rosaleen

Hogan

Crucifixion Icon by

Colette Clarke

6

They depict young women clothed in

flowing draper with braided hair and a

restrained archaic smile. They are

sculpted in a very still poses with little

movement but are of great charm and

elegance and not without a certain

erotic charge. They are housed

together in a side gallery and soften

the monumental nature of much else

in the museum.

We ate together that evening in a

modern Greek restaurant close to the

central square Sintagma Square, on

one side of which is the Greek

Parliament building. Although the

restaurant was very good and

reasonable priced apart from one

other dinner we were the only group

in it, perhaps a sign of very hard

times?

Wed 19th Oct

Wednesday we made our way to the

Paul and Alexandra Kanellopoulos

Museum, a small but beautiful

museum aiming to show

representative examples of Greek

civilisation. We hoped, correctly, that

a small museum might be more

inclined than one of the large state run

museums to not obey the call to strike.

It is situated in a warren of hilly

streets close to the Acropolis. We lost

our way many times; this was no

hardship as we kept discovering little

ancient churches which we explored.

In the churches there was a profusion

of icons which varied widely in

technical proficiency and which

showed us that as an association we

are producing work we can be proud

of. (to be continued...............)

Richard Sinclair

Icon of Christ, Mt. Sinai

(abbreviated article written by Sr

Donna Kristoff, OSU in Sacred Art

Journal 9.1)

The Sinai Christ (6th century) from St

Catherine

Monastery,

Mount Sinai

is one of the

rare icons

that predate

the

iconoclast

controversy.

This icon is

important in

under-

standing the

develop-

ment of the

theology of

the icon as

the image

of man

deified and

transfigured

by the light of the Holy Spirit.

Physical Description

In 1962 when the icon was cleaned

the green background was removed

revealing a grey-green two tone

background, filled with a perspectival

architecture and two large eight-

pointed stars at the top. The large red

letters ΙΣ ΧΣ and the red line around

the halo were recent additions. The

contours of the shoulders were also

marked with lines of dark colour and

awkward black shadows that were

carefully removed as was the dark

blue-green of the robe. The face and

hands, painted in the encaustic

technique, were intact, while the book

had been touched up. The right part of

the hair had been damaged. (Figure 1,

below).

The icon now measures 84.5x 44.3cm

and was originally larger having been

trimmed more from the left side,

making the figure asymmetrical on

the panel (Figure 2).

The face is painted in delicate small

strokes of colour over-lapping each

other to creare a lively surface of trans

-parency and opacity. The beard is

subtley rendered in shadows. The

drapery, book and architecture are less

carefully executed. Taken as a whole

the power of the face and delicacy of

the hands contrast greatly with the

other areas mentioned.

Style and Form

This icon shows a fusion of styles. In

this icon there is a unique blending of

the two greatest influences from the

non-Christian Graeco-Roman world,

the veneration of the imperial image

and the use of Egypian funerary

portraiture.

The Mount Sinai icon like the

imperial images of that period show

Christ as benign and powerful as were

the classical gods in terms of an

idealized humanity.

The Sinai Christ and Egypian funeral

portraits both use, a single light

source and highlighting to create a life

-like image. They both also fill the

picture frame bringing the image

close to the viewer and thereby

stressing the personal presence. Both

also concentrate on the large eyes as

focal points of contact. Yet the painter

of the Sinai Christ is attempting much

more than a portrait of a mere man. It

is here where faith, tradition and

artistic capabilities must intermingle

to produce in visual terms something

spiritual. The encaustic painter also

uses the gold halo and a gesture of

benediction to indicate the sublimity

of the depicted. Wide open eyes, not

fixed on any point, strong frontality,

no strict symmetry in the figure, and

non-identical eyes, all help to depict

aloofness and timelessness.

When this icon was executed the

formulation of doctrines on the

theology of the icon were being

developed in the Church. The Mount

Sinai Christ stands at the threshold of

this refinement process. The

iconoclast controversy forced the

Church to develop a sound body of

thought and doctrines on the theology

of the icon. Greater clarification was

needed as to the function, purpose and

means of expression of the true icon.

Conclusions

This icon, strives towards the fullness

of truth but iconography was in its

infancy stage of growth in the Church.

Sr Kristoff concludes that this icon

lacks the richness, depth, purity and

maturity of later icons. Ouspensky

states that “despite the high level of

artistic expression there remains some

trace of the antique inheritance it had

not quite outlived, which makes itself

felt in greater or less degree in

different aspects which reflect on the

spiritual purity of the image.”

