Highlights from the Byzantine Iconography Workshop with Peter Murphy

We were pleased to welcome back Peter Murphy to Calgary to teach Byzantine iconography for the second year in a row.   In his 2014 workshop, Peter chose to focus primarily on the techniques of gold gilding used in Byzantine iconography. Students worked on an image of the “Kahn Madonna” based on a 13^th century Byzantine style panel now housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  Students learned to prepare and apply clay bole to their panels according to the traditional method of water gilding.  Then they learned the careful process of burnishing the gold to a mirror-like finish.  After completing painting their figure, students moved to the meticulous process of adding the gold assist to the garments.  Peter is a master gilder whose work reflects his skilled craftsmanship.  Despite their initial apprehensions, students responded well as Peter demystified the gilding process and aided the students in developing confidence in this new technique.  

This year, Peter decided to focus on Byzantine faces and folds.   Students were given the choice of doing St. John the Baptist, the Pantocrator, or the Archangels Michael or Gabriel.  While students gilded the halo using the oil gilding technique, the principal focus was on painting the highlights on garments and developing the transition between highlights on the faces using the traditional proplasmos technique.  On the final day, you could feel the excitement in the room as students finished the highlights on the faces and garments and added the final gold assist to the garments.  The images, which they had labored on all week, seemed to suddenly come together and pop out from the board.

As an additional feature to this year’s workshop, Peter spent a portion of the week teaching students how to prepare traditional gessoed icon panels.  On the first day of the workshop, students applied a layer of fabric to their boards using a glue size prepared with gelatin.  On the second day, students learned to prepare their gesso using gelatin-based size and marble dust.  Then they applied the first three coats of gesso to their boards.   On the third day, students alternated between painting on their icons with applying the next 9 coats of gesso to their new boards.  Finally, Peter  showed how to sand the boards to the fine ivory-like finish that is needed for icon painting.  At the end of the week, students were delighted to have both a completed icon and a new icon board ready for their next project.

Peter is an excellent teacher who is generous in sharing his insights and experience.  The demonstrations of the various techniques were also interspersed with discussions of the history and theology of iconography.   Drawing on his extensive personal travels and studies, Peter gave helpful explanations of the differences between Byzantine and Romanesque styles of iconography.

Peter is one of those rare teachers who can easily move between students at quite different skill levels, giving each one careful attention, and encouraging them to have the confidence to push their skills to the next level.  With Peter’s careful guidance, students were surprised at what they were able to achieve during the week. Peter’s humble and kind demeanor instills confidence in students as they attempted new techniques.  

One of the downfalls of these types of occasional workshops is that students can often be dependent on their instructor to complete their icon and do not have the confidence to continue painting between workshops.  In this case, Peter has been imparting new skills to students each year in a manner that has encouraged them to become regular icon painters. In order to build on the skills that Peter has already passed on to our students, plans are already in the works for Peter to return to Calgary in 2016 to teach a workshop on the techniques of Fra Angelico.  

Follow Peter's work on: Peter Murphy Icons

True Fresco Workshop with Philip Davydov

St. Mary's Sacred Arts students had a rare opportunity to learn the techniques of true fresco painting when Philip Davydov recently visited Calgary from St. Petersburg.  Philip spent two full days preparing the materials for the workshop.  The biggest challenge was finding the quicklime at the right stage of processing needed for  fresco painting.  After many phone calls we were able to find a source at the Graymount plant in Exshaw.  Pat Burchnall graciously drove Philip to the plant, where the staff provided two bags of quicklime at no charge.

Students then spent three full days learning to apply the plaster, mix pigments, and applying the paint directly on to the plaster while it was still wet.  Each student completed two images.   The fresco workshop was held in the new art studio space created specifically for the St. Mary's Sacred Art Program.  Here are some examples of the student's work.

Photos from David Clayton's Gothic Illumination Workshop

In July, we were pleased to welcome David Clayton to Calgary to teach a workshop on gothic style illumination.  David led students in a study of the English gothic style of illumination that is often described as the school of St. Albans.  Its leading artist in the 13th century was a monk called Matthew Paris.  Images in this style can be found in the Westminster Psalter which served as an inspiration for the contemporary St. John's Bible.  David's workshop focused on having the students develop their own drawing of a traditional image and then painting it in egg tempera.  You can follow David's work and thoughts on the renewal of Sacred Art on his excellent blog, Way of Beauty


 Below are some examples of the work of the students completed during David's workshop.

Highlights from the Guilding Workshop With Peter Murphy

In May Peter Murphy traveled from England to lead a workshop on iconography, focusing particularly on water gilding.  This is a technique that is difficult to master, but can be produce stunning results.   Once the students had applied the clay bole and gold leaf, the students were thrilled to see the brilliant shine as they burnished the gold at the end of the second day.  It was amazing to see how the gold transformed the icon.

