St. Virgin Divine Light Painting

Ventsislav Shtarkov was born on December 16, 1953 in the town of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. In 1972 he graduated from the Art High School in Sofia. In 1978 he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Veliko Tarnovo "St.St. Cyril and Methodius ”with the specialty of mural painting. After graduating from university he worked in an icon painting studio at the local History Museum. The studio is visited daily by tourists who get acquainted with the authentic way of making icons. Makes icons using original medieval Bulgarian technology. The wooden base is covered with fabric, primer, tempera painting and gilding according to an ancient recipe. Uses patina and various varnishes, such as varnish with a cracking effect. He spends a lot of time aging the icon so that it is as close as possible to the original icons in the churches. He also uses some technologies from Byzantine icon painting, such as the reliefs on his icons. His icons are in many private collections in Europe, Korea, Japan, Australia, India, USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The largest private collection of 76 of his icons is located in Nashville, USA and is owned by Dr. Richard Buchanan. Another collection of 18 icons is located in New York and is owned by Joseph Irizarri. / Ventsislav Shtarkov –Icons