Saturday, December 26, 2009

traditional Mother of God icons now showing in group exhibition



Two of my traditional Eastern Catholic icons are on exhibition in Incarnation Icons at the Cloisters Gallery, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Portland, Oregon from November 1, 2009 - January 2, 2010.


if you're in portland, it's worth a visit to this beautiful exhibition. many of the icons are written by my vancouver, washington teacher, virginia barber! sally wooley did a great job organizing and hanging the show.


the icon pictured here, Kykotissa Mother of God, is based on a prototype from St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai. the feel of it is so Arabic, very different than the typical russian prototypes, and the appeal was very strong. when i visited the Getty Museum in december 2006 and saw the amazing iconography exhibition from St. Catherine's monastery, i was inspired to write this icon. on a recent trip to LA and a return to the Getty, i saw these two icons from their collection, but i failed to note the artist's names, dates, and other crucial information...just was snapping away (without flash, of course!) while chatting with my LA illustrator friend, Gail.