Icons

My ordination to the Church of England no doubt explains my interest in religious art and particularly icons. But the reverse is also true in that it was after painting the stations of the cross for my local church  that I first felt a calling to ordination so I suppose I have come full circle... well almost.

I first learnt to 'write' an icon under the expert tutelage of Dom Anselm at Alton Abbey in Hampshire, where after it's completion, it was blessed by Abbot Giles.

The Samaritan Woman at the Well.	Madonna and Child

I also took part in a tempura painting workshop at the National Gallery where you can view examples of early tempura paintings that have retained their vibrancy and colour far better than some of their contemporaries painted in oils. The method here, which differs from iconography,  is to use a green ground for the flesh and then delicately paint the flesh colour over it. Next time you visit a gallery look very closely at the faces in a tempura painting and see if you can spot the green underneath.