Workshops

Learn to paint a traditional Byzantine icon from start to finish under the instruction of Brian Matthew Whirledge, M.Ed., a teacher/iconographer who has painted hundreds of icons for homes and churches across the US for over a decade. Brian will help you make egg tempera paint from scratch, develop an underpainting, gild with 23k gold leaf, and artfully develop color, form, and light with egg tempera paint. We'll discuss the history and theology of icons, and tour the church to see icons in context.

Traditional egg tempera is my preferred medium as well as the preference of iconographers for centuries. We’ll use eggs from my parents’ free-range chickens, and natural mineral pigments made by God Himself. Egg tempera uniquely transfigures creation into sacred images, combining the vegetable (wood panel), animal (eggs), and mineral (pigments) kingdoms.

You will receive step-by-step instruction, demonstration, and all materials to paint this icon. A workshop is a spiritual retreat, as you will spend hours in prayer, face-to-face with Christ and the saints. Brian's hands-on workshops are for everyone: beginners without artistic experience will create a successful icon while advanced painters will be challenged.

South Bend, IndianA

Fall 2025, dates TBA

Icon: Guardian Angel

St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church, South Bend, Ind.

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fall 2025, dates TBA

Icon: Guardian Angel

St. John Chrysostom Orthodox Church