Icons by Kathleen Bordo Crombie
About the Iconographer
Kathleen Bordo Crombie
Kathleen Bordo Crombie is an accomplished iconographer who has written more than 40 icons to date. Her icons can be found in several private collections, chapels and churches, including the Cathedral of The Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit (“Our Lady of Philermos”) and The Shrine of Jesus The Divine Mercy (“Jesus The Divine Mercy” and “Our Lady of Guadalupe”). She retired from Right to Life of Michigan to spend more time with her family, travel the world, deepen her Catholic faith through study and pilgrimages, and continue commissions and special projects as a working iconographer. She is also a writer and speaker concerning her personal Catholic faith journey, religious iconography, pro-life topics and more.
Kathleen is a is Consecrated Marian Catechist under the direction of Leo Raymond Cardinal Burke, a graduate of the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan, a blog writer for W.I.N.E. (Women In the New Evangelization), a member of the Board of Directors for The Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums - Michigan Chapter, a parishioner/lector at The Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn, MI, and a volunteer serving at The Shrine of Jesus The Divine Mercy.
"As an iconographer, I realize that iconography is a charism; a gift of grace given to someone for the benefit of others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes a charism as: 799 – "Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world." Reproductions of several original icons, by my hand, are made available for purchase through The Shrine of Jesus The Divine Mercy. It is my wish that all proceeds from the sale of these reproductions go directly to the Shrine in support of their ministry; it is my gift back to the Lord and His Church."
Kathleen Bordo Crombie
What is an Icon?
An icon is not just a painting – it is theology in line and color that traditionally began with the Apostle Luke. Icons are always meant to teach, not just through the image itself, but with all that went into its creation.
To the viewer, the icon is meant to be a meeting place between the now and eternity through the divine image – a face-to-face conversation with Jesus, Mary, the angels and saints. Because an icon is a conversation that begins with our visual senses, it is considered a written language. When one paints an icon, they’re really writing the visual language for others to read and understand. That’s why we call a person who paints an icon an iconographer. The Greek word “icon” means “image”, and the second part of the word “grapher”, refers to someone who writes. Therefore, an iconographer is someone who writes images, but also steeps their work in prayer at all times.
Every color you see in an icon is meant to have meaning. The paint is applied to the board in layer upon layer of thin coats of paint – like painting with smoke. Every gesture or position of a hand, head or glance of the eyes is meant to convey meaning -- a teaching. In short, an icon is meant to be a doorway to the divine where we step through in prayer.
