Icons by Marchela Dimitrova

Marchela Dimitrova is Bulgarian, married to a Bulgarian Orthodox Priest. An artist from an early age, her interest in icons began in 1996. She studied for two years with a master and was then awarded the title of master-iconographer. She works in the traditional Byzantine style and her work appears in a great number of churches and monasteries - mainly orthodox but including Portestant and Catholic - around the world. She uses traditional Byzantine techniques painting in egg tempera and using 24 carat gold leaf. The roots of the icon do not lie in art, they lie in the spiritual realities at the heart of the Christian faith. Because every formal aspect of an icon has a spiritual significance the traditional rules must be stricly followed. Iconography is now rightly acclaimed as one of the significant art forms of the European spirit and, perhaps, the sole, pictorial form of sacred art in the Christian tradition.

Marchela was the first Artist in Residence at the Alde Valley Spring Festival from 2009 - 2010 at White House Farm, Great Glemham, Suffolk and she has been a featured artist at subsequent festivals.