About The Artist

Grace Zazzaro grew up in New York in a large family. Her life has always been divinely guided. Grace has spent years helping others to understand the spiritual life which then lead her to a life in art, history and painting icons. Iconography has been her focus for over a decade, leading her to an in-depth study of Christian art. Grace's education began at The Chicago Art Institute where her studies started with embellishment, beading and design.  She has earned an AA degree in arts and sciences.  She started studding icon painting in 1998 in various workshops. The past eight years Grace has studied iconography under the Izograph School founded in Moscow, Russia. In addition; she has studied icon painting with Seraphic Restorations and in both schools has a tutelage that still lasts today. She has lived in and traveled to England, Ireland, France, Roma, Italy and Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Russia to immerse herself in ancient art, icons and history. Grace has organized gallery exhibitions; A Life’s Retrospective remembering the life of Sr. Jeanette Serra and her works in iconography in 2004.  And has organized, participated and executed a show of master works in the Exhibit Izograph in 2008. With renowned icon painter Ksenia  Pokrovsky.  Grace paints Icons for people, churches and private collections. Grace's studio, Athella, is located in her home in Mystic, Connecticut and is a central part of her family life.

  My Journey and Thoughts ...

   I started writing Icons in 1998 taking various extensive instructional courses with Iconographers around the USA.

 I decided I needed to emerse myself into the heart of Icons. Not knowing what to expext I traveled to Russia.

Russia had adopted Christianity over 1000 years ago.

 I toured Moscow, St. Petersburg and the famous Golden Ring; Sergiev Posad, Pereyasslavl-Zalessky, Rostov the Great, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Bogoliubovo, Suzdal, and Yuryev-Polskoy. The Golden Ring is a tourist route running through a series of cities and towns in central Russia. They are remarkable for their ancient history and abundance of historical and cultural monuments.

        Trinity ~ St. Sergius Monstary-Sergiev Posad, Russia 

When I landed in Russia for the first time I could only think about seeing an onion dome. I remember seeing glimpses of the Russian landscape as a child. I had been told about the exquisite architecture but was not prepared for the breathtaking sight of Moscow. I was impressed by the deep rich history that spanned through centuries all pointing to this moment. I was captured by the profound vastness of Red Square and its Kremlin surrounding the beauty of the Churches it housed inside. The State buildings encompassed the rule of a country as a whole and in the new Russia the Orthodox faith blossomed again into the fullness it had always strived to become.

St. Basil’s Cathedral, 15th century built by architect Postrnik Yakovlev and commissioned by Ivan the Terrible, pulled me in at first glance with the Ice cream cone shaped domes swirling with pastel colors and its brick towers. Inside it houses nine chapels topped with an onion dome each commemorating a victorious assault on the city of Kazan. The glorious Cathedral was built on the edge of Red Square.

 St. Basil's Cathedral ~ Moscow, Russia 

The grandeur of the exterior and the interior of Churches throughout Russia’s golden ring is repeated emphasizing elaborate design. Onion domes adorned every church some glistened from miles away. Color chosen for the dome represented a spiritual idea. Baroque, Classicism, pseudo-Gothic and Empire style influences the outer designs of churches. While inside murals of frescos or white stuccowork covered much of the walls. I was moved by the lavish design on doors; vaults adorned with murals, various molded decorations, ornamental panels and carved gilded iconostasis.

Moscow, Russia

   I traveled to countless museums, holy sites, and Monastery’s. The history within these places can be so concentrated that I felt I was in a dream state at times. I met with Priests, Abbots, Monks, Nuns, Babushkas, people, and Iconographers, all witnesses of the faith wanting to share deep stories about their personal accounts. I was greatly impressed by the lasting fulfillment inside of me. While in the presence of these holy people, places and things they gave me more than precious time, insight and knowledge. They gave me a glance of magnificence that I have repeated in my work.

   One Religion for a country, I thought this was not possible but I witnessed city after city of devout Christians flocking to the places that were sacred. They blessed themselves at the myrrh streaming Icons, took water from the blessed holy water wells, lit candles in front of Icons of patron saints and left gold jewelry in thanks for a prayer answered by God; as asked through prayer to the miracle working Icons.

   Developing a personal relationship with the divine is what the Icon represents; a window or door way into Heaven. Icons invite you into the love of Christ.

 My Thoughts,

I am inspired by the master to student tradition. Where the art of Iconography is handed down from master to student then repeated. Iconography has continued to change throughout the ages because of outside influences and many traditional images from the Byzantine era were lost. I see the repeated images of Christ continue to change because of the evolvement of time, through the hand of the artist depicting them, and other influences. The language of the religious image and its content are governed by the canon of rubrics set by the early Christian Church to preserve the integrity of the images depicted. I continue to replicate in my work the fundamental purpose the early Christian Church intended with the union of theology, art, and expressing a traditional ecumenical image.

  Vatican Museum ~ Roma Italy

 I was fortunate enough to meet Sr. Jeanette Serra S.S.C. Before her death I assisted with her Icon classes, and she taught me about devotion, determination and friendship. I organized a Memorial Art show honoring her life’s work called “A Life’s Retrospective." Her work is archived in my private studio and may be seen by request.

 Currently I am a student under Ksenia Pokrovskaya and her daughter Anna Gouriev, a tutelage that has lasted over the years.

 Ksenia has offered me the Master-to-student tradition I have spoken about on my site. She started the society of Iconography painters in Moscow called Izograph, and is connected to a lineage of Masters such as Sister Juliania Sokolova; who walked the same grounds of many great Iconographers such as Theophanies and Andre Rublev.

   In addition to my work with Ksenia, I have taken and assisted in workshops at St. Tikhons Orthodox monastery for Hexaemeron, a non-profit 501c (3) organization which supports the creation of sacred art and sacred arts education.

~Member of Connecticut   Academy of Fine Arts, (CAFA).

~Member Mystic Arts Center of Connecticut; Elected Artist.

~Council for Christian Arts of New London County;

~Recipient of the Master Piece Collection                   Award        

~My Icons can be found in private homes and churches around the country.

~I live in Mystic, CT. with my Husband and our two Daughters.