My Journey as an Iconographer
The first time I saw an Icon my heart jumped with joy and excitement. I had no idea what the cause of that almost painful feeling was. I attributed it to the beauty and the simplicity of the image that my eyes rested upon, but later on I discovered it was deeper and more complex than that.
Being an iconographer in this day and age is not easy. Traditionally this vocation was carried out mostly, but not always, by monks in the silence of their contemplative lives, without interruptions, and with inner struggles their only distractions.
Today many iconographers carry out our vocation in the midst of hectic lives. We are monks or nuns, lay persons, priests, priests’ wives, and artists. We all benefit from the meditative and some times harsh and challenging qualities of this artistic and spiritual path.
I've been blessed with teachers and wise people who have helped me on the way. Ultimately, prayer, contemplation and the reading of the scriptures is what helps me to be in constant at-one-ment with the will of God and my calling.
I met my first teacher, Adrian Avram, in 1996. Under five intermittent years of his guidance and careful teaching , I was introduced to the art of Icon painting.
I created the Ikonokids Workshop in 2001, a workshop where children ages 9 and up learn the technique of Romanian reverse glass painting. My own children and some of my friends' children, successfully completed two glass Icons in a summer and fall session. This past year we had a short but very fruitful summer workshop. We experimented with acrylic medium using dry brush technique and very simple materials.
It is both a blessing and a privilege to work in the presence of children, and a challenge to keep growing in flexibility and patience.
Since 2001 I have been exploring my vocation and its outer expression in writing Icons, on my own without a formal teacher, using natural pigments and egg tempera.
In March of 2004 I had the opportunity to participate in the first Iconofile Iconography workshop featuring one of the most respected contemporary Iconographers in Russia, Fr Andrei Davydov.
In October of last year I participated in the second Iconofile Iconography workshop with Anton Belov and Julia Belova, from Kovcheg Studio of Moscow. I have only grateful thoughts for their kindness and dedication to all of us who took the course.
Lord, I give you my life
to be guided by You
I give You my words so they always come
from your Holy Spirit
I give You my thought so they may always be
filled with joy and love for every one.
I give You my hands so they may always perform acts
of beauty and kindness
Ina Hecker
View All My Creations To Date
