Iconography workshop: faithfulness to a tradition
By Paul Voida

St. George Cathedral in Canton OH, where Fr. Emmanuel Samayoa was the rector, hosted a week long icon painting workshop from Sunday, July 25 through Saturday July 31, 2004. The four students who enrolled were very pleased with their experiences. Daniel Nichols was the instructor. An experienced artist, he was introduced to iconography through a course taught by Robert Wiesner at St. George Church in Aurora IL, where Fr. Frederick Peterson, OSB, is the pastor. It is a positive testament to the creative faithfulness of St. George in Aurora that a good seed of faith planted in one parish has sprouted in another. One student said, "Daniel is a very good teacher. He demonstrated every step, every stroke of the brush. He... provided us with all the tools we needed to produce beautiful icons on our first try. I never thought I could produce such a beautiful icon."

The students came from local Roman and Byzantine Catholic and Protestant churches. Everyone expressed satisfaction with having painted an icon, having made new friends and having had good theological discussions. Daniel was also pleased with the results being the first workshop he has taught. He credits their success to the Episcopal blessing they received from Bishop John Michael Botean on the first day of the workshop. The students were Debbie Romesberg (Akron), Danny Elliott (Massillon), Jose Ventosa (N. Canton), and Paul Voida (Canton). The icon painted was Our Lady of Kazan. Providence seems to have guided this choice since before the workshop commenced the newspapers announced that Pope John Paul II was going to return the original of this icon to Russia. The small size of the class allowed Daniel to give the students much individual attention and paint two more icons of his own; an icon of Elijah and a second icon of Our Lady of Kazan which he donated to St. George Cathedral. A second iconography workshop is being planned for the summer of 2005. Those interested may contact subdeacon Paul Voida at St. George Cathedral at 330-493-9958

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