By Way of Introduction

My name is Matthew Alderman, and you may know me or my work from my periodic appearances on my blogging home base, The Shrine of the Holy Whapping (don't ask, there's a long story behind the name) and my home-away-from-home at The New Liturgical Movement. I've been invited by Theodore to post my work from time to time, and I must say it is an honor to be able to post alongside the likes of Regina Doman and the rest of the Catholic Illustrators' Guild.


St. Irene, Virgin and Martyr. January 2006

I recently graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame, where I won the Rambusch Prize for Religious Architecture for my undergraduate thesis, and I currently live and work in Manhattan. I've begun to branch out into liturgical illustration on the side, recently completing my first paying commission, for the Knights of Columbus, in the form of seven pieces of line-art drawn specially for the misalettes that will accompany the masses at this year's national convention. I have also been commissioned to do a new logo for the Church Musicians' Association of America, and am always eager for more projects. I also enjoy, on my own time, devising hypothetical architectural projects and the occasional portrait as well, if I can slip in a little bit of symbolism under the surface.


A Hypothetical Counterproposal for Los Angeles Cathedral. August 2006.

I am an eclecticist at heart. I started out, when it comes to drawing, as a very literal imitator of the great Durer, and have grown to incorporate other influences, ranging from Jan van Eyck to Alfons Mucha and the engraved frontispieces of the 17th century, into what is slowly becoming my own personal style. In the end, it all returns, for me, to the careful balance of iconography and reality, the natural and the supernatural. Though I don't forget to have fun along the way!