About Janina Zang - Full-time iconographer from Germany

I grew up in the beautiful city of Dresden (Germany). After graduating from the University of Dresden (MA in German and English Literature and Art History), I lived and worked in Jerusalem for several years. In Jerusalem I also began to paint icons and have followed my calling to become an iconographer ever since.

For me, painting icons is like a loving search for God, and an unceasing invitation to open the eyes of my heart to HIS beauty and love. I draw inspiration from marvellous icon masters like Andrej Rublev and Father Gregory Kroug, who, despite their struggles, had an immense spiritual maturity that makes their icons so timeless, beautiful and unique.

I feel very privileged and blessed to have been part of the Diploma Course in Icon Painting at the Prince's School of Traditional Art (London) and to have received the Nikos Sofialakis Scholarship. The unique teaching and spiritual guidance of Aidan Hart and the wonderful communion with my fellow students have shaped my icon painting and my spiritual journey in a very deep way.

Since graduating from the Diploma Course in Icon Painting, I have completed several icons, including an icon of St. Tikhon of Moscow commissioned by the Monastery of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, USA. I have also worked on designing my first iconostasis for a private chapel. Together with my family, I live in Goldbach near Aschaffenburg and Frankfurt in Germany. I work as a full-time iconographer and am happy to take on commissions.

I believe that icon painting is not just a holy art but a way of life. By painting icons, we begin to embark on a transformational inner journey that will shape our way of seeing and understanding the world. As an iconographer and human being, I hope that God will unceasingly guide me in portraying and proclaiming His love through my icon painting, so that it may continue to shine into our fragile world, lift the curtain between us and Him, and open our hearts, eyes and ears to allow us to feel, see, and hear Him.

2016
Diploma in Icon Painting at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts (PSTA, London)
2014
Awarded the Nikos Sofialakis Scholarship
2013
Accepted on the Diploma Course in Icon Painting at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts (PSTA, London)
2005 - 2008
PA to the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Public Relations Officer and Art.
Coordinator of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem
2002/3
Volunteer at the Princess' Basma Centre for Handicapped Children, Jerusalem
2001/2
Working with handicapped adults in Birmingham, UK
2001
MA in German Literature, English Literature and Art History

Icon Exhibitions:

• December 2019/January 2020: City Museum Miltenberg, Germany
• June 2018: St. Nikolaus-Church in Goldbach, Germany, on the occasion of the 800-year-celebrations of Goldbach, Germany
• Advent 2016: HEILANDs Ökumenischer Kirchenladen Aschaffenburg, Germany
• November 2016: Cornellissens, London, UK
• Oktober 2016: The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, London, UK
• Dezember 2015: Gewölbegalerie Glattbach, Germany
• November 2015: Matthias-Ehrenfried-Haus, Würzburg, Germany
• März 2015: Martinushaus Aschaffenburg, Germany
• November/Dezember 2014: in the cloister, Tagungshaus Schmerlenbach, Germany
• Dezember 2012: Chapel of the Good Shepherd at Aschaffenburg Hospital, Germany
• November 2011: St Laurence Church, Kleinostheim, Germany