Be mild...

I thought today was going to be - not so difficult. I was wrong!  But I felt so ready, after a good night's sleep and all.  Not so.  It seemed as if I could not even draw one straight line.  And when I did, I wanted to improve it a little bit, and it was all wrong - again.  Theodore helped me out, and I made the same mistake again, it should be just a little bit darker towards the end, and then - ups the dark area got too big.

And when Theodore said he did not understand why I was so good the other day and today could do nothing, I was prepared to wnkjwhiohnfvxszk!!!
Perhaps it is the heat, my age, the noise etc. etc.?  No, the thing is - this is me.  This is my skill, the problem is I want to be perfect, or at least very good.  I push myself,   I am never content, it is as if I am hearing my parents in the background, come on, you can do it,you can do better than this, be good now, work on it...

This will stop now.

I will be mild with myself.  I will not compare myself with a master. I do the best I can, and that will be fine! I will accept myself, just the way I am.

So help me God.

Busy days in Larissa...

This is NOT a vacation I am on.  This is hard work from 9 o'clock in the morning til at least 15.00 in the afternoon, 6 days a week.
After several days painting different garments and also the open book, our teacher thought we might be ready to paint a face.
We will be painting the face of Mary.  But first we will paint her garment, this time in a very dark red colour, lightened with blue.  It is so beautiful!  So the whole day yesterday we spent painting her garment,mainly the part covering her head, nice clean parallel  arches, fading out on one side...
It takes much practice.  I cannot wait until tomorrow where we will continue.

This is not just another ordinary course in iconpainting.

When the course was finished yesterday, Theodore and his  wife had invited us (Violeta and me) for an excursion.  We headed towards the north of Larissa, and our first stop was in a valley, where the river comes from the plains of Larissa and is passing the mountainous area on its way to the ocean.  Here - on the other side of the suspension bridge is the well of Daphne, with wonderfully clear and clean water. Just like in Norway!
We also visited the small old church at this place with a very wonderful old icon of St. Paraskevi, which is said to give miracles to people, especially with eye problems. You can read about the saint here:
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Paraskevi

Leaving this peaceful place we went further north - towards the sea.  I was so much looking forward just to float on my back....

Theodore's parents have a summerhouse just two steps from the beach, so we quickly changed and went for a swim. AHHHH....

They prepared the most delicious grilled dinner for us. (the father at the grill), they are so very friendly.  Interesting it was to listen to Theodore's father tell stories from his own childhood, and his fathers' childhod, stories about fleeing from hostile invaders of their country, bulgarians, turks and germans, and about living as refugees in Jerusalem for years.This is where he learnt to speak english so well, attending an english school for 6 years. Amazing stories.Thank you mr. Papadopoulos!

At 8 in the evening we left for mount Olympos, to visit the  small village Panteleimon. 

I could hear some music as we entered the village - a girl playing the song "I am on the top of the world"  - that is what we were!

 This is the favourite place of Theodore and his wife.  And that I can understand.  It looked like a village from a fairytale.

So, this is where our day ended - in a nice restaurant with a panoramic view of Olympos on one side, and Thessaloniki in the far distance , the lights from the ancient castle and -  the sea.

I am very blessed.

From darkness to light...

The day started with talks about iconpainting - especially in Scandinavia.  It would be such a delight to have Theodore come to Scandinavia! And the best thing about this - is that he is not unwilling to do that.  So now I will have to start making some connections... What a joy!

Today, after we finished the garment of blue and beige colours, Theodore decided we should paint the Book...  Seems so easy, just a book - a little darker in the middle, fading lighter towards the edges.
Now I am beginning to learn - alert when Theodore says something is easy...

With this book, we start with a proplasmos, and make it a bit darker in the middle.  Fading is softly out to the edges. Seems easy!  Theodore tells me I am working too fast.  I thought he meant the strokes were too fast, so moved the brush more slowly.  But he still said I was moving too fast...
Finally I understood - I was moving too fast from the darkness to the light!
I have to move slowly from the dark to the light...

