J. Gordon Anderson - Contemporary Art

These two vocations, while complementary in many ways, are also very different from each other. One of the ways they are most different is in terms of relating to others. Being a priest is being "other" centered. He is by definition an intercessor on behalf of someone else. This requires a great deal of self-sacrifice in the form of serving others and ministering to them in the name of Jesus Christ. This is especially true for parochial priests who have a regular cure of souls, and even more especially true for married clergy (such as in the Anglican tradition) who in addition to church responsibilities have family responsibilities as well. Being an artist on the other hand is in many ways being "self" centered. To achieve excellence in his craft he must spend a great deal of time alone, producing and perfecting his art. Interruptions by others are very taxing and disruptive to the creative process. Artists have to be stingy with their time if they ever hope to...

Sorry for the dearth of posts. We have been in the midst of a move and are just getting settled. I am happy to say that we have a great house in a splendid area of Baltimore county, and that I have a fantastic art studio. I am presently at work on a painting of the crucifixion with Ss. Mary and John and angels. Will post more photos and commentary soon!

Many famous artists were art collectors. Degas comes to mind. Many of artists I have known like to collect art as well. My wife (also an artist) and I enjoy collecting art. What is interesting is that artists very often collect art that is different from their own. This is true of me. Most of the art that we collect is different from our own. I tend to favor ecclesiastical art, architectural design/drawings, natural art, and pencil drawings - all very detailed. This is different from my own art, which is rather abstract. I've often wondered why I collect this sort of work. The reason is perhaps that it is so different from my own: I collect what I do not wish to try to paint or draw myself. Most of the works I collect I could do myself - if I were interested in art purely in terms of decoration. But I have no desire to do that type of work - so I buy it - and paint as I do, can, and must. And, like other artists, I do collect my own works. I have a few that are not for sale because...

I just finished reading " Theology of the Icon " by Leonid Ouspensky . As I have been working on a number of icons for some upcoming shows I decided to read a systematic treatise on the subject. Ouspensky is an expert on it - an iconographer himself, and also something of a theologian, as he co-wrote a book on the subject with the famed Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky . This book is a great introduction to the theology of icons. It is readable (quite an achievement for a Russian who was transplanted in France!) and informative. It touches on the history of iconography and, as one would expect, spends a great deal of time on the Iconoclastic Controversy. As a theologian and historian I found the book quite interesting, but as an artist I found it somewhat lacking. While he does a fairly good job of explaining why Roman Catholic art is "religious" but not "iconographic" (the former because of it's subject matter, the latter because it is essentially ...

For Immediate Release: I will be showing 16 new pieces of sacred art July 13th - 15th at the Anglican Province of America Provincial Synod, which will be held at the Holiday Inn-Perimeter 4386 Chablee-Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30341 . All of the work will be for sale. There will be 11 icons and 5 oil paintings. Please e-mail me for more details.

When I began painting I wanted to copy some of my idols like Richard Diebenkorn and Ben Shahn, but the problem was that their styles were very different. Diebenkorn's figurative work emphasized shape, while Shahn's (in many cases) line. How to reconcile these two opposite elements and make them work together in a compelling way has always been something of an artistic goal of mine. A real breakthrough happened for me when I began dealing in stained glass restoration. Representing a large studio out of the midwest, I roamed the churches of the Baltimore-Washington region studying and cataloging the beautiful windows. It finally occurred to me that these windows had in themselves exactly what I was trying to do in my art. The lead lines combined with the shape of the glass to make a gorgeous work of art. To some extent my work - especially my later cityscapes in oils - approximates this. The messiness of stained glass - the visual clutter, and the effort that such clutter require...

I began painting simply what was around me... my environment. While in college, living in the country, I painted landscapes. Upon moving to the city after graduation I began painting cityscapes. Coming from a devout Christian home, and trying to be one myself, I had a certain interest in painting religious scenes, but never did anything with it until St. Mary's. My first religious painting was a large oil painting of the Annunciation, which I painted while in seminary. It was a reasonably successful work and I ended up selling it some years later. I dabbled with religious works while in seminary doing some that were good, and some that were not so good. The reason I started painting religious works was simply because I was in seminary and I thought I should give it a try. After the seminary I went back to painting secular work, probably because of the bad taste seminary and the church left in my mouth... perhaps also because I was not so pleased with the few religious pieces I trie...