Icon Diploma Student

Icon hanging begins – and no – I’ve not driven Iain to smoking – yet!

I’m still getting over this last week. It’s been intense; a wonderful and unforgettable week. Lots of planning, packing, dawn starts, long car trips, carting, hanging, dismantling and so on.  I’m a relative local living in Staffordshire so my friends travelling from Sweden, Germany and Dublin must be feeling exhausted.

I’m going to add a few practical tips for anyone who is planning an exhibition. Plan well ahead. Bring large and small spirit levels, electric drill with selection of screws, pencil, measuring tape, portable steps, blu tack, plenty of bubble wrap, sellotape, pritt stick, masking tape, the cling film roll tape that protect sides of pictures, plastic crates with lids, flask and snacks.

Wrap up the icons well.

When the car load was dropped off outside the PSTA, in Shoreditch, the doors weren’t yet open. Although not raining, it was overcast and I was glad the icons were all in waterproof containers and well wrapped. Pre-book your car park in London – it’s much cheaper.

Placing the Mandilion

Invite family and friends to help. My husband helped me put all the icons up and our son arrived with his camera and took this shot and a few others. It was non-stop all day – you have to work at quite a pace to get finished before closing time.

Sun glancing in from the rooflights

Bring a tube of polyfiller and a scraper as there is the inevitable re-shuffle to get things right. Thanks to Romsay at the PSTA, for finding some white paint and a roller too!

Most of my work up

Susan, a fellow student – or graduate (that sounds good!) kindly lent me this table as I wanted to share my Nativity workbook, lettering books and some of my course work folders. I will write a little more about the Nativity workbook on another post.

Triptych up and an early visitor arrives

While we were putting up our work in the main exhibition area, Aidan was busy placing more work out in the foyer.

Aidan displaying students’ icons in the foyer

We left the PSTA late Saturday afternoon with Aidan kindly finishing up for us.  When I returned on Tuesday for the Preview, this was the glowing view from Charlotte Road. The evening went in a whirl – I wanted to speak to so many more visitors than I did – to thank you all so much for coming and for being part of this blessed and beautiful stage in our life as fledgling icon painters.

My thanks go to the PSTA for running this course but especially to Aidan Hart for his spiritual guidance, patience and his innate joy shared with us, his diploma students, throughout the last three years as he has taught us how to see with the eye of the heart.

All quiet before the doors open for the Preview  

I hope to be able to share a link to photos of all our work once these have all been co-ordinated on a photo-sharing site, but the next post will be about our exhibition now up in Cornelissen’s…watch this space!

Thanks for reading,

Ronnie

My sister –  this one is Meggie!