Internationally known for depicting celebrities in frames, artists Jeremy Anderson has had a longtime love for drawing and painting. Realizing his artistic bent at an early age, he has continued to express himself artistically throughout his life. In his own words, find out about his motivation his styles, methods, and influences.

PTM: How are you doing today?
Jeremy Anderson: I am great, thank you! I am running strong with the day into the late hours, as usual.

PTM: Tell people about yourself.
Jeremy Anderson: I am 30, an artist who was born in Kentucky, raised in Cincinnati, and have traveled our great country a lot in this artist’s journey; been abroad studying in Paris a stint and now live in Philadelphia. I am happily married to the love of my life, Heather; you can catch us at our favorite beach resort, in Ocean City, NJ, or in Atlantic City at an event, or hitting the streets in Manhattan. In my solitude, you will find me playing chess at Tesla Island - Niagara Falls, or just painting and writing the day away at my home studio in Philadelphia. . .

PTM: How long have you been creating art?
Jeremy Anderson: Since I was seven years of age, I knew I loved art. I never seemed to want to color inside the lines. I graduated with my art degree and have been a professional commercial illustrator and graphic designer for just over 12 years; however, I remain true to my passion for traditional art & painting.

PTM: When did you first start, and do you remember your inspiration at that time?
Jeremy Anderson: My first drawing was an impressionistic portrait of Louis Armstrong playing music on his trumpet when I was seven for a Language Arts report. My inspiration was my mother’s oils and watercolors—she is also an artist—and, in particular, one oil of a sunset, in oranges and teals, which hung in the hall archway over the steps to my room…

PTM: Was that when you knew you wanted to be an artist?
Jeremy Anderson: Yes! Absolutely. I don’t even remember the report I did on Louis Armstrong, but I vividly have the artwork I did for the cover imprinted in my mind…

PTM: What is your source of creativity?
Jeremy Anderson: The emotion I have at the time, more than anything… If I didn’t release it into paintings, I think I’d have an anxiety attack. Lol.

PTM: Do you ever forget or deliberately ignore why you make art? If so, briefly describe the last time you realized you had forgotten or were ignoring why you make art. What did it take for you to return to your core motivation?
Jeremy Anderson: I sometimes do ‘subconscious paintings,’ in that I set up three colors in front of me knowing where they are, then turn the lights off and feel the color and focus on the movements I make in the dark. It’s a deep thing, hard to describe, but I like how I lose myself in this experiment. Afterward, in reflection—a glass of wine or two later and a weekend to reflect—I find new things about myself as an artist in this series…

PTM: In your field, do you prefer timeless themes with extended shelf life or issues of the day with maximum impact?
Jeremy Anderson: I think that most of my work has concentrated on the emotions I feel at the time to drive the piece to fruition. The work itself preserves its timelessness…
For example the day Heath Ledger died I painted a portrait of him as a lost soul (trying to tap into that sorrow to capture the likeness), or the day George Bush, Jr. announced his homecoming to Midland, TX before taking the presidency I did a portrait of him and presented it to the city via the local news station and mayor to give him. It was a nice warm homecoming gift, I am sure…
Kathy Griffin was also stunned LIVE at her show and loved her painting… “More of ME!!!” she cried, as the crowd laughed. And I’ll never forget when Gwen Stefani winked at me, blew me a kiss, and said my portrait of her was “beautiful” as she signed it in front of 20,000+ fans… I think my work made a good memory even for her that night, too, making her concert even more special!
So in essence, to me the impact of the work is how it can affect the situation that surrounds each piece itself, and I hope to always channel as much magic as I can in every piece of work.

PTM: You’ve painted some portraits of a few celebrities and athletes. Some of them you were able to meet. What was their response to your work?
Jeremy Anderson: They were all very surprised, stunned, and sometimes tongue tied…But it is always magical to have them then sit down and talk to you about the piece or ask me what I do and think about things in this world. Here this person is, idolized by millions, and they are humbled by my work. That’s a great feeling!!

PTM: What piece of yours were you most proud of?
Jeremy Anderson: That would probably have to be an ink & acrylic on 18?x24? paper depiction of Brandon Lee as The Crow resting upon Shelly Webster’s grave, because at the time I was going through a dark breakup, and to me it felt like a part of my heart was dying … In silent, gothesque ways, I identified with the movie. But for anyone who knows the storyline of The Crow, love can conquer all; even after death there is hope. I think I was trying to convince myself of that, and I believe I captured that in the work…

PTM: Could you do art without an audience? How important is feedback?
Jeremy Anderson: I do art without an audience, in fact this interview is the first time I have shared about my subconscious series… I mean, Warhol had his “piss series,” and David Lynch has put poop on canvas so weirder things have happened, lol…