Colette Clarke

Figure 1, Drawing showing (dotted

lines) the original icon

Figure 2, Sinai Christ,

as it is today

7

Icons and Colour I have included below some excellent

teachings on colours and their use in

icons from What Do You Know

About Icons , The Community of St

John the Baptist, Kareas Monastery,

Etoimasia Publications 2001.

“The colours, says Evdokimov,

powerfully strike the eye and amaze

with their brightness. The tones, pale

cyan, bright red and scarlet, create

many hues, reflecting divine light in

the infinate halos…..There exists an

anti-naturalistic tendency in Orthodox

iconography. The colours used in the

icons are often unnatural. They are,

however, in harmony with a

“hyperbatic music, lending to the

work a unity that is alluring to the

sight and holds the glance until the

soul experiences the elevated

condition.” A Michele. This is why in

Orthodox iconography one can find

red horses, even purple and blue

rocks, unnatural colours that do not

exist in reality. They help the observer

enter into a dimension, other-worldly,

spiritual. In this way the colours take

on a symbolic and mystical

characteristic. “The colours,” says,

Photios Kontoglou, “have symbolic

meaning in this theological art of

hagiography. White is symbolic of the

light of purity. Black of mystical

depth, cyan of refreshment and

clarity, green the colour of hope and

rest, orange of divine glory and

brilliance, red symbolizes the

incandescence and warmth of mystic

essence and sky blue represents

scintillation of the heavenly light.

Thus in Byzantine iconography colour

is not merely a decorative element but

a constant glossary from which one

can extract hyperbatic messages and

through which the soul is opened to

the world of holiness. The viewer

experiences things he cannot

comprehend, but that change his

heart: they renew him and divinize

him. “With their orchestration of

colours, the Orthodox icons convey to

the beholder a deep spiritual message

that is comprehended more by the

subconscience and understood by the

heart rather than the eyes.” E Giannes

I came across a few different

interpretations of the colours worn by

Christ and Our Lady (A Brush with

God, Peter Pearson , Techniques of

Icon and Wall Painting, Aidan Hart).

Below, I have included from What Do

You Know About Icons the

interpretation I have been taught .

“ To the right of the Beautiful Door, is

placed the icon of Christ. His

garments have two colours. The inner

garment (chiton) is red while the

external one (himation) is blue. The

inner red garment represents His

divinity, the blue garment, His

humanity. The spiritual interpretation

here is that He took on the outer

garment of humanity to return man to

his pre-fallen state.”

Colette Clarke

Christmas and Gifts Christmas includes the giving of gifts.

A liturgical hymn from the Eastern

Church explores this theme of what

gifts to offer the newborne king.

“What can we offer you, O Christ, for

having been born for us on earth as a

Man? Each creature, the work of your

hands, offers you a sign of gratitude:

the angels, their hymn; the heavens,

the star; the Magi, their gifts; the

shepherds, their wonder; the earth, the

cave; the wilderness, the manger; and

we—the Virgin Mother.” Sticharion

of Christmas: cf. P. Evdokimov, The

Art of an Icon: A Theology of

Beauty.

Mary is the gift of of mankind to

Christ. And this in turn means that

God does not want some thing from

man but man himself. God does not

want a certain percentage of us. He

wants our hearts; indeed, He wants

our whole being……………..

What can we offer you, O Christ?

Let us try to offer Him our faith and

our own selves, even if only in the

form of the prayer: “I believe, Lord,

help my unbelief!” And on this day,

let us not forget the many in whom He

suffers on earth.

The Blessing of Christmas, Joseph

Ratzinger

Tips when writing icons I am including a small section on tips

and some helpful equipment for the

iconographer.

Pencils: Always ensure yours pencils

are well sharpened.

For drawing the icon use , H or 2H

pencils. It cannot be stressed often

enough how important a good

drawing is for the resulting finished

icon. Spending time on your drawing

will save you time in the end,

honestly!

For transfering the icon image onto

the gessoed board, use, H, 2H, or 4H

pencils.

Sizes: Check the drying times for the

size you are using as these will vary

from 15mins (Japan gold size) to

24hrs. It is advisable to check whether

your size has gone off especially if it

has been opened beforehand. I always

have some old spare boards around

and I check the drying time of the size

before applying it to the icon I am

currently working on.

Brushes: Kolinsky Sable brushes are

the brushes of choice for applying

pigment layers to your icon.

I also use squirrel hair brushes (petite

gris) for glazes and painting layers of

paint over gold (scraffito). These

brushes, being very soft, do not

disturb the layers of paint beneath.

