About Christine Hales

Forming Community

The American Association of Iconographers was formed to create community amongst iconographers working in the United States as well as abroad, and to foster a sense of relationship to those Iconographers working in Europe and Russia. The notion of developing a particular American style of Icon writing is one that belongs to the twenty-first century.  This blog will post all related links and articles to help individual Iconographers to form their own opinions and associations.

Christine Simoneau Hales has been writing icons since a 1996 photo shoot in France with her husband, Mick Hales, introduced her to the beauty and power of icons.  Mick was photographing the book, “Monastic Gardens”, and at a convent in St. Georges des Gardes, Christine had an encounter with their then Iconographer Sister Myriam, that changed the course of her life. From that meeting Christine realized that all she had been searching for in art and spiritual life was contained in the process of Icon writing.  She then studied all over the world with Master Iconographers and traveled to Russia with 22 other Iconographers in 2006 to gain a better understanding of the power and beauty of Icons.

Artist Statement

“When I first encountered Icons at a beautiful convent in France, I knew that I had discovered a powerful visual language that could communicate all that I yearned to do as an artist. I set out to learn all that I could, studying with Olga Polkhine, Vladislav Andreyv, the Nuns of New Skete, Peter Murphy, and reading  countless books.

After a trip to Russia to see the Icons, I realized that the absence of a structured system of Iconography schools provides a possibility of community amongst the unique and varied expressions of contemporary spirituality in Europe and America today. In accordance with Byzantine spirituality, liturgy and thought,  Iconographic languages affirm the possibility of communion with God and the development of fellowship and shared common goals.”  Christine Simoneau Hales

FINE ART AND ICON PAINTING

Christine is an award winning professional artist : www.christinehalescom  with many public murals to her credit as well as having private collectors of her contemporary paintings and Icons .  Christine holds a BFA in painting from the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, and an MS in Art Therapy from the College of New Rochelle.  She has had over twenty one person exhibitions internationally of her paintings and Icons:  her passion is painting and teaching, in that order!  Click here to see upcoming Icon Classes.  Or here.

To commission a work or enquire about an Icon, Visit NewChristianicons.com

Visit her website and see the page on  Icon commissions for more information, or email with any questions:

christine@newchristianicons.com.