Desire of giving

Being aware of our weaknesses as well as conscious of a lifelong apprenticeship, we wish to transfer the message of the Church, in an epoch of deafening noise. We deeply wish to address the world, using our silent chrostir (paintbursh) through the Byzantine painting, which is the “language” of mysteries and silence.

We wish to offer the paraclesis, the message of piece and hope, to the harassed and suffering people of our times, through the Orthodox iconography, which is actually the painting of paraclesis.

Icon – A spiritual uplift

We look up to God, who is the perfect painter and maker of all, so that He educate within us, with His miraculous paint-brush, His divine form, the form of the Blessed Theotokos’ and all the saints’. We pray to God that He direct our imperfect paint-brush in painting icons that will contribute to spiritual growth and cultivation of the faithful.

Followers of the Tradition of the Church

Feeling deep gratitude and sacred duty to those who sacrificed their lives for the restoration of the Icons, we remain standing in line with the tradition of our Church.

Icon – An Expression of Orthodox Theology

An icon is the “gospel of the illiterate”, as, according to Basil the Great “whatever the Logos expresses using words to be heard, the art of painting expresses it using silent illustrations”. Therefore, iconography is not just an expression of art but also an expression of Orthodox theology.

That is why, from the very beginning, we mainly consulted our late teacher of our Adelfotita (Sisterhood), Sergios Sakkos, who used to be a professor of the Interpretation of the New Testament at the Faculty of Divinity at the Aristotle University of Thessalonica. Having as an infallible guide the Holy Bible and its interpretation of the Holy Fathers of the Church, our late teacher used to deliver the divine and inspired messages stemmed from the Bible, using descriptive illustrations, in order for them to be fully understood.

Prototypes of our Icons

We also consult old prototypes of icons, “reading” them with awe and great respect for God, seeking the spirit and wisdom of past iconographers that, being in contemplation, they painted their icons while fasting and praying.

Exact Copies - Dynamic process

The copying of these prototypal icons is not for us a mechanical action but rather a dynamic process through which we can learn the “language” of Byzantine painting. Hence, we “talk” to the world, using colors and shapes, preaching the Word of God by means of icons, which represent a part of the Tradition of our Orthodox Church.

Icon – A way of living

Utilizing these colors and shapes, we insistently ask for the Grace of God to direct our chrostir, our paint-brush, letting us not restrict nor bind it in a stubborn and sterile act of copying.

As iconographers, we therefore let our souls to be expressed freely, given the fact that the painting of an icon is a personal matter as well. It is a fact that in an icon’s artistic features, the hagiographer’s faith, agonies and the personal struggle towards God, are mirrored.

Icon – An expression

With anxious and fine cross-type brush-strokes, we seek the inner peace and divine grace.

We avoid the austere and unapproachable look, so that the face of the person depicted on an icon, be enlightened, imposing, with an expression of meekness coupling, in a way, both style and ethos.

The simplicity of a Byzantine Icon

The Byzantine Icon has a unique simplicity that presupposes truth, authenticity, humility and lack of hypocrisy.

This simplicity inspires us and we actually, strive for it despite the difficulties, because the icon we aim to is the one with functionality.

Colors, shapes - ascending agents

We also avoid the eccentric colorings and the “babbling” formations as we would like our colors and shapes to function as ascending agents, lifting the soul of the believers, up to the spiritual atmosphere.

Chromatic cohesiveness – devoutness

We pay attention to the chromatic cohesion not only for the sake of an aesthetic pleasure but also for the consequences may be caused by this cohesion to the "spiritual functionality" of an icon. At times, the chromatic intensities function negatively concerning the soul’s peace and contemplation. Hence, being in line with the spirit of the Orthodox Church, we seek the enlightened silence, trying to create a sacred, mystagogical atmosphere.

The purpose of an icon

Preserving its blessing character, an icon aims not only to please our senses but also to purify them.

The orthodox icon is not to be meant simply as an object of exhibition in a museum or a means of commercial use, as it is nowadays by many people. It is rather meant to be comprehended as a means of God’s worship.

Our aim

Our agony and our goal is, by the grace of God, to contribute so that the soul of every believer standing before an icon, feels an attraction to and a need for communication with the person depicted on it and not be stolen by the artistic elements that frame it (polishing gildings, tsoukanika, carved frames, gemstones, etc.)

We seek for all these to operate silently, so as the honor of the believer goes to the person depicted and not to the iconographer himself.

Iconography – A sacred task

The Icon is not a spectacle who pleases the eyes, but a view of the Kingdom of God that raises the mind to the mystical knowledge of God.

With the sense of honor and of our debt to God and His Church, we are trying to fulfill this part of our missionary work, so that hagiography becomes a sacred task for the glory of His Name.