Hm  Reminds me of my life, I have to be patient.  I want the light, I want it now.... but I must move slowly - step by step.  It says so in a Course oin Miracles, every step can only be taken when I am prepared to do it,.
Like my brush - I cannot go further until the work is done where the brush is - not moving too fast forward.
When I learn to be patient, finishing each step before I go on, I will succed.

Dear God, thank you for this blessed day.

Specialness...

I have come to realize that every thing that happens to me, I ask for, and receive as I have asked.  And everything that happens to me is for a reason and is a lesson I can choose to learn.
So far so good.
I also know now that this journey is taken in steps... one at a time.
So here I am in Larissa, thinking I am here to learn iconpainting, by a  great teacher who paints wonderful icons.  And I am here to learn that - but I am being given anothert lesson - on top of that.  I am so lucky!
I have been teaching iconpainting for maybe 4 or 5 years now.  I often hear from the students that I am good.  Good at painting straight lines, good at painting lovely eyes, and goodlooking hair etc. And I observe how much my ego rejoices in all this!
And I do not attack myself for that, I observe it - and leave it, without judging myself.  So far so good.
Today I had another great lesson presented to me.  On working with a particularly difficult part of one of Theodore's own icons, I just lost it.  Could not see the lines, misunderstood what he said, and all went totally wrong.
And then, my teacher told me that I must practice, try to teach my eyes to see, see different shades, darkness and light,   remember I am a beginner, paint straight lines, not too blurred, blurred on one side, not the other...
Of my God, I was just about to walk out of the whole thing. Why?  Someone tried to push me from my comfort zone, and my throne of specialness!!  I knew I wanted to be special, but that it was this big?
It really pissed me off.
So what to do here?  I am so glad I was able to observe this.   But observation is not enough.   I have to show the whole thing to the Holy Spirit, look at it with forgiving eyes, and not judging it.  Just see that this is how I am,  this is the way I react.  And slowly it lost its grip in me, and I could laugh at the whole thing, and I could also tell Theodore and Violeta about my observations.
I am so grateful that they  would listen to me,  it is of great help to get it out in the open so to speak...

So - besides being taught Theodore's way to paint an icon - there are also other great  lessons involved here!
And there is great help for me to read in A Course in Miracles.
When I came home I read the following lesson :

 Light and joy and peace abide in me (lesson 93)

This is the truth bout me

One lucky me!!

Today Theodore has shown us how he paints a very dark garment lightened in red colours.  This is an amazing process to watch. (The above is my first feeble attempt)

The bottom layer is painted, the shadows are added in 3 different tones.  First from left to the right on the left side of this icon, gradually disappearing into  the bottom layer. Then a few of the explanatory lines are added, as well as dark shadows in the areas at the bottom of the icon and around the inside of the elbow,

Gradually, very gradually we work our way from darkness to light.

What can be seen above is with the very helpful hand of my teacher.  Tomorrow we will be adding the last 2 layers of the lightenings.

Most of the morning we were watching how Theodoros was working - it is so amazing to watch his hand dancing, working effortlessly to create this garment which almost invites you to put it on!
 

I am so very grateful to be here and be taught by one of the best iconpainters ever.... 

Visit his homepage here:  http://www.theodoreicons.com/index.php?id=208

  

En stille søndag

Søndag er en meget stille dag her i Larissa.  Jeg sov som en sten i nat, begynder at vende mig til larmen fra Aircondition systemet. Efter morgenmaden besluttede jeg mig for at vandre en tur op til det antikke amfiteater og udgravningerne i dets umiddelbar nærhed.  Ikke mange mennesker på gaden - alle er ved vandet.

Jeg havde ikke noget kort med vidste bare det lå i nærheden af den centrale plads i byen.  vandret lidt rundt og oppe for enden af en smal gade øjnede jeg noget der kunne ligne... og sim sala bim så var jeg der

På billedet her kunne det næsten se ud som om det ligger ude på landet - men dette er faktisk midt i centrum ad Larissa, oppe på byens høj.
I nærheden er også en  udgravning af et gammelt tempel, lidt at et puslespil at kikke på de tusinder af små og store stykker.  Det projekt er støttet af EU med 300 000 euro kunne jeg læse på et skilt

.

