For nearly forty years, Peter Pearson has been a student of iconography. Self taught for fifteen years, in 1984 he studied under Russian iconographer Dr. Nina Bouroff in Bethesda, Maryland. After moving to Pennsylvania, where he entered a Benedictine monastery in 1991, Peter worked and studied with Philip Zimmerman at the Saint John of Damascus Academy of Sacred Arts, an Orthodox school of icon painting in Ligonier, PA, where he assisted in several projects and classes. In 1994, he studied with Nicholas Papas in Greensburg, PA and in 1997 he attended the Iconography Institute at Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon, where he studied with Charles Rohrbacher of Juneau, Alaska. On several of his trips to the Northwest, he worked with other iconographers from that area and learned about their techniques. Peter has studied with Valentin Streltsov of Toronto, Ontario and, in the summer of 2008, he worked with Xenia Pokrovsky at Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Monastery in South Canaan, PA.
Peter has created hundreds of icons for private collectors, churches and other institutions throughout the world. He has made presentations on iconography to a wide variety of groups ranging from elementary school children, college classes, art leagues, seminarians, and senior citizen groups. Peter offers courses, workshops and retreats throughout the United States focusing on the technical skills involved in icon painting, as well as the spirituality of creating an icon. His passion for this art is obvious and highly infectious.
In addition to iconography, Peter studied architectural drafting and color at the International Institute of Design in Washington, D.C., and theology, with a specialization in liturgical studies, at Saint John’s School of Theology in Boston, Georgetown University and at Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude, completing a Master of Divinity degree in 1995. His course work included specialized studies on the history of church architecture and liturgical vesture, the role of art in worship, as well as a full year on liturgical consultation. In 2008 he attended a course, entitled: “The Jesus Prayer and Eastern Christian Spiritual Practice,” at The General Theological Seminary in New York.
Peter has worked on many projects as a liturgical artist and consultant by designing worship spaces, furnishings, vesture, and seasonal decorations. In every aspect of his work, he seeks to combine sound liturgical practice with quality artistic design. He is a priest of the Diocese of Bethlehem, PA and served as the pastor of a small parish in New Hope, PA. He is now with a parish in Scranton, PA.
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