Our Woman of the Week is Amber Schley Iragui, nominated for her work as art director and graphic designer at St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Ancient Faith Publishing–and Axia’s own designer. She is a recent addition to Axia’s operating board. (You see her here in her local park and on a visit to St. Nicholas Church in Whitestone, New York). We asked her to tell you about how she got involved with design:
“From my earliest memories I was drawn to beauty–light filtering through a window, the color of fallen leaves against wet pavement, the lacey swell of foam along an ocean wave. Although my childhood was neither privileged nor particularly happy, it was full of beautiful things. My mother cultivated every inch of our yard with flowers, berries, and vegetables; our small house was decorated with antiques, old books, and art and objects we made ourselves. As a child I believed that God sent beauty into my life for my own personal enjoyment: a particular spray of purple clouds against a yellow sky seemed intentional, like a note from God just for me. I understood that other people too might be enjoying the sunset, but I suspected the particular combinations of color and light were for my own individual benefit. I loved to draw and read, my favorite part of each week was the trip to the library to choose as many books as I could carry. But there was darkness in my childhood as well. Most of that darkness emanated from my father’s religious ideals and his self-loathing, both of which manifested as a need to control others–to forcibly keep his family on the ‘right path.’
“I initially wanted to go to art college, but this was not something my father would allow. Instead I applied to a Catholic university where I double-majored in theology and English literature, the former to understand my upbringing and the latter for my own pleasure. I also took as many art classes as I could–photography and calligraphy were particular favorites.
“Through friends I met at college, I began attending the Orthodox Church. In sharp contrast to the iconoclasm of my anabaptist upbringing, the liturgy, iconography, and music of the Orthodox service met my longing to worship God in a manner commensurate with the beauty I saw around me. An iconographer, Heather MacKean, was in the process of painting the walls and dome of the parish I was attending; the priest, upon learning I had experience with calligraphy, asked me to assist Heather with the lettering. I soon asked Heather to be my sponsor and, truth be told, my life and role in the Orthodox Church flowed smoothly from that first collaboration.
“Around this same time I graduated from college and started an internship at a small book publishing company. When my internship ended, the company hired me as an assistant in their art department. Working in book publishing was a good fit for me–I loved books and felt at ease in the quiet, studious atmosphere. I also continued to take art classes at an art college, focusing on graphic design. When the friends who had introduced me to Orthodoxy announced they were moving to NY to study at St Vladimir’s Seminary, they also pointed out a job posting at SVS Press. I applied, and was hired. I have been working in book design, art direction and graphic design–primarily for Orthodox Christian organizations–ever since.”
Axia!
Amber Schley Iragui is our Woman of the Week, nominated for her work as art director and graphic designer. You see her here in her office at home, along with her designs for recently reissued editions of some of Fr Tom Hopko's books. We asked her to tell you how she refined her aesthetic around Orthodox design:
“When I came to my work at St Vladimir’s, I had been Orthodox for little over a year. I didn’t know a great deal about the Church or its iconographic and patristic traditions, and yet there I was, designing Orthodox book covers. Fr Tom Hopko was the dean at that time, and he had a lot of opinions about what should not be on the cover of books. I remember the first time I had a conversation with him, he came up to my little office above the bookstore and we began discussing the design of an upcoming book. He told me that he did not want an icon on the cover of the book–or any book. He picked a book off the shelf, The Lenten Spring, which had a plain white cover with a purple line drawing of a lily. ‘This is a good cover, we should do more like this.’ I stared at him. This was not a design I wanted to emulate. We had all the riches of two thousand years of Orthodox art and we were going to put a mediocre line drawing of a flower on a cover? I took a deep breath. I had argued a lot with my father growing up, so I wasn’t entirely out of my depth. And to my surprise Fr Tom was perfectly up to a discussion of this subject, even with a newly-chrismated young woman who was in so many other ways out of her depth. He explained that he didn’t want icons to be treated disrespectfully, and books fall on the floor, people set their coffee mugs on them, etc. I hadn’t considered printed icons, especially those that were not mounted on boards, as objects of veneration or in need of any kind of special care. I was more interested in designing a cover that evoked a feeling or asked a question–that welcomed potential readers to open a book. And I didn’t think that line drawing of a lily was doing any of that. But through our discussion we came to the agreement that I could use iconography on covers as long as I wasn’t using an icon of Christ or the Theotokos.
“Years later, after Fr Hopko had fallen asleep in the Lord, I was asked to redesign the covers for Hopko’s Rainbow Series, which were being re-released as The Orthodox Faith Series. By then, I had many long years of using icons and avoiding line art on Orthodox book covers, but for this project I chose to use line art. I hoped if Fr Tom noticed, he’d be pleased.
“I now work as art director for Ancient Faith’s children’s books, and have the great pleasure of working alongside fellow Woman of the Week, Jane Meyer, the editor of the children’s books. I feel incredibly grateful for this work and find it extremely rewarding.”
As usual, we asked our Woman of the Week, Amber Schley Iragui, about her morning routine. You see her here with some of her family, and the icon that she sees on waking every morning:
“I’ll say directly that I am not a morning person–and although it seems that most Women of the Week are early risers, I can assure you I am not. During the school year I have to get up early enough to get my children to school on time, however I linger in my bed as long as I possibly can. The sun rises through a dormer window at the foot of my bed and I sit–or just lie–and watch the sunlight filter through the two enormous elms outside and make patterns on my shade. There is an icon above that window–an old blackened icon from Russia–and in the dim light I cannot see anything but its dark shape. But I know the image of the Theotokos without seeing her. Sometimes I pray, but mostly I just watch the light and ponder my dreams from the night. If I have an interesting dream I try to capture it to share with my best friend later, because we like to attempt to interpret each other’s dreams. Eventually–or because my husband calls up the stairs to see if I am awake–I play a daily Wordle game to rouse my mind. And then, finally, I will get out of bed, go downstairs and try to meet the day.
“During the pandemic, our deacon initiated a weekday Zoom matins, and for most of the past two years I was able to participate with a small group in morning prayer. This was a beautiful routine, and the shared stories and prayer requests brought our small group together. I know the matins service much better than I ever would if I had to show up in a church so early in the day. Now that the pandemic is waning, and schedules have returned to normal, our little Zoom matins is shrinking. I rarely am able to join these days.
“After dropping my children at school, I take my dog, Auggie, for a walk. There is a city park a block from our home with a spring and adjoining wetlands that I love to walk through. Sometimes I take my binoculars and count birds, often entering them into eBird. On other days I take photos of the light in the trees, or clouds reflected in the stream, or certain juxtapositions of color and line. Finally, I come home, make a cup of tea, and head up to my office to work. I am, without doubt, deeply blessed.”
Thank you, Amber!