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CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Ten parishioners and friends of St. Nicholas Parish participated in the parish’s first weekend icon workshop this fall. Participants made icons of the parish patron, St. Nicholas.
The Sept. 28-30 class was taught by Marylyn Barone, who attends Holy Trinity Byzantine Catholic Parish in Wall, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh.
Barone began in iconography about 25 years ago; for the past 20 years, she has led workshops in parishes across Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey. Starting with the prototypes of the saint and a pre-primed wooden board, Barone walked parishioners through the process, step-by-step, so that even those with no experience or minimum artistic skills were able to create a beautiful window into heaven.
While participants used the same stencils and line drawings of the two prototypes, everyone’s final icon was personalized in the details, such as the eyes, which were very challenging to paint, the vestment trim colors, the Gospel adornments, and even in the lettering. For instance, three participants chose to write the name of the saint in Slavonic.
While much more work was involved than most participants initially thought, they put in the effort and were visibly pleased with their results. The pastor, Father Joseph Repko, blessed the icons the next Sunday.
Caption: A young parishioner works on her icon. In the foreground, another wooden board shows the development in the creation of an icon. (Photo: Nikolaj Nagrant)
As published in Horizons, Nov. 11, 2018.
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