Iconic
Iconography takes center stage at Toledo’s First Weekend
Toledo, a small mill town with a vibrant artistic side, hosts a monthly event where galleries and studios open their doors to the public and artists show their processes. Start this year off with a splash of color by joining First Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 1 and 2 .
The deep red walls of the Yaquina River Museum of Art are the perfect backdrop for the current show “Promise,” a collection of 24 icons ranging in age from 19th Century to contemporary, on display through the end of January.
And the perfect way to enjoy them? Through the eyes of one of the creators, iconographer Paul Bannon, who will walk visitors through his techniques and the spirituality of writing icons on Sunday, Jan. 2.
Bannon has been living and working in Toledo for five years. He became an Orthodox Christian in 1995 while living in California and began writing icons 15 years ago under the tutelage of Fr. Luke before taking a trip to pursue iconography at Mount Athos in Greece, a peninsula in the Aegean Sea that has been dedicated to male monastics for more than 1,500 years. He also spent time at the Skete of St. Andrew and studied with iconographer Fr. Joseph before moving to the Oregon Coast.
“I was fortunate to find Fr. Steven Soot, the Archpriest in Corvallis at St. Anne Orthodox Church, who comes to Newport every month to lead services at St. Patrick Orthodox Mission church,” Bannon said, adding that the church is temporarily located at All Nations Lutheran church, 358 NE 12th Street, in Newport while the congregation searches for a suitable permanent location.
Only accepting commissions from churches, Bannon presently works almost exclusively on iconography, writing frescos and smaller devotional icons. He has brought four icons written for the iconostasis, or wooden screen, for the planned new church and is currently working on two new works that he will bring to the talk.
Provenances are shown with works in this exhibition, which has authentic original icons and is a rare opportunity for the visitor, as most are in churches and homes.
Other artists whose works are in the show are Sherry Lynch of Portland, a retired founder of the Trinity Iconography Institute to the Episcopal Church; Robert Love of Newport, a lay Benedictine iconographer; and Judy Gibbons, a student of the Iconography Institute at Queen of Angels Monastery in Mt. Angel. Judy is also the widow of Michael Gibbons and serves as the director of the Michael Gibbons Signature Gallery, located across the street from the museum.
The Bannon presentation will begin at 1 pm.
The Yaquina River Museum of Art is located in Toledo at 151 NE Alder Street, and is open Friday through Sunday from noon to 4 pm. For more information go to yaquinarivermuseumofart.org or call 541-336-2797.
The Michael Gibbons Signature Gallery rings in the new year with “Margaret’s Landing,” a favorite print published by the New York Graphic Society of an original painting of a boat repair site on a South Bay road, painted in 1990. It’s often said that plein air artists are historians and this print fits into that description. Available matted and ready for framing.
From his Baptist family upbringing to his final Roman Catholic journey of faith, Michael held his beliefs out for all to see through his art.
Michael used his skills in art restoration in 2005 to refurbish the Baldacino of St. Mark Anglican Church in Portland. He rented scaffolding and spent five days cleaning and repainting the smoke-darkened ceiling canopy including the gold edging. It was in this church that he had been allowed to maintain a studio in a room formerly used for a convent. A pictorial record of his restoration work is shown on the wall in the current show in the museum.
In 2012, Michael and Judy joined the Roman Catholic Church and became members of Sacred Heart in Newport. Michael was a server for a year and then a lector, a position he dearly loved.
Co-founder of the Yaquina River Museum of Art with Judy and 11 others, Michael obtained the status of a non-profit for the museum with the goal of leaving a legacy of art to the community.
Michael Gibbons Signature Gallery is located at 140 NE Alder Street and is open Friday Sunday from noon to 4 pm. For more information, call 541-336-2797.
On Main Street, the Crow’s Nest Gallery and Studio feature a multitude of local artists and their unique works of art. Stop into the gallery space to see artisans at work. Founder of Crow’s Nest, Janet Runger, features her whimsical works of assemblage art — capturing the viewer’s imagination within her sculptural creations. Art lovers inspired by her work can make a unique piece of their own by visiting Runger’s shop of unique found objects. Also shown in Crow’s Nest are the works of Alice Haga, Val Bolen, Paula Teplitz, Jeff Gibford and Veta Bahktina.
Crow’s Nest Gallery and Studio is located at 305 N. Main Street and will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm.