Essentials of Iconography: Sacred Art Workshop on Writing the Icon of Archangel Michael in

Mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, St Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of our Sacred Arts Institute. One of the most depicted saints in Orthodox icons and western religious art, his popularity attests to his powerful intercession and protection against all forms of evil.

This workshop’s prototype is a fourteenth century icon kept at the Byzantine Museum of Athens. Students will make a shoulder length copy of the face, wings and upper robe on a flat 8” x 10” gessoed wood panel. After making a careful drawing in ink, students make their own paint by mixing egg yolks with natural pigments.  We parallel the model’s historical technique step by step, applying color in several successively brighter layers.

A challenge in this icon is identifying the subtle underlying organization of the hair, then repeating their rhythmic parallel groupings with finely painted calligraphic lines. More challenging is illuminating the youthful face with softly blended transparent passages of tone, reaching full opacity in the brightest areas. Each brushstroke is accompanied with the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner”.

All materials and tools needed to complete an icon are provided. Students attending the workshop need to arrive with basic brush skills, a familiarity with the color wheel and some experience mixing colors.

This week-long workshop’s studio time lasts five consecutive days. Check in begins Sunday night at 4:30. Dinner is served at 5:30 pm for students and instructors. Dinner is followed by a workshop introduction and conference, which ends at 9:00 pm. Hands-on instruction begins early Monday morning. The last meal is lunch on Friday. The art studio will be available Friday afternoon to complete your icon.

About the instructor: Marek Czarnecki is an artist, iconographer, restorer and community scholar for Connecticut’s Polish-American Community. Originally from Bristol CT, Marek graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

An unexpected commission began his three decades studying historical Byzantine iconography. In 1996, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts awarded him its Painting Fellowship, which he received for a second time in 2004.

An apprenticeship grant from the CT Traditional Arts program allowed him to study for 15 years under noted Russian Orthodox icon painter Ksenia Pokrovsky, with whom he taught workshops nationally. His icons are marked by a loyalty to canonical criteria, historical materials and a high level of craftsmanship. They serve many diverse ethnic communities, building an ecumenical bridge between east and west.

His icons hang in homes and public spaces across the US, including the Franciscan University of Steubenville, The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield IL, St. Thomas More Chapel at Yale University and St Meinrad’s Seminary. the United States Council of Catholic Bishops choice his icon of “Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest” to commemorate the year of the priest; over a million copies were printed and distributed internationally. He has restored hundreds of church statues, murals, and lectures on the importance of sacred art in American immigrant communities, which disappear with each church closing.

He has curated several exhibitions on the art and material culture of Connecticut’s Polish community and was featured in the WGBY documentary “Sharing Stories: Polish Life in Our Valley”. Interviews and articles about the iconographer have appeared in the New York Times, The Hartford Courant, CT Public Radio, The St Anthony Messenger, The Catholic Digest, Our Sunday Visitor et al. He continues to work and teach out of his studio in Meriden CT.

For more info about the sacred art workshop:

Website: https://endersisland.org/sacred-art

Email: info@endersisland.org

Phone: 860-536-0565

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