Monday 31 August 2015
NEWS
ICON PAINTING WORKSHOP IN 2016
February, October &
November
Belmont Abbey, HR2 9RZ Hereford,
UK.
We offer a series of six-day
workshop, offering an opportunity to learn and practice the art of writing
icons, in the contemplative calm of a Benedictine monastery, exploring the
techniques and understanding of iconography. Each day will begin with a
demonstration of the techniques to be used and the rest of the day is spent
painting, with support and accompaniment from Dom Alex. The designs will be
applied to the board, and the colour layers built up to complete the icon. We
all do the same icon, with Fr Alex guiding us through the different stages
(Maximum 9 persons per course).
Most of the painting materials,
pigments, needed for the course will be supplied but participants will be asked
to bring some items such as brushes. About three months before the course,
students will be sent a list of materials which they will need to bring with
them. They will also be sent a print of the icon that we shall be working on.
Each icon workshop consists of around seven hours tuition per day (9.30 am –
5.45 pm, except Monday (12 m–5.00 pm) and Saturday (9.30 am -4.00 pm). The
Divine Office and Mass will provide a prayerful framework for this workshop at
beautiful and prayerful Belmont Abbey, Hereford. (http://www.belmontabbey.org.uk)
The tutor is Dom Alex Echeandía
Loro, a Peruvian monk and iconographer, who is currently working on a series of
Icons for the Monastery of the Incarnation in Pachacamac.
The cost for the teaching is £200
for each workshop, with a non-refundable deposit payable when booking. The
price includes board, gesso, pigments and gold leaf when applicable.
Accommodation is in the Hedley Lodge
Guesthouse. The cost for five days accommodation with full board is £300 for a
shared ensuite room, £350 for an ensuite single or £240 for a simple
monastic-style room, non-ensuite.
The nearest train station is
Hereford Railway Station, two and a half miles from Hereford towards Belmont
Abbey. From there the best thing is a taxi. For further information contact:
The Retreat Secretary, Belmont Abbey, Hereford HR2 9RZ. E-mail: retreats@belmontabbey.org.uk
Beginners Icon Workshop
Monday 1st - Saturday 7th February
This year we will learn to paint
the face of the Mother and Child, meditating on the compassion expressed
through line, form and colour. In particular we will concentrate on the flesh
colours of the faces and hands.
Intermediate Icon Workshop
Monday 22nd - Saturday 27th February
The subject of this workshop is the
beautiful Virgin of Tenderness, the Belmont Theotokos. This will include oil
gilding, garments and flesh-colours.
Icon Writing Techniques Gessoing
and Gilding
Monday 17th - Friday 21st October
In this workshop we will learn how
to apply gesso (the ground used in all icons) and prepare the wood board. We
will learn different gilding techniques (oil and water). People can work on
their own designs for a future icon, or prepare the icon of the Apostles for
the following Intermediate workshop.
Intermediate Icon Workshop
Monday 24th – Saturday 29th October
We will paint an icon of the
embrace of Saints Peter and Paul, a dynamic image of the concord of faith and
love in Christ. We will work on the particular features of these apostles (Those wanting a gilded background would need to join the previous week).
Sunday 16 August 2015
HOME
Dom Alex Echeandía is a Benedictine Monk and an iconographer from the Monastery of the Incarnation in Peru. He is also an official member of Belmont Abbey in England, his Mother House.
Dom Alex has more than a decade of experience working on icons using traditional techniques. As part of his training he attended courses in the UK and Ukraine, where he learned to combine the bold strokes of the Greek style with the soft style of the Russian. All of the work is carefully researched, designed and created according to the highest standards using exactingly selected and prepared fine natural materials.Due to his skills, he offers the instrumentality of his work as a fruit of a liturgical monastic life in which the icon becomes a medium to serve the liturgy. The icon receives the means of helping to lift the soul up to God to create an atmosphere conducive to worship and prayer.
He is a member of the British Association of Iconographers. He also has taken part in the Icon and Wall-painting Course run by the Prince's School of Traditional Art, UK.
PROFILE
Since
1999 I have been a Benedictine Monk of the Monastery of the Incarnation in
Lima, Peru. It is the daughter House of Belmont Abbey, Hereford, UK, where I
have lived for the last five years, while I read Theology at Blackfriars, Oxford
until June 2014. I was ordained deacon in December 2012 at the abbey and I was
ordained priest in Peru on 18th October 2014.
