J. Gordon Anderson - Contemporary Art

No, not about posting to this blog, but about painting! It occurred to me the other night that when I moved back to MD in December 2010 I really did not have my studio set up until July 2011 when we moved into our home. I was able to get some painting done in my office at work - some icons - but no oils, no cityscapes, landscapes, etc. Or at least not to the degree and intensity that I was able to in VA. So now when I paint I feel a bit out of shape, as it were, but overall am heading in the right direction, getting used to it again, and enjoying all of my new materials and my new studio. I have said it before and will say it again: moving is highly disruptive to the artist!!

After a tumultuous year of moving twice, getting settled at a new church, and receiving a tremendous gift of tons of art supplies, I am now organized and slowly getting back to work. What I am working on now are interiors and some landscape and animal paintings inspired by the wonderful farm where we lived in Newport, Virginia. After years of painting cityscapes I decided that I needed a break from it. I am also looking forward to trying some new mediums, such as pastel, and getting reacquainted with old ones that I used to do a lot of work in, such as watercolor.

I was recently given many of the art supplies of my first cousin once removed, the artist Noel K. Edwards, who passed away over a year ago . The supplies include oil paints, watercolors, paper, pastels, stretcher bars, canvas, brushes, and more. This is a tremendous blessing as purchasing such supplies is very costly. Even though the paints are very old and many in rather poor condition they can be reconstituted in most cases because they are of very high quality. Noel was an avid painter of landscapes and wildlife. (I was also able to acquire a number of his works). The animals he especially enjoyed painting were cattle, bison, birds, and dogs. He worked in watercolor, pastel, pencil, and oil. He was always nice to me and (in addition to my mother and Bob Ross) one of the people who inspired me to paint. As though I were channeling him I have recently begun painting cows. When we lived in Virginia the property where we lived was surrounded by cattle, so they became a part of our life....

In my previous post I commented on one of the differences between being an artist and a priest. In this one I want to briefly comment on one of the similarities. (Note: there are obviously many differences and many similarities between the two vocations. These that I mention are but two.) Both the artist and the priest struggles to get people to care about what they do. Or put another way, the vast majority of people do not care what an artist does or what a priest does! Both vocations involve a great deal of internal struggle and self-discovery, and after that struggle the person wishes to share what he has learned and how he has grown with others to help them in some way. How discouraging it is when he learns that despite his blood, sweat, and tears, and his years of labor most people could care less about his work or ministry! The vast majority of folk are not interested in art or God. Instead they are content to settle for kitsch and for idols. The only way to survive the 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...