Traditional Icons

<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF LEFTMARGIN=0 TOPMARGIN=0 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 ONLOAD="preloadImages();"> <TABLE align=LEFT WIDTH=90% border=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0> <TR> <TD bgcolor="#BDD6DE" valign="top" WIDTH="129"><IMG SRC="/images/nav/traditional_01.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=171 ALT=""></TD> <TD valign="top" WIDTH="386"><IMG SRC="/images/nav/traditional_02.gif" WIDTH=386 HEIGHT=185 ALT=""></TD> <TD valign="middle" WIDTH="90%" ALIGN=CENTER><IMG VALIGN=MIDDLE ALIGN=CENTER SRC="/images/nav/wisdom.gif" WIDTH=186 HEIGHT=100 ALT="Wisdom"></TD> </TR> <TR> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#BDD6DE" rowspan=3><TABLE WIDTH=129 border=0 CELLPADDING=0 CELLSPACING=0> <tr> <TD> <IMG NAME="influence" SRC="/images/nav/influence.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=24 BORDER=0 ALT="Influence"> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <IMG NAME="gallery" SRC="/images/nav/gallery.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=23 BORDER=0 ALT="Gallery"></TD> </tr> <TR> <TD> <IMG NAME="ordering" SRC="/images/nav/ordering.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=26 BORDER=0 ALT="Ordering"></TD> </tr> <TR> <TD> <IMG NAME="theology" SRC="/images/nav/theology.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=39 BORDER=0 ALT="Theology of the Icon"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <IMG NAME="hospitality" SRC="/images/nav/hospitality.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=48 BORDER=0 ALT="On the Hospitality of Abraham"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <IMG NAME="artist" SRC="/images/nav/artist.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=33 BORDER=0 ALT="About the Artist"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <IMG NAME="home" SRC="/images/nav/home.gif" WIDTH=129 HEIGHT=20 BORDER=0 ALT="Home"></TD> </TR> </table> </td> <TD background="/images/nav/dedicate_back.gif" valign="top" colspan=2 align="center"> <IMG align="center" SRC="/images/samples/stjohn.gif" WIDTH=500 HEIGHT=130 ALT="By St. John"><BR> <TABLE WIDTH=100% border=0 CELLPADDING=10 CELLSPACING=0> <tr> <td class="text"> Proper viewing of this site requires a frames based browser.<br>  <br> <IMG NAME="Mary" SRC="/images/samples/samples/maryicon.gif" WIDTH=118 HEIGHT=163 ALT="Mary" hspace=4 vspace=10 align="right"><p class="text">Mr. Azkoul and Traditional Byzantine Iconography hand paints original icons to order using only high quality materials when processing your icon order. All icons are hand painted at the time of commission. No icons are pre-made. <p class="text">Since each icon is an original they have there own uniqueness. Icons of Christ or Orthodox Saints, the Theotokos, Angles, Family icons and Festal icons are available. Traditional Byzantine Iconography studios uses 23k pure gold leaf for the background or you may purchase icons with gold only in the halo with a painted background or no gold at all [<a href="new/ordering.asp">see ordering page for examples</a>]. The less the gold the lower the cost of the icon.. It is the icon itself that is important, gold is simply a matter of preference for aesthetical appearance, so the quality of the icon itself is not sacrificed. Mr. Azkoul's hand painted icons are made with high quality press-board that are saturated with rabbit skin glue, layered with a sheet of linen cloth and then gessoed and sanded to a smooth finish, and finally varnished. <p class="text"><IMG NAME="Theotokos" SRC="/images/samples/samples/theotokos.gif" WIDTH=101 HEIGHT=163 ALT="Theotokos" hspace=4 vspace=10 align="left">Your hand painted Byzantine icon is accomplished with close attention to detail. Mr. Azkoul approaches this sacred art of the Orthodox Church with faith, prayer, and fasting. The Holy Fathers teach us that iconography is a mystery of the Orthodox Church, just as the priesthood or, monasticism, marriage, baptism, etc are. <p class="text">Not anyone can be an iconographer. One must be a member of the Orthodox Church and chosen by God. Mr. Azkoul takes a humble approach to this holy work and he prays that this attitude reflects in his iconography. <p class="text"> The icons you purchase from Traditional Byzantine Iconography are durable to last generations. They are perfect for gifts such as a marriage present, or anniversary, or baby showers, baptisms, for a Godparent or Godchild, birthday's, etc. Or simply for no other reason other than we love Christ the Theotokos and His Saints. <p class="text"><IMG NAME="Moses" SRC="/images/samples/samples/moses.gif" WIDTH=126 HEIGHT=163 ALT="Moses" hspace=4 vspace=10 align="right">Our Lord God and Savoir, Jesus Christ, the Theotokos and all His Saints are literally present in their icons. The Holy Spirit is present as well . This is why icons are a mystery of the Orthodox Church. They give us comfort and peace of mind in times of sorrow and pain. They heal all our infirmities, spiritual and physical as well. They are our friends when we are lonely and we speak to them just as you and I would speak to our earthly friends or parents when we are in trouble or we feel helpless. They see us and hear us through their sacred icons. They speak to our minds and bless us when we call upon their help and reverence and kiss their icons. They are an encouragement when we doubt. Although icons are thought of as windows into heaven we must remember that they are also windows used in which those in heaven see us. Please consider purchasing hand painted Byzantine icons from Traditional Byzantine Iconography because icons are a very important part of the Christian lifestyle.</td> </tr> </table></TD> </tr> </TABLE> </BODY>