Iconography with Suzanne Schleck
The Gospel in Line and Color
February 3-9, 2024
About the Instructor
Suzanne Schleck
From Whiting, NJ, Suzanne returns for her 19th year of teaching icon painting with egg tempera at Kanuga. She is a retired public school art teacher who has been learning to paint icons since she met an Episcopal priest and iconographer, The Rev. John Walsted in1989. She worked with him until his death in 2014. She has also had the opportunity to take workshops with Brother Robert Lentz, the Prosopon School, Hexameron, the Rev. Peter Pearson and Fred Wessel.
Suzanne began teaching the egg tempera icon conference at Kanuga in 2005 at the invitation of Louise Shipps, who founded this conference in 1999. Suzanne has taught icon painting retreats and given talks at various churches in NJ and the East Coast, including St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Richmond, VA, Trinity Wall Street, St. John’s in Washington, CT, the Gray Center in Canton, MS and in her own parish, Christ Church in Toms River, NJ. Her icons reside in homes and churches around the country, and she recently completed four icons of local saints for St Luke’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury, NC (stlukessalisbury.net) as a part of its Becoming Beloved Community icon project. She was also blessed to complete five icons for a series of icons of Anglo-Catholic saints which now reside at St. Clements Episcopal Church, Seattle, WA (www.theanglocatholics.com). Suzanne has enjoyed living on the edge of the New Jersey Pine Barrens in Whiting with her husband and two children since 1976.
About Val Redpath, Conference Chaplain
The Reverend Valerie Tolocka Redpath has served as the chaplain for this icon conference since 2007, providing pastoral care, preaching, and leading worship. Val observes “It has been a joy to serve as chaplain over the years and experience the faithful and caring community that forms among the participants.” She has a BS degree in Nursing from Seton Hall University and received her M.Div. from General Theological Seminary. Val serves as a supply priest in the Diocese of New Jersey. She has served as a hospice chaplain as well as Rector of two parishes. She met Suzanne Schleck many years ago while attending her home parish, Christ Episcopal Church, in Toms River, NJ.
A Parable of Hope
Enjoy the beauty of Kanuga while painting an icon with retreat leader, Suzanne Schleck. Using the ancient medium of egg tempera we will paint sacred images in layers, working from the darkest foundational colors to the very lightest, alternating light and color. As layer upon layer of light is added, a face emerges from the darkness, and we see that in both form and content an icon is a parable of hope.
Our retreat includes daily Eucharist, blessing of our hands, Noonday prayer and Evening prayer, silence, and times for exploring the grounds and sitting together for great conversation.
Both beginners and more experienced iconographers will find this a rewarding experience.
