Signposts
and Junctions
The Icon Guild of Coeur d'Alene
The Icon Guild of Coeur d'Alene
Page 1
The history and technique surrounding the creation of authentic Byzantine icons is alive and well in Northern Idaho.
Dianne Nolan began painting icons three years ago. She is, by her own
words, a very traditional person, and she found something profound and
personal in this new creative activity. She learned the basic techniques
from a woman who created icons near her home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Later,
she attended workshops given by a Master Russian Iconographer, and he
pronounced her ready for “advanced study”. Now she paints with other women
at her home studio in Coeur d’Alene. Together, they form the Icon Guild.
Every step in the creation of an icon carries symbolic importance. The
process, called
icon writing, is an ancient painting technique in which the process and
the finished work inspire prayerful meditation.
Sister Petra Clare, of the Sancti Angeli Benedictine Order near
Inverness, observes that, “The iconographer is a 'contemplative theologian'
working within a specific tradition which transmits the teaching of the
church in visual form. Iconography has a number of rules or `canons' which
are used in expressing the spiritual character of the sacred event or saint
depicted.” She also notes that, “The iconographer prays for his/her clients
and prayerfully reflects, so that s/he may be open to the Holy Spirit to
`see' what will be right in any given situation.”
Dianne creates icons using time honored techniques that traditionally blend
the earth’s basic elements: animal, vegetable, and mineral. Many complex
procedures go into the creation of an icon, and most icons begin with the
iconographer performing the following steps.
1. A wooden base is created, usually constructed in three or
more pieces to counteract the movement of the wood as it reacts to changes
in temperature.
2. A base coat of glue is applied.
3. A layer of cloth soaked in warm glue is then applied, and
this acts as a liner for the gesso and helps prevent the gesso from
splitting
4. Approx.12 coats of gesso are applied ( an artist’s plaster
made with powdered calcium carbonate mixed with melted glue and whiting )
5. The design is chosen and sketched out ( icons must be
historically and theologically correct, and stylized to render a spiritual
character with significance for the church )
6. Design transfer to the prepared board with an engraving
stylus.
The paint used on the icon is a traditional egg tempera, which consists of
egg yolk, white vinegar or alcohol, water, and quality artist’s pigments.
This is a detailed and delicate process. Noted iconographer Fr John Walsted
reveals that, "A good egg tempera painting should have a porcelain look and
feel. The face [of an unfinished Madonna on the easel] has approximately 75
layers of color, which produced that feel."
Dianne's efforts and talents have not gone unnoticed. Collectors have purchased her work, and she recently received a commission to write an icon for a local church.
More icon images of Dianne's work appear below.
Tracing of the Virgin of Vladimir
Virgin of Vladimir (2)
Virgin of Vladimir (3)
Virgin of Vladimir (4)
Virgin of Vladimir (5)
Virgin of Vladimir (6)
Virgin of Vladimir (completed)
