Iconography Guild of St. Theodosia

The Iconography Guild of St. Theodosia was formed January 2012

for the Glory of God. 

 

The Iconography Guild (as of Sept. 2021)  is on "hold" until further notice. We're sorry for the inconvenience.

Contact Mat. Joanna with any questions or for suggestions about alternatives.

sttheodosiaiconguild@yahoo.com

St. Theodosia
St. Theodosia
St. Theodosia
St. Theodosia of Constantinople, proto-martyr for the veneration of holy icons in the 8th century.
 
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”--2 Cor. 3:18
Our Mission

We study and practice together the sacred ancient Christian art of painting/writing the Divine Light, the Image of God in Man, in the Byzantine-Russian tradition.

As students of iconography we are responsible to convey prayerfully and correctly the scriptural truth within the icon, according to the canon established by the church.

The Purpose of our Guild
The Iconography Guild of St. Theodosia--Our Purpose and Goals

PURPOSE: To learn the ancient Christian art of icon-writing of the Image of God in Man, within the Russian -Byzantine tradition.

GOALS:
1. To strive for excellence in our practice of the techniques of this multi-step process, learning the symbolism of the icon, and developing our spiritual growth within the guidelines of the Orthodox Christian Church.

2. To encourage and support one another, and share our insights, experiences, and resources.

3.To promote, educate, and evangelize what we learn about iconology and ultimately to write blessed icons for the glory of God .

DUES: Most of the supplies are available to share. We only ask for donations to our church's building fund.

Contact: Mat. Joanna Laymon, lightwriters77@gmail.com for newsletters and updates

See Also:

Our icon workshops: www.sthermanorthodox.org/iconographyworkshop.html
Workshops and lessons: Fr. Igumen Mefodii: sketestmaximos@gmail.com
Prosopon School of Iconology: www.prosoponschool.org

* See our parish online calendar or contact Mat. Joanna in case dates/times change.

Flesh-Tone Study, Mini-Workshop

You are Invited to attend this special mini-workshop hosted by the Iconography Guild of St. Theodosia

We will be mixing egg tempera pigments, comparing and applying different “recipes” of flesh tones, exploring how they blend on both charts and partial faces. Some minor supplies are needed and the guild has a few practice boards available, first-come basis or use watercolor paper. Let me know you’re coming.


Time/Dates: Dates vary, usually a Saturday, to be announced. 12:00-3:00,

See our parish calendar.

Cost: Donations are most welcome, to our church’s icon/building fund.

Contact: Mat. Joanna: sttheodosiaiconguild@yahoo.com

2018-2019
Mini Workshop: Olifa and Drawing Icons, Feb. 9, 2019
Mini Workshop: Olifa and Drawing Icons, Feb. 9, 2019
Mini Workshop: Olifa and Drawing Icons, Feb. 9, 2019
Schedule of Activities

We've had a busy year so far in 2019, continuing our projects, building our lending library, and hosting another successful icon workshop week with Fr. Igumen Mefodii. Please see our parish calendar pages for dates and changes to our meeting schedules. In May, Fr. Mefodii returns to lead a mini workshop/lecture on Architecture in Iconography.

Schedule: Note the deviations from "Second-Saturdays" when you check the parish website calendar.

2019

Sat. Feb. 9th: A Double Mini Workshop: Applying Olifa to our finished icons and Drawing frontal and 3/4 faces, Parts 1 and 2. 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Potluck lunch!  Come at 9 if you wish to oil your icons. Come anytime during the day to draw. Part 1, frontal face, in the morning and Part 2, the 3/4 face, in the afternoon.

May 11: Fr. Mefodii to lead a mini-workshop. Architecture in Icons. Free to guild members. Non-members may purchase a practice board from the guild. Just bring: potluck lunch, brushes, pencil, ruler, and donation to Fr. Mefodii. Let Mat. Joanna know if you are coming to reserve your space and board: lightwriters77@gmail.com by Pascha.

June 8: 12:30 - 4:00: usual projects.

July: DEADLINE to register for the August workshop is JULY 9th!!!  (There are only a few places remaining as of May!)

Regular meeting for prayer and practice: July 13, 12:30 - 4:00.

August 5 - 10: Our annual icon workshop week! See the iconography workshop page. There are only a few places left already. Contact Mat. Joanna for a registration form as soon as possible.

September, October, November, December: Wait and see!

