Matthew D. Garrett
375 Morewood Ave.
Phone: (724) 459-3084
E-mail:
matthew@holy-icons.com
In 2003, Matthew moved to Blairsville PA, and set up a larger studio to accommodate more church commissions.
Matthew is a member of St. Michael’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Greensburg PA, where he serves as a chanter, Sunday School teacher, and was recently elected to the Parish Council.
Blairsville, PA 15717
Matthew Garrett was born December 1, 1976 in Yonkers NY, the third of Paul and Judith Garrett’s five children. Matthew grew up in the Orthodox Faith on the campus of
St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, where he developed a great appreciation for icons. At the age of 10, his father accepted a job as the librarian at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier PA, and so his family moved to Latrobe PA. Having expressed interest in learning to paint icons, Matthew’s father arranged for him to spend the summer of 1991 working for Philip Zimmerman at the St. John of Damascus Icon Studio. During the summer, Matthew sat in on icon classes, and grew enamored with the process of painting icons. For the next few years, he spent much of his free time, weekends and vacations reading about icons, looking for interesting prototypes to paint, working at the studio, as well as painting at home.
In 1994, Matthew graduated with honors from Greater Latrobe High School, and enrolled at St. Vincent
College (Latrobe PA) in the biology department, intending to later study Marine Biology. Over the course of his first two semesters, his interest in biology waned. For the fall semester in 1995, Matthew changed his major to Liberal Arts in order to take a wide variety of courses, with a concentration on religious studies. In the meantime, Matthew continued working in the studio on his days off, even arranging his class schedule to give himself as many days off as he could. Matthew graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts with highest honors from St. Vincent College May 9, 1998, and received an award for excellence in Liberal Arts.
Since graduation, Matthew has set up a studio in his home, and has continued to grow as an artist and to develop his own style. He prefers complex compositions, and the challenge of bringing harmony to the many details. His work ranges from larger than life size murals to postage stamp-size icons. He has assisted Philip Zimmerman with many classes both locally, and around the country, and he continues to collaborate with Phil on many projects. He has exhibited his work and given lectures on iconography at festivals, churches, and conferences. His work can be seen in many churches, including locally at Nativity of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Monongahela PA, St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Altoona PA, Camp Nazareth in Mercer PA, and the St. Peter and Paul Chapel at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier PA.