Immanuel Icons
an orthodox christian iconography studio
in pittsburgh, pennsylvania
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I based this on extant photos of my patron saint. She was an iconographer (among other things) and the icon in her hand is based on a surviving icon we have of hers.
Immanuel Icons Studio takes commissions from churches and individuals for icons in the traditional, Byzantine style.  Icons are always prayerfully hand-written using egg tempera and gold leaf on a board custom-made using true gesso.



THE ICONOGRAPHER OF IMMANUEL ICONS
By choosing the name Immanuel Icons I am not trying to hide behind a "royal we" but rather retain the anonymity that is so central to the ethos of iconography.  Iconographers do not sign our names to the icons because we are mere vessels, not artistic geniuses or masters.  Some iconographers write on the back, "through the hands of..." or even "through the sinful hands of..."  I use the name "Immanuel Icons" so you can find me and because Christ is truly the "Icon" (literally image) of "God-with-Us."  Alleluia!

I find the tradition of anonymity freeing and I find that following prescribed rubrics is not only more creative than you might imagine, but also uplifting in a way akin to praying the liturgy amidst your community.  I join other iconographers in not improvising on the style or creating my own subject matter.  Praying my icons into being along with the "cloud of witnesses" of the Church is more uplifting than marketing my own creative genius ever could be!

My name is Randi Maria Sider-Rose and my patron saint is Saint Maria of Paris, a canonized monastic, mother, and iconographer-saint of the Orthodox Church who ran a hospitality house in Paris, taking in Jews during the occupation of Nazis.  She was martyred in the camps herself.  

I have been writing icons for 30 years, beginning with studying at the Mt. Angel Abbey Iconography Institute in Oregon, the Prosopon school, and with a couple teachers here in Pennsylvania, all on a Lilly grant (thank you, Fund for Theological Education!).  I have returned to Mt. Angel for the advanced program more than once and as a private student of one of the three wonderful teachers there.

I lived in Russia and Latvia for two and a half years (as a student and later as a Fulbright Scholar focusing on religion) and I completed the M.Div. at the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, where I focused on iconography.  I've led hands-on as well as art historical iconography workshops in Chicago, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh and elsewhere for students aged 9 through 97 (really!), as well as taking private students.  You can see examples of my experience on the Iconography Workshops and Talks page.  Current classes are listed at the top of this page, with links to sign up.

Now I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I have been blessed by His Grace Bishop Thomas to pursue the work of iconography.   I and my family attend St. Moses the Black Orthodox Mission Parish.
Randi Maria Sider-Rose of Immanuel Icons (me!)
Saint Maria of Paris (Skobstova) was an iconographer, mother, and monastic of our time (1891-1945).  A leader in civic affairs and mother of three in her younger years, when her little daughter Anastasia died of an illness she resolved to become a mother to the larger world.  Under spiritual guidance, this resolve eventually took a monastic turn.  As a nun active in the world, Mother Maria ran a hospitality house for the poor and marginalized in Paris, which included a stable-turned-chapel with icons hand-painted and embroidered by herself.  During the Nazi occupation, this became a hospitality house for Jews.  Mother Maria was taken to the Ravensbruck concentration camp because of her efforts to hide Jews, where she was known to minster to those around her and sustain herself spiritually by trading food for embroidery thread to sew textile icons.  She was eventually martyred in the camps and was canonized by the Orthodox Church.