Courses/Workshops

Who we are? See ICON WAY 

Possibility to organize workshops by the "Icon Way" Studio for an organized group of persons upon request - place, date and conditions to be agreed.
To ask for more details, write an e-mail at the address indicated in "Contact".

We invite you to the icon writing courses organized by the "Icon Way" Studio at the Centre of Spiritual Formation in Kalisz (Poland)

For more information and to send an application - write an e-mail at the address indicated in "Contact"

Offer - 2024

05 – 11 August (1st degree course) – the face of Christ Pantocrator

06 – 12 May (2nd degree course) – Mother of God Eleusa ("The Tender")

22 -28 March (3rd degree course) – icon of John the Baptist or Archangels

Each course starts on Monday at 3 p.m. (it is possible to arrive a day before and stay overnight) and ends on Sunday with lunch at 12.30 p.m. (it is possible to stay overnight from Sunday to Monday).

1st degree course – the face of Christ Pantocrator (or Mandylion)

This course provides an introduction into the spiritual and painting world of the icon. These will be practical activities combined with daily prayer. Participants will learn what a sacred image is on the example of the icon of the Face of Christ of the Pantocrator type, which is the source of all Christian iconography.

The aim of the weekly meeting is to get the basic knowledge about the icon and to acquire the practical basics of the icon writing workshop: learning the tempera technique and learning how to prepare paint from dry pigments by oneself, learning about the elements of gilding and learning to "write an icon" according to the rules of a traditional workshop.

The fruit of the weekly meeting will be writing the icon of the Face of Christ by each participant on a primed wooden support. The organizers provide all workshop materials.

The creation of an icon is a painterly and spiritual process. Every authentic icon "comes down from heaven". The icon-writing man is only a "tool" for its appearance in the world. Therefore, the weekly workshops can be treated as a spiritual journey and a personal retreat.

2nd degree – Mother of God Eleusa ("The Tender")

The aim of the 2nd level workshop is to further improve iconographic skills.

The fruit of the weekly meeting will be the creation of the icon of the Mother of God "Eleusa" (Russian: Umilenie) by each participant on a primed wooden support.

The course is intended for persons who have completed the 1st-level workshop run by Creative Activities Studio - "Icon Way" or have solid knowledge of the basics of icon writing acquired in other centres running courses.

To participate in the 2nd-level workshops, it is required to have a basic icon writing set from the 1st-level course (basic brushes, pigments, mortar, palette) - with the possibility of purchasing the entire set (for an additional fee). As part of the participation in the 2nd-level workshop, each participant will receive theoretical materials, a complementary set of pigments and a primed support.

3rd degree course – icon of John the Baptist or Archangels

The aim of the course is to create the icon of John the Baptist and to further improve the icon writing skills.fot. E. Wawryniuk