PTM: What do you want others to remember you for?
Jeremy Anderson: WOW! I guess I’d modestly reply that I hope to incite others to explore their art, to find that secret communication within oneself that translates a new discovery of a heightened sense of expression in everyone’s lives…

PTM: What’s the thought process behind your work?
Jeremy Anderson: Keep my sketch tight, block midtones in, establish darkest darks, and work dark to light…

PTM: Who are some of your historically favorite artists, and who in the contemporary art world are you looking at?
Jeremy Anderson: Manhattan’s American League “The 10” Expressionists of the 1930s for legendary statement, Dru Blair’s lighting on surfaces, Andrew Wyeth’s whitespace, Jeff Lefever’s Banana Man series for color balance, Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, Chris Payne’s oil washes for medium hues, Dave Maggard’s forced perspectives, Mark Fredrickson’s detail; I could go on forever . . .

PTM: What is the greatest piece/show/installation you have seen, and which piece/show/installation do you wish to see?
Jeremy Anderson: Well, I just spent the day at The Metropolitan Art Museum in Manhattan… It is a good environment there—everyone else there is sketching and really INTO the work on display… I love examining Van Gogh’s brushwork…
The greatest book(s) on art for me are The Primary & Secondary Color Essays by Alexander Theroux—they changed how I see art history!!!
>> Wish to see?
I’d love to see a complete collection of Dru Struzan’s work on the gesso he works…

PTM: Do you look forward to the act of art making or to the final product?
Jeremy Anderson: The anticipation of the final work is exciting to me, but I dig the process… especially in my abstract pieces… Like the artist couple who made The Gates in Central Park, it took 26 YEARS for the work to be done, and they said the journey is just as important as the presentation—young artists, don’t forget that !

PTM: How do you know when a work is finished?
Jeremy Anderson: When the piece tells me. . . It’s an intimate exchange, as if a love affair exists with each painting. Sometimes it’s a happy ending, and other times it may be like a bad breakup, but always the passion is there and is reflected in the end.

PTM: How or when does a painting become art and not craft, and what is the difference between the two?
Jeremy Anderson: Art is when you can SEE the passion in every brush-stroke! You can easily key in on the bastardization of reproductions as a craft…

PTM: What is the greatest compliment anyone has ever paid to you regarding your art work, and what is the greatest insult?
Jeremy Anderson: Gwen Stefani blew me a kiss and said her portrait I did of her was beautiful in front of thousands—that was pretty far up there for compliments, as well as doing this interview. This truly is a compliment to my art.
Greatest insult wasn’t towards a painting per se, but to the fact that I could or could not complete a painting using every type of medium. I was told I couldn’t do it, and I took that as both insult and challenge. I ended up turning that into a compliment when the piece was completed and ALL were amazed!!

PTM: How has your art contributed to society? Do you think it’s important that art gives something to society?
Jeremy Anderson: As with my contributions to Big Brother in Cincinnati, I hope to continue to pursue ways I can find to share about how art can be an outlet for self-expression, and like much of the lyrics by David Gray and Geoff Tate that inspire me, I hope my art can reach viewers and enlighten them and enrich their lives…

PTM: What’s your greatest accomplishment so far?
Jeremy Anderson: Finding my own style of abstraction… believe it or not, that was hard for me… to let go and allow expression to completely take over and take flight over what my “eye” expected to see…

PTM: How have your friends and family reacted to your success, and how supportive were they in your time of need?
Jeremy Anderson: My parents were supportive, and my mom found joy in sharing her expressions of art with me. They helped support me in that starving artist phase. My wife has challenged me to find frontiers not yet explored, and pushes me to see past what is “supposed to be.” She takes part in helping promote my works, so that helps out a great deal, because I am at times very consumed with the work itself.

PTM: Outside of art, what do you enjoy doing?
Jeremy Anderson: I am an independent filmmaker. and I’m working on two contrastive novels…I also enjoy the simple things like sitting in Central Park on a nice day, having a nice dinner with my wife, and quiet times with my animals. Frost Sinatra is a Japanese bobtail, Stryper is a shelter tabby cat, and Nayla is our 26-year-old sever McCaw. I teach our parrot to say colors—her favorite is blue… She and I have conversations for hours….lol.

PTM: What do you want people to know about you that they don’t know already?
Jeremy Anderson: People say I never stop, and it’s true. My secret is that I want to stay “hungry” in my mind, and that drives me to continually excel…

PTM: anything you want to say to the fans?
Jeremy Anderson: keep exploring art and cultures in everyday experiences. If they tell you it can’t be done, show them it can—that is how one grows and how new trends and artists are created…

PTM: For those that are interested, where do we go to look at more of your work?
www.JAaronAnderson.com

PTM: Thank you so much for the interview! Good luck with everything.
Jeremy Anderson: Thank you. I fully believe in all that PTM stands for and is creating. I am grateful to you for supporting artists and fans of art all around the world.