I have been working with the idea that regular folks are saints.....what if we were all an icon...that lead me to working on cheap pine with watered down acrylics so it looks like the whole thing aged. I love how the gold just shines in old icons that have not been restored...sometimes it is chipping off or just warmly glowing as if it is alive. It is making me really happy-just the suggestion of the figure and expression surrounded by the glow of ones own soul....cool.