Students were impressed with the gentle and kind spirit with which Peter taught and his wealth of historical and technical knowledge.Throughout the workshop he was very generous in sharing his knowledge and resources.

We are hoping that Peter can return to Calgary in July 2015 to teach an iconography workshop focusing on gesso panel making.

If you want to keep track of Peter's new work, check our his website:  www.petermurphyicons.co.uk 

    

New Book on Icons by Aidan Hart

Aidan Hart, who taught an iconography workshop in Calgary last May, has announced the publication of a new book on icons.

Entitled, Beauty,  Spirit,  Matter: Icons in the Modern World, here is what the publishers webpage says about the book:

Sacred Icons, images of God made man and man made God, have never ceased to be an integral part of Orthodox Christian cultures, but it is only now, after centuries of absence, that they are becoming understood again in the west.  The attraction of their strange beauty and mystery is ultimately rooted in the fact that icons resonate with our innermost being as creatures of both spirit and matter.

As there are numerous excellent books about the theology and the liturgical use of icons, this volume concentrates on the broader implications of the icon’s theology for our lives in the twenty-first century; exploring the insight that icons give to such contemporary issues as ecology, the relationship between sacred art and culture or that between scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge, the role of our bodies in the spiritual life and the nature of beauty.

Those that took Aidan's workshop will remember his humble spirit and the deeply spiritual approach that he takes to his art.   I am sure that this new book will be full of deep insights and inspiration.  The book is 288 pages long with 32 colour plates and Gracewing has priced it  at the amazingly low price of  £14.99  

The St. Mary's University College bookstore will be ordering 20 copies of the book as soon as it is available from the publisher as well as additional copies of Aidan's earlier book.  Hopefully these will be in stock for those attending this spring and summer's workshops to purchase. 

Icon Painting As a Living Tradition

The online journal, Orthodox Arts Journal, has just published an excellent and wide ranging interview with the Russian iconographers Philip Davydov and his wife, Olga Shalamova.  Local iconographers will remember the excellent workshop they led in Calgary several years ago.  Their icons are deeply rooted in the Russian and Byzantine tradition but also have a contemporary freshness and vitality about them.

Christ Appearing to the Myrrh Bearers by Philip Davydov (2013)

In their interview Philip and Olga discuss the training necessary to become an iconographer, their theological understanding of iconography, and the direction that iconography is heading today.  As Philip states:  "...iconography is no more pure craftsmanship or art, but true theology in colors."  Just click on the link above and read the full interview.  You will find it well worth the read.

Nativity of Christ by Olga Shalamova (2013)

We are pleased that Philip has agreed to come to Calgary in early September to teach a special 3 day workshop on true fresco painting.  More details about this workshop will be posted soon.  We are looking forward to the chance to learn more from him.

The Art of Illumination in the Gothic Style: A Workshop Taught by David Clayton

St. Mary's University College will be hosting a workshop in July with the artist and writer, David Clayton. 

The workshop introduces students to the fundamentals of developing an illuminated image based on the English gothic style often described as the School of St. Albans. Its leading artist in the 13^th century was a Benedictine monk called Matthew Paris. Using images from medieval manuscripts such as the Westminster Psalter, students will learn to develop their own drawing and transfer the image to high quality watercolour paper or vellum.  Students will then learn to mix their own pigments and paint the images using the traditional medieval technique of egg tempera.

N.B. This course will be suitable to both beginners who wish to learn the medieval technique of egg tempera painting and to advanced students who wish to become more proficient in developing their own drawings from ancient manuscripts and develop their painting skills.

Instructor:  David Clayton is an internationally recognized artist, writer, and broadcaster.   His artistic training includes the sacred art tradition of Byzantine iconography (with Aidan Hart) as well as portrait painting in the Western realist tradition, which he studied in a traditional atelier in Florence, Italy. 

After beginning his artist career in England, David moved to New Hampshire to become the Artist-in-Residence at Thomas More College of the Liberal Arts.  He has completed a number of commissions including for the London Oratory, Pluscarden Monastery, Scotland, and the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham.  David also produced and presented a 13 part TV series about traditional art and Catholic culture entitled The Way of Beauty.   He also edits a popular blog by the same name.

Schedule:  July 14-18, 2014. Daily classes begin at 9 am. 

Hours:  35 hours

Tuition: $550 plus GST.
Location: St. Mary’s University College

In order to maintain the close one-on-one nature of instruction, enrolment will be limited. Tuition is due at the time of registration.  Students may cancel their registration and receive a refund (minus a $50 administration fee) up to 7 days prior to the beginning of the course.  After this date, no refunds are given for cancellation. 

For registration information contact 403-531-9130 or sacredarts@stmu.ca