She attended another Pearson workshop, eager to learn more. The priest encouraged her to attend, saying, “It might be a way to marry your journey with your talent.”Ĭole was hooked immediately, although she struggled through her initial attempts at icon writing. Her priest and spiritual director introduced her to iconography in 1995 through a workshop taught by iconographer Peter Pearson from New Hope, Penn. She said icons also helped her to more fully experience the Catholicism she embraced as a young adult. Iconography was a natural fit for Cole, who majored in theater and art in college and painted as a hobby. He attributes the renewed interest to people who are “bereft of ritual” and are seeking “more of the mystical side of religion.”
Iconographers usa professional#
Both clergy and laypeople, including professional artists, attend Iconofile workshops around the country, which are often taught by iconographers from Russia or Greece. Over the past 10 years, O’Hanlon has seen more Catholics and some Protestants embrace iconography. While they’re usually constructed with paint on wooden panels, icons are also made with mosaics, textiles and metalwork. Icons also make the people and events of Scripture and church history present for those who venerate icons. According iconographer Linette Martin’s book, Sacred Doorways: A Beginner’s Guide to Icons, iconography took root in the Byzantine Empire in the fourth century as a visual way of communicating Christian truths.
The word “icon” means image, and “graphy” refers to writing. Virtually every Orthodox home has at least one icon to pray with.Īn icon is far more than decorative art. market is in Orthodox churches and individuals. While there has been a growing interest in icons beyond Orthodoxy, the primary U.S. More than half, he guessed, are laypeople. In the United States, O’Hanlon estimated three out of four are Orthodox, and most are immigrants or descendents of immigrants. In contrast, Russia likely has several thousand professional iconographers, he said. While there are no professional iconographer associations across the country, George O’Hanlon, executive director of the California-based Iconofile educational group estimates there are fewer than 100 professional icon painters in the United States. “The two most important things in my life, besides the people in my life, have been my faith and art, and to be able to have the two together and to express that every day, (it’s) no longer work.” “My everyday life is now more of a vocation than a job,” says Cole, who left her job as a computer programmer not long after she was introduced to iconography 15 years ago. And as a Roman Catholic, she is one of an even smaller number of professional, self-taught iconographers who are not Orthodox. The term “writing” is preferred to “painting” because, as Cole explained, “You’re writing God’s story in pictures.”Ĭole is one of a relative handful of Americans who practice the art as a vocation. A bit of rubbed-on gold leaf halo adds a holy sheen.Ĭole is a professional iconographer, who creates, or “writes,” the sacred images and instruments of meditative prayer usually associated with Eastern Orthodoxy. Under her brush, the faces of Jesus and the saints emerge with each layer of acrylic gouache, their flesh tones framed by rich reds, greens and blues. For artist Jody Cole, painting is an act of prayer.
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