A friendship formed through a shared love of iconography has been a source of ongoing encouragement for artists Sue Orchison and Good Samaritan Sister Geraldine Kearney as they each worked on significant commissions, the latest being Sue’s icon of St Patrick, unveiled recently in Melbourne’s Catholic cathedral.
By Debra Vermeer
Sue’s large 1.0m x 0.7m icon of St Patrick was unveiled and blessed by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli on 21 March during a Mass for students to celebrate Catholic Schools Week and St Patrick’s Day (17 March).
And in July 2023, at the Sisters of the Good Samaritan Chapter Gathering, Geraldine (Gerry) presented her commissioned icon of Mary Mother of Compassion, which now hangs in the Congregational Centre in Glebe.
Both works were not only an artistic journey for their writers, but a prayerful and spiritual journey as well.
Sue, who lives at Wamboin near Canberra, and Gerry, who lives in Campbelltown on Sydney’s southern outskirts, met in Bethlehem in 2018 when they both attended a workshop held by renowned iconographer Ian Knowles.
Since then, their friendship has continued to flourish as they pursued their love of painting or ‘writing’ icons.
Icons are said to be written rather than painted because they are telling a theological story of their subject, and they adhere to a precise geometric composition style, passed down through the centuries.
Sue Orchison with family in St Patrick’s Cathedral for the blessing of the icon by Archbishop Comensoli. Image: Archdiocese of Melbourne.
Sue’s first encounter with the artform came as the result of spotting a flyer advertising an iconography course as she walked past her local Catholic book shop.
“I was fascinated, but I thought I don’t really know what it is, and I really don’t like icons much and don’t understand them,” she said.
“Six months later, I walked past the bookshop again and there was another brochure, and I thought, ‘I’ll do it’. So, I started then, and I just loved it, and I haven’t stopped.”
That first iconography workshop was held at St Benedict’s Parish in Narrabundah by French-Russian iconographer Patrick Bernard. Sue has since taken a number of workshops with experts including Philip Davydov from Russia and Ian Knowles from Britain.
It was at Ian’s workshop in Bethlehem that she first met Gerry, who was on sabbatical and was just beginning to explore her interest in icons.
“I’ve always been arty, and was called on from time to time to do various things in that vein for the Congregation,” Gerry said. “But over the years, given my ministry commitments (including teaching, formation, counselling and interculturality), I didn’t have much time to develop anything in particular.
“I loved watercolour, did a little bit of oil painting and had an interest in icons, but I always found them a bit sad. But then I looked into them a bit more and discovered there was a calling there. So, when I was offered the opportunity to take this sabbatical, I knew I wanted to include the Holy Land.
“I turned 70 in Galilee and had Easter over there in the Holy Land and I went to the School of Icons in Bethlehem for two weeks, which is where I met Sue. We’ve remained good friends, and she has been my guru.”
Sue Orchison in her studio. Image: Sue Orchison.
Sue described her five months in Bethlehem with a friend and fellow-iconographer, living with a Christian Palestinian family as “life-changing”.
“It was just wonderful living in Bethlehem and getting to know the people and the culture and the foods and the holy places,” she said. “It was an incredible experience.”
And the opportunity to immerse herself in iconography in the Holy Land, with an expert teacher, was a dream come true.
“When I was young, I always liked painting or drawing and every now and again I would draw Jesus or Mary because I had a great love of Jesus and Mary,” Sue said.
“But as I grew older, I thought there’s so many images of Jesus and Mary, you don’t need me to do another, and so I didn’t do them. I would just paint landscapes or flowers or portraits.”
It wasn’t until she attended that first iconography workshop in Canberra that Sue once again began painting Jesus and Mary.
“In iconography there was an opportunity to paint Jesus and Mary legitimately with a purpose,” she said. “It was a whole new world and I thought, ‘this is where I was always meant to be’.”
Over the years, Sue took every opportunity to build on her skills, both with in-person workshops and online courses, and she now leads workshops.