Her oppe fra højen kunne jeg skimte bjergene i Larissas omegn, mod nordvest Olympos.

Jeg hørte pludselig sang i nærheden og gik efter lyden.  Og der lå en større kirke, med dørene åbne i siderne - her er nemlig ret varmt.  Jeg fik en langærmet bluse på og gik ind -der var  masser af mennesker, og jeg kunne se jeg ikke havde behøvet det med blusen.  Her var alle mulige påklædninger, kvinder i korte kjoler uden ærmer, og også bukser.  Ellers har jeg jo fået at vide at man skal have kjole på og langermet bluse, det var måske i gamle dage.
Theo har fortalt mig at folk tager i kirke for at få mad fordi de ingen penge har, og rigtignok blev der delt brød ud efter messen, jeg troede et øjeblik det var nadver, men folk kom med brød i hænderne, altså ikke bare et stykke med en hel håndfuld...  Det er meget dårlige tider i Grækenland.

Jeg nød sangen og alle de smukke ikoner - det er så overvældende det med ikonerne og vægmalerierne.

Vandrede stille og rolig hjem, for lidt vild, men gik tilbage og fandt den rigtige vej.  I parken på den store plads havde mændene (de lidt ældre - min alder?) indtaget alle bænke.  Hvor er kvinderne?  Ikke her i alle fald.
Købte mig lidt vand og en sandwich til lunch, og nu - midt på dagen er det alt for varmt at være ude.  Skønt her på værelset med benene op, gang i luftkøleren, og tilgængelig WI FI.
Jo, det er ikke helt galt det her.

I morgen bliver det ikonmaling igen fra kl. 9.00.  Da er mine enetimer desværre slut, der kommer en dame mer - fra Athen.  Er spændt på om hun taler engelsk,  det er hovedsagelig de unge der gør det.  Jeg får håbe.

The most amazing day...

So, this was my first day of the iconcourse here in Larissa, Greece. What an amazing day!

I came with no special expectations, but with an open mind and the surety that Theodore would learn me excactly what I needed...

I have been greatly surprised. This is something completely new for mexin many ways. First of all, the mixing of the colours - Theodore does not use egg yolk for mixing the powder pigments but some kind of glue, "every iconographer in Greece uses this" he tells me. OK, with me then. And then, I have to work with the icon on a "staffeli", in an upright position and not flat on the table like I am used to. I have to get used to working with a "ruler" as well to keep my hand steady. I tell you, this will take practice. "Do not compare yourself with me" Theodore says, I have painted like this for 20 years...

I chose Theodore for my teacher because he paints the most wonderful icons (of course). What is special about his icons is that the colours blend into each other so wonderfully, so smoothly. I was trying to paint like that today, on a small part of an icon, the arm/sleeve of the Christ holding the book. Theodore had drawn the paart I was to paint, I put the bottom layer on, like he did. Then, I painted the dark lines for the folds, and not just a line, it maaystart small and then ends wide... and also put this colour on the outlines of the arm.



Actually, he makes 8 different tones before he starts to paint at all. Firstly the colour of the first layer, and then 4 lightenings. And also 4 shadow colours, The darkest colour of the shadow, and 3 lighter tones.



My result today was not too bad for a beginner, but I can easily see where I need to improve. The lines, the lines, my teacher says.. Trying to start for instance a lightening broadly and end in nothing!! Have to work on that. Think I am reasonably good at it when my painting is lying down, but with it upright, and with my arm dangling in the air... it is quite another thing! Good I am here to learn...I that I have the best teacher ever!



In between the painting we also got time to talk a little. It took us less than 5 minutes before I realized it was as if he was reading from A Course in Miracles. I was almost blown down from my chair. Amazing, meeting a complete stranger in a far away country, who seems to have excactly the same thoughts and understanding as I have.

In truth - no encounter is by incident.



I am so happy to be here in Larissa, which by the way is the hottest city in Greece. I am not good at heat... usually. But this time I have decided it will not bother me. 37 degrees today..and I am still OK!