Archangel Michael, and an icon for a wedding

           

               To have the chance to begin work on a new icon is exciting.  Sometimes I will be asked to write a favorite icon such as the Vladimir Mother of God, and since this is one I have already done before, I can get right to work.  Maybe someone wants an icon of the patron saint of a family member for a gift, which involves a bit more of a challenge.  Recently a friend asked me to paint St. Michael for her son, so I showed her several versions.  She is not Orthodox and some versions were less appealing than others, so in the end she decided on a compilation of two.  I gave her a preliminary sketch of St. Michael in full body armor, complete with shield and spear, depicting him as the warrior for God that Orthodox people know him to be.  I really liked this sketch of him and also the freedom to choose the colors of his clothing, since there were differences.  The mom was happy and I hope Michael enjoyed his Christmas gift.

               But just recently I had an very exciting opportunity!  A friend’s daughter was being married right after Christmas and she asked me to paint a wedding icon for the couple.  She told me that she wanted it like one that had been commissioned for her wedding anniversary, in which the patron saints of herself and her husband were in the icon with Christ.  I told her I would take the idea and include the patron saints of the two young people being married.

               Although the young martyr Lucia was from Sicily, she is most popular among western European Christians, and mainly Swedish people.  The groom’s saint was young Stephen, who is called the first martyr of the Christian Church, and a deacon.    This meant that she needed to be dressed in virginal white and he in the white vestment of a deacon – not interesting from a color standpoint.

               The completed icon is a deesis of the three figures, with Christ in the center and the two young saints bowing toward him, hands in a gesture of supplication.   

                May God bless the union of these two young people.