Sailboat Harbor, Boston

During her training at the icon painting workshop in St. Alexis Cathedral in Moscow, Liudmila Kondakova was taught that beauty is in the detail, and detail is almighty. As part of this education, she learned the different exercises that helped form the basis of her exquisite technical skill. There she practiced techniques such as developing a very straight line with a very fine brush. While learning how to develop a very straight line with a very fine brush, you are taught a special breathing technique, to help you stabilize the brush stroke. These instructions, combined with the spiritual guidance of the monks, instilled in the young artist a sense that art is sacred, and the act of painting is an extension of the contemplative life. She starts painting from the farthest background area and then moves forward throughout the piece. From the darkest parts of the painting to the lightest, as if she is bringing her composition from darkness to light. “Sailboat Harbor, Boston” is a 9.5 x 7