What does calcium carbonate and soft serve ice cream have to do with each other? What country does lapis come from and why is it such an expensive pigment? What is the differences between igneous rock and sedentary rock? What gemstone becomes clear under UV light? So began the awesome lecture from Wayne Homens.
Gathering together to take notes and listen to his presentation about rocks, minerals and gems that are used in iconography, we learned quite a bit in the two hour gift of knowledge from this amazing rock hound!
We learned you can use some rocks in their natural state to write with, such as Jasper (you know we all had to play with it) we learned what constitutesthe MOH scale, where you can find diamonds in the United States (field trip!) why obsidian is called the “glass made by God” and why the harder the rock, the stronger the reflective light in the pigment.
People brought rocks to find out what they are and we welcome you to bring your own specimens for identification in the next session. Though Wayne brought boxes of specimens, we didn’t get around to all of them but had a great time poking through part of his collection! Wayne also invited all interested parties to his Third Thursday Rock Night. Beginning each 3rd Thursday from 6:00 pm until eyes begin to close, Wayne and Cathy welcome all. Please call Wayne on (410) 419-2963 if you’d like to attend. This gathering is held in Elkridge, MD so give Wayne a jingle to get directions.
Part Two of Wayne’s lecture and presentation is scheduled for Saturday, August 27th beginning at 10:00am, please join us for more fun with rocks, minerals and gems! We will grind materials into pigment for use and discuss the toxicity of certain pigments. OSHA masks will be provided and printed handouts will be available. Please RSVP with your attendance so we can make sure we have enough materials to go around. We will not have access to copy machines, so let us know!
We welcome two new members, Katie and Amy Elizabeth! Both learned the beginning of any icon–the prayers and of course, making their own egg emulsion. We spent the rest of the day working on icons and both Katie and Amy Elizabeth made great progress on the first step of their icon journey! We look forward to our guild meetings, making new friends and seeing others who love to write and pray together. All are welcome to visit with us anytime during the day–10:00am til 6:00pm on the last Saturday of each month.
Saturday, July 30th brings iconographer Deb Korluka is coming from Minnesota to discuss her icon journey and provide a book signing! We are going on a field trip Friday, July 29th to visit Hillwood Museum (www.m.hillwoodmuseum.org) where the Russian Sacred Arts Gallery is now open; with more than 200 liturgical objects on display, we will tour the mansion and the grounds then head into DC for a late lunch. All are welcome to join us there or if you need a ride, call Mick 410-303-2392. We’ll be leaving at 10:00am on 7/29 to head over to the museum. July 30th at 10:00am begins Deb’s lecture and presentation!
Our next icon workshop with Vladislav and Dmitri begins October 17 and runs til October 22, 2016. The registration form is online under the link titled “Workshops and Events” where you can download and mail it in. We’d love to see you participate in this extraordinary and ancient practice!
HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION!