It’s been a while since we updated about the status of the iconostasis. As you know we chose some very specific woods for use in the construction, and, while we were able to secure enough sheets of the Baltic birch from Russia for the panels, as well as the African bloodwood for the trim around the icons, the local Alabama aromatic cedar for the posts and cross beams have been a bit of a setback. Since we opted to locally-source the cedar from a small, independent sawmill operator here in Alabama, we had to get on a wait list for posts of this size; and, moreover, the first batch of posts twisted in the kiln-drying process, beyond what was able to be planed out to be usable. So we are waiting on posts from their next batch, before we can actually begin assembling the iconostasis. However, we have been assured by our craftsmen that the bulk of construction, once all the materials are in, will happen very quickly–they are expecting between 2-3 weeks.

However, we have gotten news from our iconographer that the new panel icons, of St John Maximovitch and St Luke of Crimea, for the new panels, are finished and will be shipping to us in another week or so (once the varnish has had sufficient time to dry). Included are the photos they sent of the new icons, and they are beautiful! We can’t wait to see this project’s first phase completed.