Icon Commissions |
| Icon commissions are taken for portable icons and Church site work, whether portable icons or wall paintings. Thomas Xenakis has written about 200 portable icons and has done Church commissions and restoration on site. The art of "Hagiographia" or "Icon Writing" is an important part of his creative and spiritual path as a visual artist. |
| Thomas Xenakis has been writing icons since 1987. He was trained on the Holy Mountain, Athos, in New Skete, with Father Nikon in 1995. Additionally in 1995, he trained with Konstantinos Xenopoulos of Katerini, Greece, the state icon painter for the Hellenic Republic at that time. He is trained in the theology of the icon and has researched extensively the history of the icon, the Orthodox Church, and the Byzantine Medieval Arts. He has traveled throughout Greece and the Balkans studying Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art. |
| All portable icon work is done in traditional Byzantine techniques. 23 karat gold gilding is used in conjunction with egg tempera, wax encaustic, fresco, or distemper on wood panels, stone or other stable grounds. All natural media is used as set by the historical canons of the Eastern Orthodox Church. All themes for commission consideration are researched carefully for the traditional prototypes with a "cartoon," or sketch first. Approval by the client, patron or donor is required at this time before further work is accomplished. A cash advance payment of one-half the cost of the final product is required as well. The final icon is developed with final approval before varnishing. The icon is then sealed and presented for delivery. |
| The icon commission is priced by size and by the number of elements or subejcts in the theme to be written. The traditional Byzantine Orthodox icon is written with prayer, reverence and complete dedication. Time is needed to complete a venerable, beautiful and faithful iconographic image. |
May 16 - June 6, 2012
Thomas Xenakis teaches watercolor painting for a study abroad program in Antibes, France.
Painting and Drawing on the French Riviera sponsored by The Center for Global Education, Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia