18x13 tech. mixed canvas board
Christofos Kaminski
Ipaint iconsin the likeness of already existing representations, created by notable "iconopists" from all over Europe. I paint according to the Orthodox Orthodox model, which I had the pleasure of exploring during my many years of practice in a Greek icon studio inAthens - closely associated with themonasteries and monasteries of the notorious "Meteors", located in the very center of the "land of oranges". It is ahighly regarded style not only in Europe, as orders for icons came to us in Athens from the Far East, the United States and Australia. The icon image is created on canvas, in accordance with the changes that most Greek Studios have introduced for several decades . All because of the practicality and mobility of the substrate, which flexibly "works" together with the wood. The canvas is primed in layers with the right mixture of resins, grounds and pigments .This technique of combining ingredients is a little professional secret taken from practice under the guidance of masters - iconopists - / so it will remain unsaid /, and it is used toachieve later cracks on the surface of the painting. The"depicting" image is painted in layers - using the pad-brush technique, in part consisting of lasers. Thelasers are not laid "sfumato", but built up linearly - as tradition dictates . The image is surrounded by 24K gold or gilding in the form of flakes, applied by hand according to the ancient recipe of "iconotechnique". Theboards for icons are carefully selected, taking into account all kinds of cracks, knots or holes, which visually contribute to the aging of thewhole icon - giving it an "archetypal" expression and grace .Planks are selected only from a collection of old agedboards , bearing traces of damage that time has done. The entire painted image is glued on the board, and together with it aged so-called "casja" . - aspecialized patina, brought from Greece - an agent that creates local impurities, abrasions and tarnishes that are so characteristic, especially for very old paintings - as the Greeks say: "Archeia" - meaning old, age-old.
