Writing an Icon

This past week I wrote my first icon. It was something that I never expected to do, but thanks to my priest, master iconographer Fr. Mefodii , and the Prosopon School I was given the opportunity. I have not held a paint brush (except to paint a wall) since elementary art class, so this was a daunting task, to say the least. But, life is a daunting task, and writing an icon on a gesso surface is very much like the self icon that we all are writing each day of this life. For six days I got up with a little fear and trepidation about just what new challenges would face me. During the course of the day I took those challenges: outlining the image on the board, etching the image into the gesso surface without digging in too deeply, figuring out which brush to use, learning the techniques of floating, outlining, and highlighting. Some things I could do pretty well. Some things I couldn't seem to do right at all. Patience was a virtue, and a positive outlook did help. Prayer throughout was the key component. Writing the icon is not an art exercise, it is a spiritual discipline. It is being obedient to the teacher. It is getting out of the way and just being an instrument for the work. It is an act of worship. At the end of the day I breathed a sigh of relief that I had gotten through another day, that I had learned, that I had been humbled, and that I had been forgiven at each step of the way. Amazingly, the icon did take on a life of it's own. Fr. Mefodii says that we are co-creating with God as we write the icon. I believe him. I saw it happening. And, we don't do it alone. Our little new community of icon writers helped each other, just as we are supposed to do in life.

There is much about the theology of the icon that I didn't know. The pure white gesso surface represents the light of God. The clay that is attached and burnished into the surface (and spread around the outside of the board) below the gold leaf gilding represents our humanity which (God willing) is transformed into divinity. Attaching the gold by breathing on the clay is like God breathing life into us. An icon is all about light: the light of the Triune God, the light that is reflected out of, and upon the image (saint or angel) on the icon. All of the iconic images are depicted with two small tears on account of us. There is a horizontal element (life) as well as a vertical element (light). The way we write the icon, and the aspects of the process that we either are attracted to, or not, are reflective of our spiritual state. It is a self examining process as much as it is a process of God examining us. It is a time for reflection, repentance, and hope.

The icon that most of us wrote was that of our guardian angel, the protector and guide that each of us is given at baptism. The angel is shown holding our little soul in a protective stance. What a beautiful picture. What a beautiful thought, that God would supply us with an angel to be with us through our spiritual journey, and to be there to usher us onward once we shuffle off this mortal coil.

Our group of a dozen or so was made up of many different types of people: male and female, older and younger, Orthodox, Catholic, Methodist, monastics, liberals, conservatives, artsy, and not so artsy. The icon is what brought all of us there last week. Fr. Mefodii says that he believes the icon is what will eventually reunite the Church. I think he is right. Our little microcosm was just one little ripple in the wave in icon interest that has spilled out of Orthodoxy to attract people from all faiths. Everyone had their own reasons for being there last week. God had His own reasons that might not be quite the same as ours. As we sat around and talked during meals and breaks some of those reasons became apparent.

I made some new friends last week. I came to appreciate many more things about my priest. I learned some things about myself. And, my guardian angel was watching over me as I wrote his icon, and continued work upon my own.