Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ…
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(My belated Christmas card/icon for 2019. Wishing all of you much happiness and holiness in the New Year. You are welcome to download or print this or any of my images for your personal use.)
A priceless thing... 
I’m going to download and print. This is special, a unifying icon–bringing together the two traditions of sacred art, Western realism and formal Eastern “unexpressionism” (as I see them; please forgive if my interpretation is off.) At any rate, your card is well received here. It moves towards prayer and gratitude.
Blessings, Mary, and peace in the year that’s coming,
Al
And blessings to you, Al. I appreciate your interpretation as unifying east and west though, truth be told, the mixed style is more likely a result of my lack of skill as I try to learn from a book how to use egg tempera!
It consoles me to know that icons do not have to be skillfully executed in order to make present what they represent. Nor does the iconographer need to be holy – only the one portrayed. So I hide behind the holy Theotokos and let her goodness and love shine.