 

 

 

EVENTS 2016 - 2017
A long-time member practicing faces in preparation for our September workshop.
A long-time member practicing faces in preparation for our September workshop.
A long-time member practicing faces in preparation for our September workshop.
Our newest members, embarking on their spiritual journey into icons.
Our newest members, embarking on their spiritual journey into icons.
Our newest members, embarking on their spiritual journey into icons.
One of our youngest members, inquisitive and engaging. Future iconographer!
One of our youngest members, inquisitive and engaging. Future iconographer!
One of our youngest members, inquisitive and engaging. Future iconographer!
Face Study Project: 2017

This year's projects will be exciting. Besides sharing our experiences and discoveries we will begin an on-going study of the process of painting iconic faces. We usually meet on the first Saturday of each month (see parish calendar). Arrival time: 12:30 and you may stay as long as you wish until 4:00. Pigments and palettes are available to use, but you will need your own brushes and may purchase practice boards. Another project this year includes a mini-workshop regarding the practice and the symbolism of landscape elements in icons. A future project will be the application of fine lines of gold leaf, called assist. Contact us to join our email list and also see our parish Face Book page: St. Herman of Alaska Russian Orthodox Church: https://www.facebook.com/StHermanOrthodoxStaffordVA/?ref=bookmarks.

Mini-Landscape Study Workshop, 2017
The Layout.
The Layout.
The Layout.
The Lectures
The Lectures
The Lectures
New Students learn to mix pigments.
New Students learn to mix pigments.
New Students learn to mix pigments.
Landscape Elements in Iconograpy and Iconology

Fr. Igumen Mefodii, Master Iconographer of the Prosopon School of Iconology led us in May, 2017 in a one-day workshop that focused on the landscape elements that symbolize our spiritual ascent. Our icon guild invites him to give these short studies as well as the week-long annual one in September. Contact Mat. Joanna if you are interested in pursuing this enlightening path. sttheodosiaiconguild@yahoo.com

Iconography Guild's Mini-Workshop

For our June 2016 meeting we prepared our boards for next month's mini-workshop. Fr. Igumen Mefodii will be visiting our guild for a private day-long lesson in garment highlights. He'll return for the annual week-long workshop Sept. 12-17th that is open to the public.

Young people are encouraged to come to our iconography guild meetings. Since we work quietly, prayerfully for several hours, the youngest set will have to wait a few years to join us! Our young ladies and men who do come, enjoy this time with their mom/dad and the group.

EVENTS!
Iconography Workshops and Retreats

These events are open to the public:

On Monday, August 6, 2018 our parish will host our Annual Iconography Workshop, a week of immersion into both the practice and theory of finishing an icon according to the teachings of the Church. It will be led by Fr. Igumen Mefodii of the Prosopon School of Iconology. See:  http://sthermanorthodox.org/iconographyworkshop.html for more information.

To join our iconography guild's email list for updates and workshop information, contact Mat. Joanna: lightwriters77@gmail.com

 

Our First Meeting, January 12, 2012

Our first meeting was held at our parish. Fr. Mefodii brought the icon

of St. Theodosia he had written.

 

The article below was published in The Prospopon Journal, The Journal of the Prosopon School of Iconology, Issue No. 10, July, 2012, p. 135:

 

"Our Lord must have inspired the formation of our guild, as we witnessed the sudden explosive interest in coming together. Three of us at Christ the Savior Orthodox Mission planned to meet to practice the steps of writing icons, which we had learned in Fr. Igumen Mefodii’s classes. Upon learning of our plans several of his students from other parishes wished to join us, followed soon by an Orthodox catechumen and others who have not yet lifted a brush. We are beginning with twelve members, drawn together through our love of icons and the One who stands behind them.

Both Fr. Mefodii and our parish priest, Fr. Alexander Webster, blessed us to form this iconography guild named for St. Theodosia, martyr, and defender of the veneration of holy icons.

For our inaugural meeting in January, Fr. Mefodii, our mentor, led us in prayer and introduced a quote from Paul Evdokimov’s book, Orthodoxy, which distills in one short paragraph the essence of this sacred art, saying, “The inner rhythm of the iconographic tradition keeps closely in step with the liturgy, which is our living experience of the transcendent, and accompanies our soaring thoughts, then surpasses them, to reveal what is hidden and express what can not be uttered.”

Our charter expresses our goals: to strive for a high level in executing each of the twenty-one steps taught by the Prosopon School in writing icons, and learning to incorporate the spiritual symbolism that allows the Uncreated Light of God to shine through them. For each meeting we plan to practice and study one step, from the beginning.

At the same time our focus will be to live in His will and to develop our spiritual growth within the guidelines of the Orthodox Church in order to enable the light of His image to shine through us.

We will pray for and encourage one another, sharing our resources, struggles and insights, and also reach out to the community, to educate and evangelize with what we have learned. After all of this, when we are given the blessing to do so, we will humbly write icons for others."

--Mat. Joanna Laymon

 

We encourage and support one another, sharing insights and resources as we grow in fellowship. Iconographers and advanced students guide those who wish to practice and begin icon studies. With God's blessing we hope to write icons for our parishes and communities, promoting, educating, and evangelizing the Truth and Beauty of the Image of God in all of HIs creation.
Our Plans
Links

Dates/Times: We plan to meet monthly, usually the first Saturday of each month, 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. The date may vary, so see our parish calendar: (http://sthermanorthodox.org/schedule.html).

