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Betsy Porter
Art and Iconography
Iconography Classes in San Francisco
Art and Iconography
Iconography Classes in San Francisco
Informal drop-in iconography classes for all levels take place about twice per month on
Sunday afternoons starting at 1:30 PM and running until approximately 5:30 PM.
Start any time. Call me evenings at 510-531-5360 or e-mail me here if you have questions.
You can learn to paint a beautiful and sacred Byzantine-style icon! We work in traditional egg tempera
paint and gold leaf on a wooden board or panel covered with white gesso. All materials are natural.
We make our own paint out of egg yolk, wine, and powdered pigments (mostly ground minerals). Egg
tempera is capable of exquisite detail and glowing colors which last for centuries.
The artistic method is quite different from others that you may have learned. Artistic experience is
helpful but by no means necessary.
Location: St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, 500 DeHaro at Mariposa, San Francisco, CA
94107. Park on the street - you will probably be able to park right in front of the building. Enter by the
main door under the mosaic icon. Visit www.saintgregorys.org
Time Required: Iconography is a careful, meditative art form. Each icon will require at least 40 hours -
which may mean a year of class time, if you work only in class and not at home. You will learn many
artistic skills in the process; and your appreciation of historic art will increase as well.
Cost: Expect to spend $60 to $100 or more on materials for your first icon. A fee of $15 per person at
the first class includes handouts, patterns, pigments, egg tempera base, and incidental materials for
classroom use. Prepared wooden boards and panels, gold leaf, pigments, and some other materials
are available at cost. If you wish to buy pigments to take home, bring small containers with snug lids.
There is no charge for my teaching, but there is a requested donation of $10 per session to the church
for use of the space and the xerox machine.
Bring to first class:
You will find it helpful to review the appropriate technical pages on this site before each class. For the
first class, you are encouraged to read the patterns, layout, and gilding pages.
Sunday afternoons starting at 1:30 PM and running until approximately 5:30 PM.
Start any time. Call me evenings at 510-531-5360 or e-mail me here if you have questions.
You can learn to paint a beautiful and sacred Byzantine-style icon! We work in traditional egg tempera
paint and gold leaf on a wooden board or panel covered with white gesso. All materials are natural.
We make our own paint out of egg yolk, wine, and powdered pigments (mostly ground minerals). Egg
tempera is capable of exquisite detail and glowing colors which last for centuries.
The artistic method is quite different from others that you may have learned. Artistic experience is
helpful but by no means necessary.
Location: St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, 500 DeHaro at Mariposa, San Francisco, CA
94107. Park on the street - you will probably be able to park right in front of the building. Enter by the
main door under the mosaic icon. Visit www.saintgregorys.org
Time Required: Iconography is a careful, meditative art form. Each icon will require at least 40 hours -
which may mean a year of class time, if you work only in class and not at home. You will learn many
artistic skills in the process; and your appreciation of historic art will increase as well.
Cost: Expect to spend $60 to $100 or more on materials for your first icon. A fee of $15 per person at
the first class includes handouts, patterns, pigments, egg tempera base, and incidental materials for
classroom use. Prepared wooden boards and panels, gold leaf, pigments, and some other materials
are available at cost. If you wish to buy pigments to take home, bring small containers with snug lids.
There is no charge for my teaching, but there is a requested donation of $10 per session to the church
for use of the space and the xerox machine.
Bring to first class:
- Table-top lamp and extension cord - no clamp lamps.
- A terry cloth hand towel on which to rest your icon.
- A tote bag in which to carry your icon.
- Watercolor palette and small round watercolor brushes, if you have them.
- Cash or check for your board and fees.
You will find it helpful to review the appropriate technical pages on this site before each class. For the
first class, you are encouraged to read the patterns, layout, and gilding pages.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES,
SUMMER & FALL 2010,
WINTER 2011
1:30-5:30 Sunday afternoons at
St. Gregory of Nyssa Church,
500 DeHaro at Mariposa,
San Francisco, CA 94107
SUMMER & FALL 2010,
WINTER 2011
1:30-5:30 Sunday afternoons at
St. Gregory of Nyssa Church,
500 DeHaro at Mariposa,
San Francisco, CA 94107
- July 25
- August 1
- August 15
- August 29
- September 12
- September 26
- October 17
- October 24
- November 7
- November 21
- December 5
- December 12
- January 16 & 30
- February 13 & 27
DIVINE RULES FOR THE ICON PAINTER (Traditional)
Never forget:
- Before starting work, make the sign of the Cross, pray in silence, and pardon your enemies.
