Iconsworkshop of Eve Pikul

My first experience with icons took place at the Archaeological Department of Warsaw University. The second encounter with glamour of icons was during my work on the Peloponnesus Peninsula. However I was always merely a recipient of the art. Only at Iconographic Workshops at the School of the Christian East at the monastery of Dominican friars in Warsaw did I come across the craft of icon writing.

Icon painting is like the revealing of a mystery, a personal truth of my existence and that God is present in my life. Each stage of Icon creation is a process that brings me closer to the truth about myself, starting from a choice of a wood board, thorough preparation of glue, a base and pigments, and then applying gold and inscriptions.

Icon painting is a silent, prayerful and meditative art form. It is an attempt to create a place where God reveals Himself.

Icon painting consist of repetitive tasks that say to me that God will never give up hope and stop leading me. This makes me believe that anything could happen. Until the final stage of painting the Icon I can not predict how it will appear, however, once finished it always exceeds my expectations. I am aware that I "waffle" a bit because it is impossible to describe things which are unsaid and cross the border of divine world. Orthodox Icons are leading me in my Catholicism.

Icon painting is closely connected with the art of prayer and love towards God and is a place of a mystic relationship between God and man. It is thought that an icon is a gift from the East to the West.

Icon painting is a process which begins with our imagination. First, I search through many examples of old middle age art and frescos in places such as the Sistine Chapel or a Cloister of San Domenico in Fiesole. The walls in places such as this depict an internal world. This helps me to focus on a holy subject and distracts me from chaotic thoughts of everyday life. This opens up my mind for the creation of an icon and for the signs of an unseen existence. Icon painting is not a creation of new art but it is more as an attempt of revealing Gods presence among us. It can be seen as bringing God closer to the person painting the Icon as well as the person it is being painted for.

Such as the Bible is a written word of God, so the Icon is a painted one. Before you depict a Saint on an Icon you need to research his life, calling and their preceding paintings amongst Icons. While you paint an Icon you pray to the Saint of whose image it will be and also for the person for whom the Icon will be painted. Apart from the rules which need to be followed in Icon painting, each of them is unique and different. There is a saying which describes exactly what the art of icon painting is and it is as follows "An icon creates an icon and the standard which you have to follow directs you into deep inside and does not constrain". The discipline of keeping to the rules reminds me of the discipline of a prayer.

The decision to paint an Icon requires you not to give up on your talents. Like in the Evangelical parable you have to develop your own technical qualities and knowledge about the icons. Through that process I put my trust in Gods help. I treat Icon painting as calling and an evangelic run to finish line.