The great gift - the Holy Family icon itself

26th September 2017

Dearest friends of mum and dad,

As promised, here are some more detailed photographs of the icon.  Many of you who saw the icon on the day of the party asked for photos, but these are also for those who sadly couldn't join us on the day.  We will also post them on the website. 

The day was so remarkable and so precious.  Mum and Dad were bowled over by it all - by the presence and love and generosity of those who are dear to them.  Thank you, all, for making it what it was.

Mum, Dad, and the three of us were so deeply touched by the letters, emails and other messages we received in the weeks following the party - and are still receiving.  We are just so grateful for the gift that you all are to mum and dad, and to us.

With all our love,
the daughters Grey

p.s. the photo of the Grey's and dear Claire above, taken on our arrival back at the Cottage after church, was taken by the great Nigel Winser. Many many thanks to him. The photo of the icon installed in its home in the Library is taken by Dad, and all the others by Martin.

18th August - rooted in love

18^th August

Dearest all,

We have received our final donation and have reached the amazing sum of £4500. 

We couldn't be more grateful for your generosity.  It's been a joy to make this gift happen for mum and dad as a symbol and sign of the love and esteem of us all.  Thank you.  

To give you the final break-down: £3500 is the cost of making the icon itself.  Added to this is £200, the price of the 4 hand-made silver hinges for the doors - which we hope you will agree are beautiful.  The remainder, a sum of £800, is going to the two charities: the Pathshala photography institute (http://pathshalainstitute.org) and the Rosemary Foundation hospice (https://www.rosemary-foundation.org.uk).

The icon is now finished at last, but only just (as of last night) so rather than post photos at this stage, it makes more sense for you to hang on for the real thing tomorrow.  We think Mum and Dad are still unaware of all this, so please keep stum until the icon is given to them after the meal and speeches. We are so excited to see you tomorrow - and we hope you are as thrilled with the gift as we are.  (For those who aren't coming to the party, we will post photos on the website after the party.)

With much love and anticipation,

the daughters Grey

15th July - Icon board gessoed and gilded

15th July

Dearest All,

After so much enthusiasm about the last set of photos, we thought we'd send through a few more. 

The first shows the board with the linen cloth glued on to it. 

The second is the first layer of gesso (finely ground chalk and rabbit skin glue). Gessoing takes about 12 hours even for something this small - it needs 12-15 layers!
The third shows it fully gessoed but not sanded.

The fourth shows is the board fully sanded. The sanding for this piece took Martin three whole days with numerous different grades of sanding! This is especially important for gilding as the gold requires a very smooth surface. 

The fifth photo shows the icon with 10 layers of 'bole' - the under-layer for the gilding. The red brings out a lovely warmth under the gold.

The sixth photo shows the icon after gilding with 23ct gold leaf. It will then be very highly polished with the implements on the left.

More photos will come as soon as we have them.

Thank you so much again for joining us in making this amazing gift happen.

Much much love to you all

2nd July First photos of the icon board as raw wood

2^nd July 2017

Dearest all,

You will shortly receive an email asking you *not* to give Mum and Dad presents at the party.  Mum insisted that we send it, which is a rather good sign as it suggests (amazingly) they really don't know anything about our secret plans for the icon present!

So please ignore the message...(and do continue to feel free to give them your own gift if you want to!).

Attached are a few photos of the icon board before it is gessoed (a rabbit-skin and chalk glue which is the fine plaster onto which the egg tempera is painted).  

Icons look rather unimpressive during their initial stages of design, but if we have any more decent photos to send you we will.  They will also be posted on the website.

With much love,

Carmody (representing the daughters Grey)