Anita Alden

Biography

Icons have always been a part of Anita’s life. She was brought up with an icon of St Nicholas of Myra at the top of the stairwell in her childhood home while holidays in Cyprus were spent visiting the world heritage sites of the painted churches and monasteries of the Troodos mountains. After many years of family outings spent accompanying her mother to church at the Greek Orthodox community of St George’s in Richmond, her father converted to Orthodoxy. He became a psaltist, singing Byzantine liturgical chant both in Cyprus and Richmond. Orthodox fast and feat days were observed at home.

Anita began her icon painting journey in response to learning how to navigate life after experiencing loss. The still contemplative nature of iconography brought back her peace of mind. Painting with the unusually fluid medium of egg tempera and working with gold has been a deep dive into Anita’s cultural heritage as well as a shared experience with extraordinary people.

Anita now paints icons to commission and runs small residential retreats for experiencing icon painting at her rural Devon longhouse studio.

Contact

Instagram  @thedevoniconpaintingstudio