- Work with care on every detail of your icon, as if you were working in front of the Lord Himself.
- During work, pray in order to strengthen yourself physically and spiritually; avoid all useless words, and keep
silence. - Pray in particular to the Saint whose face you are painting. Keep your mind from distractions, and the Saint will be
close to you. - When you choose a color, stretch out your hands interiorly to the Lord and ask His counsel.
- Do not be jealous of your neighbor's work; their success is your success too.
- When your icon is finished, thank God that His Mercy granted you the grace to paint the Holy Images.
- Have your icon blessed by putting it on the Holy Table (of your parish church). Be the first to pray before it,
before giving it to others.
Never forget:
- The joy of spreading icons throughout the world.
- The joy of the work of icon writing.
- The joy of giving the saint the possibility to shine through his/her icon.
- The joy of being in union with the Saint whose face you are revealing.
Lori Greenleaf painting; Cheryl Hendrickson with icon of St. Nicholas; Michael Lara mixing egg tempera paint
 |  |  |  |  |  |
Above: Sister Danielle Fung burnishes
red earth bole in preparation for gilding.
Above center: Later that afternoon, she has completed gilding and
has added a design in the gold leaf.
Above right: By the end of the following session, Danielle has
painted the base color or roskrish.
Right: Danielle's icon if the Holy Silence continues to develop. She
has now completed the third highlight.
red earth bole in preparation for gilding.
Above center: Later that afternoon, she has completed gilding and
has added a design in the gold leaf.
Above right: By the end of the following session, Danielle has
painted the base color or roskrish.
Right: Danielle's icon if the Holy Silence continues to develop. She
has now completed the third highlight.
Above Left: Cathleen Fortune is well advanced on her icon of
Archangel Michael.
Above Right: In her first class session, Sandra Delman transfers a
design to her board.
Archangel Michael.
Above Right: In her first class session, Sandra Delman transfers a
design to her board.
Leon Palad (in dark gray) and Kilo Munoz at
work on their icons of the archangels Gabriel
and Raphael, respectively.
This is the first icon for each of them.
They made their own wooden "bridge" type
hand-rests to protect their paint from smearing.
work on their icons of the archangels Gabriel
and Raphael, respectively.
This is the first icon for each of them.
They made their own wooden "bridge" type
hand-rests to protect their paint from smearing.
Above Left; Anne Symanovich gilds the halo for a
standing figure of Saint Francis.
Above Right; Carolyn Feuille painting Archangel
Gabriel.
standing figure of Saint Francis.
Above Right; Carolyn Feuille painting Archangel
Gabriel.
Kilo Munoz at work on his icon of
Archangel Raphael.
Archangel Raphael.
| Photos taken in the garden of St. Gregory's Church - Above, Left to Right; Randy Bowman with icon of Saint Stephen, first highlight. Cathleen Fortune with icon of Archangel Michael, almost completed. Anne Symanovich with icon of Saint Francis, first float Below left, Yoshi Mathias is beginning her second icon, Our Lady of Tikhvin Below right; Jennifer Blecha with icon of the poet Rumi, first float See bottom of Highlighting and Finishing Touches pages for a closer view of some of these icons. |
| Cathleen Fortune, Yoshi Mathias, Jennifer Blecha, and Anne Symanovich with their icons June 1, 2008 |
FINISHED!
Carolyn Feuille with icon of Mary; Saint Francis of Assisi by Anne Symanovich; Sister Danielle Fung with The Holy Silence
Below: Randy Bowman with icon of Saint Stephen; Archangel Michael by Cathleen Fortune, photographed while soaking
up olifa; and Anna Maria Stone with icon of Archangel Gabriel.
