Founded in Edinburgh in 2013, we are Scotland’s only qualified school dedicated to teaching the ancient art of icon painting. For over a decade, we’ve welcomed students of all backgrounds, ages and abilities – from complete beginners who have never picked up a paintbrush, to experienced artists looking to learn new techniques and deepen their creative practice.
If you’ve never heard of icon painting before, here’s the short version: it’s one of the oldest painting traditions in the world, originating in the Byzantine Empire over a thousand years ago. Icons are sacred images, portraits of holy figures painted using egg tempera – a technique where paint is made from egg yolk mixed with dry pigments and applied in thin, luminous layers.
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The result is unlike anything made with modern paints, the colours glow. The process is slow, deliberate, and quietly absorbing. Many students describe learning it as one of the most calming and rewarding things they’ve ever done.
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You don’t need to be religious to paint icons, and you don’t need any prior experience in art. What helps is curiosity, and a willingness to slow down.
We believe that everyone has the capacity to create. Our mission is to make this remarkable art form accessible by providing a space where students feel genuinely welcomed, encouraged, and free to experiment.
We teach the foundations of traditional technique while always encouraging you to find your own voice. Whether you’re here for the history, the craft, the meditative quality of the practice, or simply because you want to try something completely different – you’re in the right place.
Our cosy Edinburgh studio is a quiet, friendly space – the kind of place where you can forget about the outside world for a few hours and lose yourself in something you’re making with your hands. We take lunch breaks together, get to know each other, and build a little community around a shared practice.
If you’d like to visit before committing to a course, you’re always welcome. Just get in touch and we’ll arrange it.
“As a teacher, I believe that we all can be creative and create. We simply need a welcoming, accepting and encouraging environment. If you have no experience in art, you are more than welcome – this practice meets you where you are.”
– Basia Mindewicz
Basia Mindewicz is a Polish-born icon painter, contemporary artist and educator based in Edinburgh. Born in Warsaw in 1978, she trained at the College of Iconography in Bielsk Podlaski, Poland, graduating in 2008, where she studied egg tempera painting and gold gilding under masters of the tradition. She also holds an MA from the Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education in Warsaw.
After years of working in a deeply traditional style, learning the visual language of icons, and studying Byzantine and Russian masters, Basia moved to Edinburgh, where she began exploring more personal and contemporary ways of working. Her practice now bridges the ancient and the individual: finding new ways to express what icons have always sought to convey.
Basia has led workshops and retreats across Scotland, England, Poland and Spain, including at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Craig Lodge, The Bield Retreat House near Perth, and Hacienda Los Olivos in Spain. She is a key partner of Edinburgh Palette.
Siân is an admin and marketing assistant for the Edinburgh School of Icon Painting, and a practicing artist from London, currently based in Edinburgh. She is on-hand to help find the right courses and classes for you, answering any queries you might have, and shares news and updates on our programme via our email newsletter and social media channels.
In her art practice she explores the connections between the geological concept of Deep Time and sacred spaces through sound and field research, using her findings to create immersive audio-visual experiences and radio broadcasts.