Brushes treated with care, last!

Always wash your brushes with

artists soap. Never allow the pigment

to dry into them and never leave them

sitting in the rinse water!

Apply pigment thinly, laying the

strokes beside one another. Resist the

temptation to correct strokes

immediately. Leave them to dry and

continue applying the second layer.

Make your stroke and leave it. Don’t

correct or fill in. Move to another part

of your icon and come back and

correct when the last strokes are dry.

The gesso will continue to show

through your layers and this is OK.

Tempera painting is different from

other types of painting!

Remember to mix your paint in your

palette each time you dip into it. The

pigments separate on standing and

you will get a different colour, if you

don’t mix the pigments each time you

fill up your brush. Make sure you

then remove excess paint by both

brushing the brush on the well side

and patting it onto a sheet of kitchen

roll. If there is a blob at the end of

your first brush stroke, there is too

much paint on your brush so you need

to pat it again on the sheet of kitchen

roll!

Colette Clarke

8

Techniques of Icon and Wall

Painting: Aidan Hart. Gracewing

Publishing 2011. Price £40.

ISBN 978 0 85244 2159

This most beautifully produced book

covers ‘all you ever wanted to know’

about every aspect of iconography.

Lavishly illustrated, with over 450

colour photos and 180 drawings, it

gives clear instructions on the various

techniques used in iconography.

Many of the beautiful illustrations are

the author’s own work.

With a wide ranging Contents, the

book begins with the History of Icon

Painting and is followed by a chapter

on Designing Icons – using the

Russian New Martyr Elizabeth as a

model – photos of whom still exist.

There is a detailed account of how to

prepare, size and gesso a board; three

Tables on which colour pigments to

use and how to use them, followed by

a colour illustration of every stage of

painting Christ, the Virgin and other

models. Oil gilding and water

gilding are shown step by step as well

as varnishes and varnishing.

Not only is practical work covered,

but also covered is the relevant

theology behind each element of

iconography. This is a very valuable

addition to a book on practical skills.

There are two chapters given to wall

painting - both fresco and secco.

There is even a chapter on

photographing the finished work, and

lastly the Appendix contains a list of

Icon Courses and Suppliers, followed

by an extensive Bibliography.

Truly this book is a massive work of

art in its own right and the author –

Aidan Hart – is to be congratulated. I

feel sure that in years to come the

prime reference book for budding

iconographers will be Techniques of

Icon and Wall Painting and I heartily

recommend it to both the general

r e a d e r a n d t h e p r a c t i s i n g

iconographer.

Majella O’Keeffe

Obituary

Sr Carmel Murtagh RIP

Carmel was born in Tubbercurry, Co.

Sligo and entered the Sisters of Mercy

in Carysfort Park in 1956. For the

next fifteen years she taught in

Caysfort, Goldenbridge and in

Ballyroan. During her time in

Ballyroan she attended night classes

in the College of Art where she

developed her artistic talents.

From 1972 to 1988 she taught in the

Art Department in Carysfort Training

College and also in Coláiste Iosagáin,

Stillorgan. At this time, too, she

studied in Columbia University in the

U.S. where she was awarded a

doctorate in Art Education.

When Carysfort College closed

Carmel went to Goldsmith College in

London where she qualified as an art

therapist. On her return to Ireland she

worked in the Rehabilitation Centre in

Dun Laoghaire, in the ARC

Programme in Eccles Street Dublin, in

Mahon, Cork and in the Cuan Mhuire

Centres in Athy and Bruree. In 1992

she took her first course in

iconography run by Guillem Ramos

Poqui. The second course she took

was in Derry with Eva Vlavianos in

1995 and she has attended all

subsequent courses given by Eva. She

has been a member of the Association

since its foundation and has served on

the Committee for many years, as

Treasurer and Chairperson in the last

few years.

A gifted teacher, Carmel was

renowned for her willingness to

generously share time and knowledge

with others. Her work output of

paintings, screen prints (she produced

the Banners that were used in the

Phoneix Park in 1979 for the Pope’s

visit), icons, ceramics and creative

embroidery was prodigious; and she

still had time to enjoy reading, music,

theatre, gardening and holidays.

She never lost her great love of her

native county and the Irish language.

Throughout her illness she displayed

extraordinary courage. Her acceptance

of her suffering was truly inspiring.

Her much-loved family, her sisters in

the Mercy Community , past pupils ,

friends, iconographers and I will miss

her so.

Go ndéana Dia trócaire uirthi.

Colette Clarke

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