Carolyn Feuille with icon of Mary; Saint Francis of Assisi by Anne Symanovich; Sister Danielle Fung with The Holy Silence
Below: Randy Bowman with icon of Saint Stephen; Archangel Michael by Cathleen Fortune, photographed while soaking
up olifa; and Anna Maria Stone with icon of Archangel Gabriel.
I teach only in San Francisco, and only on Sunday afternoons. Here are some iconography classes
and workshops in other cities and with other instructors.
The Prosopon School of Iconology - www.prosoponschool.org offers 6-day intensive workshops in iconography at
various locations around North America, as well as weekly icon painting classes in New York City; in Whitney Point, NY; in
Brookfield, VT; and in Palmira, VA.
Irene Perez-Omer - www.iconarts.com offers icon classes and workshops in Austin, TX and occasionally elsewhere.
For Prosopon affiliated icon-painting classes in the Los Angeles, CA area and in Santa Barbara, CA, contact Edward
Beckett here or 626-791-7953. He will offer a workshop in Santa Barbara October 17-22, 2010.
Iconofile - www.iconofile.com offers workshops in iconography and fresco painting at various locations; lists more.
Xenia Pokrovsky and her colleagues - www.hexaemeron.org offers 6-day workshops in egg tempera iconography at
several North American locations.
Philip Davydov and Olga Shakanova of St. Petersburg, Russia - www.sacredmurals.com offer week-long workshops in
iconography at several locations worldwide, including summer workshops in North America.
You may find other icon-painting classes and workshops in your local area. Look for classes where the
medium is egg tempera rather than oil or acrylic. Please also review the technical pages on this site.
and workshops in other cities and with other instructors.
The Prosopon School of Iconology - www.prosoponschool.org offers 6-day intensive workshops in iconography at
various locations around North America, as well as weekly icon painting classes in New York City; in Whitney Point, NY; in
Brookfield, VT; and in Palmira, VA.
Irene Perez-Omer - www.iconarts.com offers icon classes and workshops in Austin, TX and occasionally elsewhere.
For Prosopon affiliated icon-painting classes in the Los Angeles, CA area and in Santa Barbara, CA, contact Edward
Beckett here or 626-791-7953. He will offer a workshop in Santa Barbara October 17-22, 2010.
Iconofile - www.iconofile.com offers workshops in iconography and fresco painting at various locations; lists more.
Xenia Pokrovsky and her colleagues - www.hexaemeron.org offers 6-day workshops in egg tempera iconography at
several North American locations.
Philip Davydov and Olga Shakanova of St. Petersburg, Russia - www.sacredmurals.com offer week-long workshops in
iconography at several locations worldwide, including summer workshops in North America.
You may find other icon-painting classes and workshops in your local area. Look for classes where the
medium is egg tempera rather than oil or acrylic. Please also review the technical pages on this site.
Above; Jeannine Jourdan paints roskrish; and Sandra Delman is working on 2 icons simultaneously.
Below; Anna Maria Stone paints first highlight; Connie Kang lays out her first icon; Danielle Fung
shows her second icon, Christ as Good Shepherd, here in roskrish stage.
Below; Anna Maria Stone paints first highlight; Connie Kang lays out her first icon; Danielle Fung
shows her second icon, Christ as Good Shepherd, here in roskrish stage.
Below; during the next session, Anna Maria Stone completes first highlight on her icon of Archangel Gabriel;
Randy Bowman has completed third highlight on his icon of Saint Stephen; and Danielle Fung continues with
roskrish and line work on her small icon of the Good Shepherd. This small piece will serve as a model and pilot
project, to work out any difficulties before she undertakes a larger version of the same subject.
Randy Bowman has completed third highlight on his icon of Saint Stephen; and Danielle Fung continues with
roskrish and line work on her small icon of the Good Shepherd. This small piece will serve as a model and pilot
project, to work out any difficulties before she undertakes a larger version of the same subject.
Above: Saint George and the Dragon by Carolyn Feuille; Danielle Fung completed both icons of Christ the Good
Shepherd on the same day! The Prophet Elijah in the Wilderness, Fed by a Raven, by Cathleen Fortune.
Shepherd on the same day! The Prophet Elijah in the Wilderness, Fed by a Raven, by Cathleen Fortune.
