Genesis

I’ve spent the whole day working on this icon, though tonight I’ve actually left it with the face and hands painted - a sort of dull ochre, since you ask. Right now, I’m feeling dubious because I can’t see my guidelines for the facial features and am panicking at the thought of having to draw them back in the morning, though Tatiana, our lovely Romanian teacher, tells me I’ll be able to see them in morning light.

I’m fascinated by the process, however - the scratching over the outlines, the use of egg tempera to paint on the prepared board - I feel I may need to do this again as some of my fellow-students are doing, to apply what I’m learning as I go along.

But it’s tiring enough to have made me contemplate bed at an insanely early hour. Isn’t that what retreats are all about ...?