This list of courses will all be at Many Years Farm, except for the Intensive Iconography, course which will be held at St Anna Orthodox Church in Louisa VA.
Gilding Course by Colette Kalvesmaki
This class will show how to oil gild an icon. Every day is very important to the next. The students can bring any icon they want to gild, but we will only gild the halo. The cartoon needs to be transferred to the board before the class.
When: April 29, 30, and May 1st– 10 am for 1 hour or so except the last class will be about 2 to 3 hours.
Cost: $125
Students will provide their own gessoed board with drawing completed on board before class. Each student will receive 4 sheets of gold for their icon with class. We will carefully go through each step and assistance will be there if needed. Any extra gold will be $4 a sheet. Please remember to bring a notebook!
If you have any questions contact Colette at paraskeve@gmail.com. You can call but texting is advised- 240 6761350. To sign up, click below;
Stone Carving with Bethany Lee
Saturday, April 26th, 9:30 AM-1PM. Lunch included!
More information is on the flyer-click below.
Cost $225. Includes the stone and lunch. Take home your work and display! To sign up-click below!
Coming in the summer
A day of Old English poetry with Dr. Beth Frazier
Nū scylun hergan hefaenrīcaes Uard!
Did you know that this is the first line of the oldest poem… in English? Come learn what it
means and how the English language of Old English devotional poetry has evolved over time. Join us over tea and horderves at our beautiful farm while learning this interesting topic, meeting people and having fun!
This discussion will be led by a medieval literature scholar Dr. Elizabeth Frazier.
From Old English to Anglo-Norman and Middle English—all the way to the English of
Shakespeare, which is considered modern—our language has changed radically. Together, we
will read the oldest surviving poem in English, Caedmon’s Hymn, a song celebrating Creation.
We will read the original version alongside a modern translation in order to gain some familiarity
with Old English. Then we will turn to The Dream of the Rood, an extremely moving meditation
on the Passion from the point-of-view of the tree that becomes the Cross. We will see how
Anglo-Saxon Christians emphasized Christ’s kingship, presenting a heroic, warrior Christ as
opposed to the more familiar Man of Sorrows. Along the way, participants will learn some key
features of Old English poetry and will examine images of relevant manuscripts to bring the
poems to life. Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien will enjoy encountering texts that helped inspire The Lord
of the Rings.
We’ll finish up with a creative writing exercise of our own.
Students will receive a packet from the Penguin edition of these texts and a notebook.
Date and time to come! We think in the summer of 2025. Contact Colette if you would like more information. paraskeve@gmail.com or 240 676 1350 please text.
Biography:
Elizabeth Frazier served previously as Assistant Professor of English for Franciscan University
of Steubenville’s study-abroad campus in Austria. She currently works for the St. Anselm
Institute for Catholic Thought at the University of Virginia. Beth received her Ph.D. at UVa,
where she studied medieval literature.
