Newsletter June

New Old Brushes: JUNE 2025

Topics:
1. Courses & Photos
2. Film about Svaneti
3. New Article
4. Study Group
5. New Old Brushes
6. Routine

COURSES: PHOTOS & PLANS

Dear Friend!,

This time we begin with photos from the New Skete Workshops. One more time I will say special thanks to the New Skete Monastery for hosting our workshops for the fourth time! We hope to return in 2026.

UPCOMING ONLINE COURSES:
July 03: – Half Figure. Garments

August 07: – Symmetrical Faces

November 10: Study Group 1.

IN-PERSON COURSES IN ITALY
(in Italiano):
07 - 13 Luglio, 2025: Corso avanzato. Annunciazione. Dallo schizzo all’ icona finita
Luglio 19 – 27, 2025: Corso di approfondimento Volti asimmetrici e a tre quarti

IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS IN AUSTRALIA
(in English):
January 12 - 16, 2026: A Beginners workshop , - image of the Theotokos from Ravenna. This time we will provide several kinds of hands on materials with schemes and instructions to help students to work on their own after the workshop.
January 19 - 23, 2026: The Advanced workshop - Half Figure. Garments, with additional hands-on materials included.

SVANETI FILM: PROGRESS & TRAILER

Dear all who have supported and prayed for our Svaneti film — thank you for your patience! We’re finally ready to share the official trailer: https://youtu.be/kSDeHSNacBU
I must apologize for the painfully slow progress. At the start, our enthusiasm made us believe we could finish the entire film in just a few months. That, of course, wasn’t realistic.

We remain fully committed to creating a film that allows viewers to truly appreciate the people and breathtaking sacred art of Svaneti. With the trailer now complete, Alla has begun submitting it to platforms that support independent filmmakers.

To continue raising funds, we’ve launched a new page on GoGetFunding, listing our past expenses and the projected budget for completing the film: https://gogetfunding.com/behind-this-door/

Please feel free to reach out with any questions. And again — thank you for your support and understanding!

NEW ARTICLE

The Languages of Liturgy: Divine Revelation or Distraction? Though iconography is often considered a sacred craft, I’m grateful to see that others explore it from fresh perspectives. I’m honored to share a new article on our Liturgical Arts Magazine, temporarily hosted here: https://sacredmurals.com/arte_liturgica/

This piece comes from a dear friend — a minister in the Uniting Methodist Church of Australia — reflecting on the role of various arts in liturgy. What I appreciate most is the vitality of his thoughts and how clearly he expresses the need for our personal participation and responsibility in the liturgy. It’s a shared work — a “common deed.”

If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll find a comment section. Please, share your thoughts.

This is our fourth article in the series, and I invite all of you to join in. Please consider sharing your reflections or writing for us. Each of our perspectives matters — it’s this diversity of experience that will shape the future of sacred art. Let’s keep the dialogue alive and thoughtful.

A 7-MONTH ONLINE LEARNING PROGRAM: Study Group 2025–2026

These are questions I keep returning to:

Where is the edge between technique and expressiveness?

Can meaningful work exist without mastery of technique?

Can pure technique create something spiritually deep?

I suspect the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

Medieval icons often display great simplicity — the work of artists using minimal means with expressive clarity. But if we rely too heavily on expression alone, we risk sentimentality or aesthetic indulgence, losing the icon’s mission: to convey peace, clarity, and spiritual depth. On the other hand, rigid adherence to technique may produce technically flawless images, but without soul — lifeless copies of past masterpieces.

How do we navigate between these extremes?

Only through sustained, thoughtful practice — through patient, humble evaluation of our own work — can we move forward.

Over the past two decades, we've taught both in-person and online. But short-term courses can only go so far. At our workshops, we teach technique and process intensively, trusting that students will continue practicing at home.

Our online courses offer focused, topic-based instruction — but many aspects of iconography fall between disciplines, rooted in practice, intuition, and lived experience.

To bridge this gap, we created a long-format online program: The Iconography Study Group.

This course guides students through the full process of painting an icon — from early sketches to final brushstrokes. It's not for complete beginners, but for those who have taken prior courses and practiced regularly. It’s not about talent — it's about structure, reflection, and integration.

If this resonates with you, we warmly invite you to join the Study Group starting this September. The program unfolds gradually, helping you reconnect with past learning while building new professional and artistic skills. It’s designed to eliminate common obstacles like creative block or confusion, replacing them with clarity and calm.

Program Details: fully online

Weekly assignments (excluding Christmas and Easter breaks)

Step-by-step, multidisciplinary format — accessible and balanced

The course is divided into five blocks:

Each of the first four blocks contains 4 assignments and costs $100 USD / €87 EUR

The final block includes 6 assignments and costs $150 USD / €131 EUR

The registration payment covers the first 5 assignments, released on: November 06, 13, 20, 27, and December 04

For more information check the page.

NEW OLD BRUSHES

Thoughtful routine can bring an unexpected discovery.

Last month, both Olga and I (independently!) began using very old bristle brushes — the kind with extremely short hairs — and we were both surprised by their expressive potential.

Used with almost no paint, these brushes behave like a hybrid of ink pen, calligraphy brush, and drawing tool. Each touch leaves a mark full of character and intention. Compared to standard soft brushes, which offer some expressiveness, these worn tools deliver strokes that are raw, rich, and alive.

Try using them for quick sketches, shadows, or expressive work on icons. You may be surprised at the texture and emotional depth these dry, humble brushes provide.

From a conceptual standpoint, they feel like a perfect match for iconography: not cutting the surface, but belonging to it, working with it in harmony. We continue to explore local raw materials, and here you see some Olga's works on old roof tiles. To work on rough surfaces the old bristle brushes are the best, - convenient cost and little requirements to the point. Yet, the message is delivered. What other job do we expect an artwork to do?

ROUTINE

Our daily life continues as usual. Our son Lev just earned his bachelor's degree! In August, he hopes to visit Tbilisi and begin looking for an affordable Master's program in Europe. As for me, I’ve nearly completed the documents for a long-term Italian visa. The last step is to have my diploma translated and approved for international use (which is taking longer then I thought it would). I will keep you informed about the process.

Thank you for your invaluable support!

Warmly,
Philip & Olga

P.S. If you missed our Easter Newsletter, it is here.

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