Place: St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church's Christ the Savior Fellowship Hall.

For directions:  http://sthermanorthodox.org/directions.html.

Activities: Beginning about 12:30 we meet and pray the Iconographer's Prayer. This is followed by a lively "show and tell" where we bring all things related to iconography, such as books, icons and stories of our travels and experiences. Then we settle down to practice what we have learned, work on our icons, and helping new members begin a practice icon. We also take field trips and plan other activities.

Our parish Face Book page and Event pages have more photos and updates. Visit and "Like" us! https://www.facebook.com/StHermanOrthodoxStaffordVA/

Our workshop page:  http://sthermanorthodox.org/iconographyworkshop.html.

If you wish to attend our guild or workshops and would like more information, email: Matushka Joanna Laymon: sttheodosiaiconguild@yahoo.com to join our email list.



"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18

Icon Guild Events 2015
Mat. Joanna helps Betty Marie.
Mat. Joanna helps Betty Marie.
Mat. Joanna helps Betty Marie.
Nancy explains her steps from another workshop.
Nancy explains her steps from another workshop.
Nancy explains her steps from another workshop.
Karen shared her
Karen shared her "find", an old Russian icon.
Karen shared her "find", an old Russian icon.

During the year our iconography guild members enjoyed various projects and welcomed new members who joined in our studies and shared their own stories.

More events from 2015
Karen showed us her finished icon of the Visitation.
Karen showed us her finished icon of the Visitation.
Karen showed us her finished icon of the Visitation.
Color charts from our continuing projects.
Color charts from our continuing projects.
Color charts from our continuing projects.
Joe visited with his daughter and jumped right in with lettering practice.
Joe visited with his daughter and jumped right in with lettering practice.
Joe visited with his daughter and jumped right in with lettering practice.
More events from 2015
Hannah practicing lettering.
Hannah practicing lettering.
Hannah practicing lettering.
Mini-Workshop: a Study of the Face
We lined up our icons to compare the sankir.
We lined up our icons to compare the sankir.
We lined up our icons to compare the sankir.
We listen to soft liturgical music as we work.
We listen to soft liturgical music as we work.
We listen to soft liturgical music as we work.
One of our members prepares for the next step.
One of our members prepares for the next step.
One of our members prepares for the next step.

One-Day Workshop

Our guild sponsored a mini-workshop in order to do a study of the face, both in practice and with lectures led by Fr. Mefodii. We began with the symbolic meaning of "mask" as we painted the first highlights. We progressed to the "face" of the image, the soul lights of the second highlights. Finally we revealed the "countenance" wtih the third highlights, where the divine light of God touches and transfigures us.

The Palette of the Iconographer is the Rainbow

Fr. Mefodii led us in a color chart workshop.

Troparion and Kontakion to St. Theodosia

 Troparion

Your lamb Theodosia, O Jesus, / Calls out to You in a loud voice: / I love You, O my bridegroom, / And in seeking You, I endure suffering. / In Baptism I was crucified so that I might reign in You, / And died so that I might live with You. / Accept me as a pure sacrifice, / For I have offered myself in love. / By her prayers save our souls, since You are merciful.

Kontakion

Through your striving, O venerable Theodosia, / You inherited a life of peace. / By shedding your blood, you vanquished the enemy of the Church of Christ. / As you rejoice now in His presence, ever pray to Him for us all!

 

The Iconographer's Prayer

Iconographer's prayer

Lord Jesus Christ our God, uncircumscribed in your divine nature, having become inexpressibly incarnate for the salvation of man ultimately by the Virgin Mother of God, Mary, has become worthy of circumscription. Who, having imprinted the sacred features of thy immaculate face on the holy veil, and through healing the illness of the governor Abgar and bringing about the enlightenment of his soul into the full knowledge of our true God, and who, through thy holy spirit brought wisdom to the holy apostle and evangelist Luke to depict the form of thy most innocent mother, who carried thee in her arms as a child and said ''May the grace of Him who was born of me, through me be imparted to them'', the same, o God and master of all things, enlighten and bring wisdom to the soul and heart and mind of thy servant and direct these hands for the irreproachable and excellent depiction of the form of thy person and of thy immaculate mother and of all thy saints, to the glory and to the splendour and beautification of thy holy church, and the remission of the sins of those worshiping in regard to the church and devoutly kissing and so referring honour to the prototype, redeem him from all harm inflicted by the devil, as he diligently follows all the commands of the ministers of thy immaculate mother, of the holy and illustrious apostle and evangelist, Luke, and of all the saints. Amen.