This is my finished icon, Christ Pantocrator. 

Five days of contemplation, reflection, prayer and inspiration.

Blessed by Fr Chris Perrins at Rydal Hall and Fr Richard at St Joseph's Pudsey. 

  Amidst wintry branches

the sap rises

there is new life, new growth, 

hope.

As I painted in the details, the face became animated, full of life
especially the eyes, it was like recognising someone I knew.

 There have been dark shades to pass through

narrow passages

before a metaphorical rebirth

into a new way of thinking, praying, believing 

Inspiration.

Life giving waters

joyous upsurge and out-pouring.


A traditional Icon in the Byzantine style.
Our Lady of Life-Giving Springs.

 In icons the background is GOLD pure gold.

It represents infinity space.

The timeless time in which God exists.

My infinity space is the ever changing sky.

 The Path.

on my morning ramble I went along Coffin Trail. The historic path parishioners would bring their dead to be buried at Grassmere as Ryale St Marys is too rocky and craggy to have a graveyard.

The path, going onwards and upwards. I will follow.

Our Lady of the Burning Bush. St Catherine's Monastery Mount Sinai.

take your shoes off you are on holy ground. 

A future project.

Loughrigg Fell and Rydal Water

Last day of the icon course

it has been a time of reflection thinking about the past year and my creative output.

Reflecting on this protracted year of grieving 

wondering what's next

looking at my icon on the last morning I had a brief moment of wavering 

- will I get this done? 

I have so much to complete and I seem to have left all the fiddly bits till the last day .

Trust Believe Receive.

 Day four of the icon course.

 Today is all about the face, putting in tone, contour, flesh, warmth, expression.

 Practicing beards.

at this point I discovered in the Robin Cormack book, 'Icons; the British Museum' 2007 an icon from the collection of the Holy Monastery of St Catherine, Sinai. Icon with Christ, Byzantine (Constantinople) 6th Century.

 a moment of reflection and shadows

 I took the face back to darkness, to remodel the light.

 so some of these look a bit samey, but believe me, there are so many layers of tempera 

and hours of painting.

 It is going somewhere now.

 It puts me a little behind the other iconographers but this is ok. 

I'm happy to go at my own pace

 geometric garments, softness of face.

 During lunch I happened upon Wordsworth's house

this is his Spice Cupboard from 1710

and his couch. every artist must have a couch to muse on.

 Back to work, it is coming together now.

 getting lighter

 adding feature and expression.

This is where I left my work on day four.

 Day three of the icon course.

so the robes are finished, now onto the HAIR.

lots of layers of different browns and ochre.

 here is my testers of different browns, 

burnt umber, raw umber, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, 

 next onto the skin tones. 

starting with the darkest tone of Avana Ochre

then onto orange, and then shades of yellow.

 more layers and layers

 keep layering the skin tones

this is where I left it on day three. 

Day two of the icon course. The tricky job of painting a perfect halo, and painting in the Greek lettering ICXC an abbreviation of Jesus Christ. And 'O 'OH,the abbreviation of 'I Am who Am'. 

Next tricky bit the skin tone. this takes layers and layers and layers of colour.

working in my sketchbook to test out colours and hues.

looking at a finished icon of Christ Pantocrator.

some of the paints we used. 

The egg and alcohol mixture, the plaka, casein (milk based) paint.

Day one of the Icon course led by Fr Christopher Perrins

Some of the media we used to paint with, 

Egg tempera mixed with alcohol and water. 

Shellac and cad red for under the gilding,Gilding size to adhere the gold.

 fine sable brushed, and the pure earth pigments.

 sketching out the outline of the icon Christ Pantocrator 

drawn in pencil and painted in English Light Red.

 shellac and cadmium red underpainting. 

The last thing we did on day one, 

Gilding the background.

St Joseph's Pudsey. 

This year I thought I'd do an Icon themed painting on the paschal candle, 

Its based on a resurrection icon.

The stitch drawings get an outing at 'The Process Continues' 

exhibition Leeds College of Art

Pudsey maybe nurturing the new Banksy.