The Studio’s Letter of Appeal
About
For the last twenty years, Symeon has worked to create sacred icons of profound beauty for churches and homes across the US, Canada and Europe. He currently lives with his family in Central Alberta and works as a full-time, professional artist.
Symeon’s artwork has a unique style—offering simplicity and stillness in its vision, as well as a love of colour evident in its gem-like hues. As an iconographic artist, he was trained in the Greek/Byzantine expression of iconography. However, Symeon’s own temperament draws him more towards the wonder-informing styles such as the Romanesque or ancient Coptic, where the revelation of divine reality isn’t limited to naturalistic expression. Instead, in his work, we experience visual art that moves beyond nature and symbol to a direct expression of knowing and experience in its own right. Through the gravitas of his style, Symeon brings the real presence of Jesus Christ and his saints—those men and women fully alive in the Spirit—into the lives of those living today.
Symeon’s painted icons can be found in chapels and churches across Canada and the US, as well as in the homes of people around the world. His work also blesses the homes of many in the form of high-quality art prints, which the studio makes in-house in order to ensure that they remain accessible to everyone regardless of their earthly means.
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Moving to Edmonton
In August, my family and I once again found ourselves on the move. The opportunities that led us out west in the first place presented themselves in new and exciting ways in the Albertan capital city of Edmonton. We had thought of the home we had found outside Red Deer as a place where we …
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Recent Icon Articles
The Return of our Icon Prints
This summer at Conestoga Icons has been focused on a project: To reintroduce the studio’s fine art icon prints. After the move to Alberta last year, all the papers and equipment used to create our prints stayed in their moving boxes while the space took shape and other work in the studio took precedence. However, …
Saints Zenaida and Philonella
Sts. Zenaida and PhilonellaThe Charitable Physicians— October 11th — The story of Zenaida and Philonella is not well known in the Catholic Church, but it really should be. These two early Christian saints were bright, intelligent women who are the first canonized medical doctors for their work as physicians in the church. Through them we …
The Soldiers and The Fiery Furnace
With the angel and the youths depicted in The Fiery Furnace, all that was left was the rendering of the soldiers in the bottom third of the icon. And, it was here that I think the vision inspired by St. Basil’s commentary on the nature of fire in consumption and illumination really took form. The …
Building The Mt. Carmel Altar
This summer the studio was blessed to be building an altar for the Mt. Carmel Spirituality Centre outside Edmonton, Alberta. If you’d like to see the altar’s progress, please feel free to view the regularly updated photo journal of it’s building found here: Building the Altar of Mt. Carmel
The Consecrated Altar
And so, with the Archbishop pouring out holy chrism oil onto the altar and proceeding to spread it across the altar table’s entire surface with his hand, the altar at Mt. Carmel is consecrated!
Sealing the Altar
I was honoured to be invited to seal the altar during the chapel’s consecration. So, with the relics safely entombed, I set the table’s stone in place and sealed it in an act of completion.
Waiting for a blessing
Now the altar waits for the Bishop to come and consecrate it (and the new chapel) for use. My boys and I have been invited to attend and I’m looking forward to it next week.