"Come and See" Joseph's Page

Joseph's Page

Icons, Books & Art

Home Icons Books Art How to order Contact Me Order Form About Us The King's Jubilee

While I was working on the St. Stephen's Course of Studies in 1999, a part of the requirements was to do an educational project in the parish setting each year. My spiritual father assigned the updating of the documentation of the iconography at St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church in Souderton, PA. This was to include the troparia and the stories to go with each of the icons. Since, quite a few icons had been added since the last edition, it was too complicated to just describe locations, so I had a professional photographer in the parish, Colin Michael Miller, take pictures of them all. I then edited them into an 88 page 4.25" x 5.5" booklet, printed on onion skin paper, so it can fit in your pocket. Well, one thing led to another.

(This booklet has gone through (Fall 2007) its fifth revision and had to be expanded to 5. 5" x 8.5", 92 pages. Almost all of the icons have been re-photographed since the first booklet. And this is the first time it is being made available for sale to the general public. See it here.)

We were asked to be godparents for Josiah McGraw. There weren't any commercially available icons of St. Josiah the Tenderhearted. Josiah's dad, Philip, contacted Father Josiah in California who shared a print of the icon he had commissioned. I mounted some copies on boards, using 3M products, with mixed success. I learned how to decoupage and experimented with different varnishes until I had a decent product. Since I had these wonderful pictures, I gave decoupaged prints to friends at church for special occasions. People asked how they could get these. I told them have an occasion when I could give them a gift. They were not satisfied with this answer. They told me I should sell them. Finally, our priest told me I should sell them. So I did.

I so enjoyed this. People would buy an icon and then thank me again and again for making it available. I decided I would try to make this a real business. I wanted to be legitimate and give the iconographer his due, so Nick Papas and I got together and came to a royalty agreement on a handshake. I have permission to sell prints of his icons for 5 years. Talking to him made me aware that many outlets that are selling icons never gain permission or pay royalties to iconographers. He has had at least one of his marketed without his consent. When he confronted the vendor about it, he was ignored. That's why the copyright is featured so prominently here.

The hand decoupage process makes a nice icon, but is too labor intensive to do on a commercial scale. So these icons are heat laminated then mounted with sheet adhesive onto 1/2" Microstrand Wheatboard. This protects them and minimizes the possibility of warping. The edges are handpainted with ultra-low VOC paint, then the back is varnished with low VOC varnish. There is a horizontal buttonhole slot is routered in the back for hanging level.

My wife, Bethann, and I have four daughters and five grandchildren. They are all fine Christian women and just one is still living at home, who graduated with an Associates Degree in Visual Communications. One is living with her aunt to help her. Two of them are married and live in the area. One of those has three boys and the other has two girls. We all attend St. Philip's.

Our mailing address is:

"Come and See" Icons, Books & Art, 27 North Front Street, Souderton, PA 18964

We do not post our phone number on the website, because it is a frustrating experience to try to get through to us on the phone. We do share it with customers, however, just in case.

We also coordinate a ministry to the homeless and poor in Philadelphia called The King's Jubilee. The newsletter for this ministry is now posted on this website as well.

Grace, peace & love,

Cranford Joseph Coulter

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