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, as summer approached this year, an exciting opportunity appeared to revisit making these important works of the studio …
While her older brothers and sisters had jobs for the summer, my youngest daughter, Elise, was still too young for such work and would be home alone for much of the summer. She is also set to be going on pointe in her ballet classes this fall, and the shoes necessary for that are pretty expensive, and her allowance wasn’t going to allow her to afford them. After talking about it together, we decided the studio would hire her to work a couple hours each day to help produce our prints again.
This work over the summer has been a joy for both of us, but it was not without its challenges. After a year of storage, our professional ink-jet printer, many of the inks had dried out, and it was only after a lot of cleaning that we could get the quality of print we needed to work again. And, some of the packaging, etc. (which I’m sure I’d packed) couldn’t be located. However, in every case, the challenge led us to invent something even better than we’d used before.
One of the details we were excited to add this summer was a line drawing of The Annunciation to the print’s cover. It took us quite a bit of effort to get everything lined up, but the result adds a layer of beauty to the work. Now, when receiving your icon print, hopefully, you’ll experience a little of the mystery around the angel Gabriel’s pronouncement of the blessing brought into this world by Jesus Christ and embodied by his mother, Mary.
In the end, we’ve created beautiful 8×10 prints using the highest quality paper and ink to create artworks of lasting beauty and value. The paper has a matte finish that shares the same felt as the original egg tempera paint of the work. It is also archival, meaning it has a neutral acidity and will not degrade over the years. The printer and ink used create genuine glacée prints, the same artists used to create fine art reproductions. If adequately protected, such inks are rated to remain colour-fast for two centuries. All this means that the studio’s prints are not cheap or disposable images for decoration but artworks of beauty that will bless a home for generations.
As we enter into the month of September, many changes are taking place. Here in Alberta, the leaves are already beginning to change colour, and we’re busy collecting the last of our produce (as well as getting our chickens ready for their first winter in the great north!). All around the world, students and teachers are getting ready to begin another year of studies, and with the summer holidays coming to a close, work starts again for most of us.
As you put the final touches in place for these changes in your life, we hope these icon prints will offer the presence of the saints amid the hustle and bustle happening right now at home, in new dorms, and in workplaces.
To celebrate the reintroduction of our icon prints, from September 1st to 15th, all prints are 20% off and offered with free shipping. Use the code Fall2023 to receive this discount on your entire purchase.
Thank you for your continued support of the studio and its work. God bless.