Her first exhibition took place when she returned from Bethlehem, featuring both her own work and the work of other local iconographers. She sold a number of icons at that exhibition and realised there was a demand for more.
Sue Orchison’s icon of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Image: Sue Orchison.
Since then, Sue, who is a member of the National Liturgical Architecture and Arts Council, has been commissioned to complete many icons for churches, individuals and institutions, with one also hanging in the Apostolic Nunciature in Canberra.
“I’m fascinated that at this time of my life, in my 72nd year, I’m doing what I absolutely love, and have grown into being an iconographer,” she said.
“But the commissions come gently. God is very good. I told the Lord that he can be my business manager. And so, it’s amazing, but every time I finish an icon, I get another commission. The Lord is in charge of all that.”
The invitation to write an icon of the patron saint of Ireland for St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne was another unexpected turn in the road and sparked a spiritual journey into the life of the great saint, with its story of abduction, slavery, freedom, evangelising and church-building. While she worked, Sue played the well-known hymn with the words of the St Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer.
In consultation with Archbishop Comensoli, it was decided that the saint would be depicted holding St Patrick’s Cathedral itself, indicating protection and care for the Church and its people.
Other elements include a Celtic knot, a symbol of the Trinity, on his sleeve; Celtic crosses on his stole; and the shamrock, the three-leafed clover St Patrick used to explain the mystery of the Trinity.
Sue, along with her husband Geoff and daughter Charlotte, were invited to join Archbishop Comensoli on the sanctuary as he blessed the icon, in a moment of grace which was the culmination of many months of painstaking and prayerful artistic endeavour.
“The Lord’s timing is about being patient, and painting icons, for me, keeps you completely humble, because Scripture says God is the Creator. He is the master creator, and we are his apprentices … and so you paint an icon, but you really have to rely on God to be in the process and if he’s not, you can tell. So, it’s really prayer in painting,” she said.
Sister Gerry Kearney SGS with her icon of Mary Mother of Compassion. Image Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
Meanwhile, Gerry said Sue’s mentorship was a great help when she was asked by the Ritual Committee for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan Chapter to write a ‘Good Samaritan Mary’.
“When I was asked to write this icon, I was overwhelmed to say the least,” Gerry said. “As I reflected, I thought this was a wonderful opportunity to give back (to the Congregation) my gratitude for the wonderful opportunity I was given to embark on this road.”
After much research and prayer, Gerry discovered the history of the ancient icon of Virgin Mary Gerontissa in the Holy Monastery of Pantokratoras in Constantinople, which was considered miraculous for the oil which flowed from it during a time of severe famine.
Taking her inspiration from this story, Gerry created an icon entitled Mary Mother of Compassion and presented it to the Congregation during the Chapter Gathering.
“Mary Mother of Compassion for me is a symbol of our Good Samaritan Mary,” she said.
Gerry said the icon remembers and contemplates the sources of the Good Samaritan-Benedictine tradition that are symbolised with depictions of St Benedict’s cave and the water sources that bring fresh streams to the Good Samaritan spirit and mission.
“The jar of oil is ever overflowing; inviting us to respond daily with compassion to all we meet on the road. It bears the inscription of our insignia. The little plant that (Archbishop John Bede) Polding nurtured, continues today to grow in our midst, flowering and bearing fruit, nourished by our sources,” she said.
“And Mary Mother of Compassion will always walk with us along this road.”
Sister Gerry Kearney’s icon of St Joseph. Image: Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
Gerry has gone on to write more icons with Sue’s guidance and encouragement, including a recent one of St Joseph.
She is also part way through a major project of writing out the Rule of St Benedict in illustrated manuscript, a slow and intricate work that is leading her to an ever-deeper appreciation of the Rule that has underscored her religious life.
“I’ve come to have a deep love for it and at this time in my life, where I had a pretty rough year health-wise last year, it’s been a very great solace to print out the Rule and spend time with it. “It’s work that requires precision, with the Romanesque borders and the layers and layers of painting, but it’s a beautiful, beautiful thing to do and a beautiful place to be.”
