I love Icons. Not just for their religious representation, but the whole naivety of the image, and how the artist has translated his interpretation of something sacred to him onto a flat surface. I was first introduced to them as a 17 year old venturing into the British Museum for the first time. Coming from South Africa we weren’t that exposed to this kind of art, but studying History of Art at school was the foundation of a wonderful journey….

Copy of a traditional Russian Icon and a smaller version of my first attempt
Gold leaf and acrylic on wood panel
10 X 15 X 2 cm

Copy of a traditional Russian Icon, close-up #1

Copy of a traditional Russian Icon, close-up #2

Copy of a traditional Russian Icon, close-up #3

With time I started reading up and exploring more about the Russian Icon and the why. Any representation, any visual form, has its purpose – in certain circumstances this representation encompasses the visible world, or is the embodiment of an idea rising from the artists consciousness. The traditional icon painter seeks the foundations of form through ‘touching’ the divine. So what is an Icon? The Church understands the icon as a sacred image of a higher, divine reality, as a visible reflection of the imperceptible. The most important thing that distinguishes an icon from a painting is its manmade incarnation of the divine invisible. In Russian the creation of an icon signifies not pisat’ kraskami ‘ to write with colours’ (to paint) but pisat’ perom ‘to write with a pen’ (to write). The art of iconography is not ‘icon painting’, but ‘icon writing’. The icon must never be regarded as a simple illustration of the Gospels or other theological texts. Visual form and word are very much fused together in these artworks, and the artistic language of icon painting directly embodies spiritual phenomena. This means the highlights on an icon are not just depictions of gleams of light, invoked to create the illusion of rounded form, but a strict system of ‘highlights’ invoking the symbolic incarnation of the emanation of divine energy, which is poured into the world and gives life and meaning to all the created world. The icon painter, layering with colours or gold ‘light’, does not embellish the representation, or create the illusion of three-dimensionality, but rather embodies the radiance of the ‘Light of Mount Tabor’. Tabor light is the Divine Light revealed on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration of Jesus, identified with the light seen by Paul at his conversion.

For me there is simplicity in their beauty. I have always wanted one, and when a friend went to Moscow I asked him to explore the possibility of purchasing a copy of an icon for me. He wasn’t sure of what I was looking for and didn’t want to ‘buy’ the wrong thing so instead came back with two stickers of old original icons mounted on wood. And that is where the seed was sown and the idea of painting my own icon grew…..

Stage 1
First I copy the image onto a primed wooden artists panel which has been sanded and treated so that it won’t flex.  Then I paint the background and sides in a iron red oxide by Windsor and Newton.  When this has properly dried I paint it with specialised adhesive for gold leaf.

Stage 2
Then I apply the gold leaf.  I am not too precious about this part of the process because I want flecks of the red iron oxide to show through where the leaf tears or rubs off so it has a slightly old, used, and treasured feel.  The leaf is quite delicate, even once it is glued in place and can rub off very easily still.  To protect the leaf, and prevent any damage should paint drop on it by accident I seal it with a special metal leaf sealer.  Only once this is done, and properly dried do I begin painting.

Stage 3
Finally I begin the process of painting.  The halo, face, hands and feet are always first.  Then I try to paint the clothes as they would be put on so you get the feel of layering on top as you would when you dress, rather than painting around clothing items.

Stage 4

Stage 5

Stage 6

Stage 7 (Just prior to completion of the infants robe)

I have only in the last few months plucked up the courage to try my hand at painting copies of these beautiful treasures, and here are the first few….

Icon #3
Gold leaf and acrylic on gessoboard
12 X 18 cm

Icon #2
Gold leaf and acrylic on gessoboard
12 X 18 cm

Icon #1
Gold leaf and acrylic on artists wood panel
25 X 20 X 2 cm