I
began training as an iconographer in Guatapé, Medellin, Colombia, where I spent
six months of my initial formation as a monk in 2002. Then, back in Peru I
continued my formation as monk and iconographer. I went to the UK in 2005 and
2006 for courses in Iconography under Sister Petra Clare and Aidan Hart in
Scotland and England, respectively.
Then,
I joined the Icon and Wall-Painting Course run by the Prince´s School of
Traditional Art, led by Aidan Hart, to improve and develop my understanding of
icons, especially of frescoes. I am a member of the British Association of
Iconographers.
In
July 2013 I went to Ukraine to learn a new technique, a combination of the
softness of the Russian tradition and the bold strokes of the Greek. I now make
use of both techniques to express the development of culture and theology that
they represent.
As
a Benedictine Monk, the Liturgy of the Hours and the Sacraments define and
direct my life in an endless cycle of Ora et Labora (RB 48). Writing icons has
come to symbolize this way of life for me. It is a combination of monastic life
and iconography that defines me as a Christian.
At
the moment I am working on icons for commissions in the UK as well as in Peru.
I have had a lifelong love for
iconography, and have worked full time as a professional iconographer since 2006.
It is with thanksgiving to God and gratitude to my instructors, monastic
community, friends and benefactors that I am able to share with you the spirit
of iconography as part of God´s continuing expression of love for His people.
COMMISSIONS
An icon is written in a profound atmosphere of prayer. It also requires the very highest standard of technique. It is what you are commissioning, a work of art with theological and spiritual depth that will last centuries, a treasure for the faithful passed down for generations to come. You can commission an icon for your own prayer and also as an unusual gift, sacred and deeply personal for your family and friends.
In order to commission
an icon it is important to have an idea of what subject you want, the size of
it, the amount of gold leaf (if needed), if there is a special date for
completion. You also need to have an idea how much you want to pay. With all
that in mind, you may send an outline of your proposal to the iconographer, Fr
Alex, and then details can be worked out in a friendly dialogue.
To work out
the price one needs to consider the number of hours spent and the particular materials
used. It begins by making the board, covering it with gesso, adding gold leaf
and finally painting. Sometimes smaller icons are more complicated and take
much more time and energy than a bigger and simpler icon, depending on the
subject and number of figures within it. The techniques and the choice of the design also need to be considered.
A 10% deposit
confirms the commission. With larger works, materials must be paid at the
beginning (almost 20%) and part way through the painting of the icon. Most
icons are paid for in three sections (materials and initial work, the mid-term
payment when the main part of work has been completed, and a final payment on
delivery. If you wish you can discuss a more suitable and regular payments,
even monthly instalments. Costs of carriage, either by mail or by hand, are
not included in the prices.
At the
present, there is a waiting time of 4 and 12 months, depending of the number of
existing commissions. It is because icons are handmade, in a rich and ancient
way, with durable materials, that they cannot be made overnight. Small icons
take at least a couple of weeks. They can also take months depending on the
size and complexity of the subject. The iconographer commit himself to put his life at your service for a certain amount
of time. In doing that he prays and paints asking God to be a
channel of God’s grace and love, and so offer this to you and your life,
your church and those who will contemplate them.
Icon Workshop July - August 2015, Belmont Abbey
We had an excellent icon workshop in August at
Belmont Abbey. The students (here below) also attended the first course I gave at Belmont Abbey in
January. I am really pleased because they did really well, especially using a new technique of painting
and gilding. The icon of Archangel Michael we worked on was based on the 14th century icon,
Constantinople, which is now exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in
Athens.
We had an excellent icon workshop in August at
Belmont Abbey. The students (here below) also attended the first course I gave at Belmont Abbey in
January. I am really pleased because they did really well, especially using a new technique of painting
and gilding. The icon of Archangel Michael we worked on was based on the 14th century icon,
Constantinople, which is now exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in
Athens.
&
Icon Workshop July 2015 at Belmont Abbey
Here we worked on flesh tones and the Ucrainian painting technique. All the students were able to finish the icons within a week and with excellent results.
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