BlessedMart - How it all started...
Hello everyone and thanks for visiting!
We are Miko and Antonia, Orthodox Christians.
In 2012 we started with the idea of supporting the popularization of Bulgarian icons abroad. Bulgaria is one of a few countries in the world which helped to sustain the icon traditions during the centuries.
We collaborate with some of the most talented and recognized iconographers in Bulgaria and members of the Bulgarian Iconographic Association, as well as with professional hagiographers from Greece and Romania. Our icons have been sent to private collections, galleries, and churches in over 70 countries around the world. The hundreds of positive reviews from satisfied customers are proof of the high quality of workmanship and good service.
We currently make icons in old Byzantine, Russian, and Greek styles. Most of the icons listed in our shop are hand-painted by our in-house iconographers. We also make traditional icons via the silkscreen technique.
For all icons, we use traditional linden or pine wood. Some icons feature horizontal support braces of stronger wood like oak or walnut.
The process of making an icon involves several steps: preparing the boards, applying the chalk primer, gilding the background with gold leaf, transferring the image contours to the board, applying the darker tones first, and when the icon is fully completed, we varnish it for long-lasting protection.
In our free moments, we enjoy working with pure natural beeswax. Currently, we make 3 types of beeswax candles available in our shop: thin tapers, standard votives, and tealights. The tapers are made traditionally: dipping the cotton wicks in melted beeswax until the proper thickness is achieved. The other candles are hand-poured. We use aluminum cups for the tealights and mold for the votives.
We guarantee the originality and authenticity of our products.
Shop with confidence!
Thank you!
Miko, Antonia, and the BlessedMart team!
