SPOT LIGHT: Anson Holzer

This Month's SPOTLIGHT is on my good friend Anson Holzer. He is a painter and a wise guy with lots of heart. I met Anson back in 2005, I had always loved his art work. If your ever in my flat you can check out the one he gave me!

Check out our interview!

ME: So Anson, I know you travel alot, Where are you living now and what do you do for work? Where were you born and raised?

ANSON: I live in Sri Lanka now, outside of Colombo, and I'm not working. I was born in upstate Vermont, and raised in Illinois and Iowa.

ME: So What is your occupation?

ANSON: Now? Haha - Well, I'm a student for NOW. I'm also in development work, I love international development, and I've been working on the International finance, business development and compliance side of that for about 10 years. I really love that stuff. I know it's dry to most folks, but someone has got to love the "nuts & bolts" stuff with a passion, and that's me. I'm also a hardcore painter. After I finished my BA at UPenn way back in 2001, I just couldn't see myself going back to school. I'm taking a "break" here at the beginning of my 30's to do something I'm pretty interested in: an MA in Buddhist Studies here at the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. I'll finish that up at the end of 2011. I think it's important if one has the time, to do something very interesting off the beaten path, and that's what I'm doing. I'm not working at the moment - I'm just reading and learning something interesting just for the sake of it. I'm everyday ecstatic to have this opportunity.

ME: What do you do on your time off? (ie. Relax, mediate, sports).

ANSON: I have a lot of time off. I'm trying to make the most of these two years here to ground myself a bit and get back into healthy activities. I love the office place, and I love the studio, but for now I'm often on the balcony reading or at the gym working out, biking mainly. I can't really do that outside here - the traffic is a bit of a mess for it. I'm getting out of Colombo quite a lot also, to see ruins and ancient architecture - something else that I really love. Sri Lanka is a great base from which to explore a lot of Asia. Lots of fun trips.

ME: How many languages do you speak?

ANSON: Oh Geez, that's a rough question, and one that's always a hard one to answer. I have spoken Chinese, Persian (Dari), Sinhala, and I'm studying Pali and Sanskrit here at the moment. My Persian is forgotten, my Chinese - I can barely write my name anymore, but I can talk up a storm in Chinese when I'm in Taiwan. I am beginning to speak understandable Sinhala. But when my Chinese classmate calls me on the telephone, it's always a mess - some god-awful miss of Chinese and Sinhala. I study Pali and Sanskrit for researching, but not for speaking. I'd be hard-pressed to do that. I just don't know what I speak anymore.

ME: How or why did you start to paint, or where did you learn to paint. What are your influences when you paint?

ANSON: I began painting after a rough breakup. It was the best way I could find at the time back in 2004 to quiet my head. I began by playing with ink on paper, blowing it around with a straw like I'd learned to do in kindergarten. I began to devise my own style, and before I knew it, I had maybe... 30 canvases around and I just started selling them on Craigslist. Interest grew, and then I did the gallery scene for a while. And then commissioned pieces. Looking back on it, I'm surprised that I've been able to do that. I never had thought of myself as an artist. I suppose that anyone could have done what I had done. I didn't have a lot of other artist influence, but I can say that I've been most inspired by nature and nature scenes, as well as by my perception of the Buddhist concept impermanence of all things. I think that none of my work is to be considered controversial or groundbreaking, perhaps with exception of my methods of working canvas. I've always just loved creating calming pieces that people could put in the home and live with. Meditative works. I see a lot of art that I love, stuff that strikes me, but I wouldn't want to see it beside the fridge when looking for a midnight snack.

ME: Have you painted anything recently?

ANSON: I last painted when I was living in Kabul. Supplies weren't readily available to me there, but I did the best I could, and created two pieces for two friends. I don't plan to paint large-scale again until I have a full studio setup in the coming few years, or unless someone requests a commission piece. I may begin playing around with mediums I have available to me here, if I have the time. It's really hard work, and I'm taking a bit of a break from the "art job" as well. I still have a few works unsold - they are in storage in Illinois and DC. http://www.ansonholzer.com

ME: Name three people dead or alive that you would like to meet?

ANSON: Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi & Barack Obama. I'm a big fan of non-violence, and of non-violent struggle, and those first two are my heroes in that area. Goodness though - I'd don't know what I'd say to them or ask them. I'd have to prepare! I'd like to tell Obama that I stand behind him and most of his policies and stances on social issues, but that he's late on the stage often. "Batter's Up!" and where is he? And he's been a bit weak in selling his agenda post-election. It's been very frustrating to me. I'm sure I'll support him in the next election; who knows what the Republicans will drag in next time around. I doubt fresh ideas.

ME: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

ANSON: Oh... I have no idea Brian. But that's what I love about my life! I have a lot of new adventures. I know what environment I'd like to be in. I'd like to be somewhere where I'm allowed to marry the person I choose, regardless of their sex/gender or race. I'd like to be making the world a better place, through both development projects and through art. But who knows? Maybe I'll have a family? I'd like that very much. I want to be doing something that I find satisfying, and I want to be giving it my all.

ME: What exactly are you studying now? I know you read a lot of books, what is something that you are reading now?

ANSON: Well, within the area of "Buddhist Studies," I am taking classes in Buddhist history and culture, Indian and Buddhist sociology, overall Indian philosophy, basic Buddhist doctrine and languages. Here beside me on my balcony are piles of books on Indian philosophy, multiple volume stuff for a paper I am writing. Some days I can't get enough of them, and I miss my bedtime. I take them to the gym with me, and prop them up in the bike and highlight away. On other days I am running from the pile, as far as I can. I can't remember ever reading so much, and I'm glad for it - my vocabulary is a bit better than last year at least, hahaha.

ME: Have you always been a vegetarian? or what made you not eat meat?

ANSON: Vegetarianism is something I care a lot about. I wish I were better or more skillful at promoting it than I seem to be. I stopped eating meat about seven years ago, sometime around 2003, and I haven't regretted it once. It was hands-down the best decision I've ever made. I did it for spiritual reasons, and for wanting to make a more peaceful world around me. I value my life, and I know everyone else does theirs. So I have got to respect that. When I didn't, it seemed as if I was always ignoring what I just said - about value of life. I felt like a walking contradiction. The additional pros are that I'm much healthier than I used to be, and I have a lot more energy and peace of mind. I sleep well at night knowing that I am not taking life.

ME: What religion do you practice?

ANSON: I'm pretty much a practicing Buddhist. I suppose I have been since around age 23 or 24. I try to keep the five lay-person precepts, and I meditate regularly, despite the fact that it's been difficult for me. It's gotten easier and much, much more rewarding over the years. Despite some obvious flaws I think I see in Jain logic and metaphysics, I also am very interested in Jainism, and especially in the ahimsa (non-violence) aspect of that religion, and I really enjoy studying it here.

ME: I know you have spent time mediating and you have been all around the world, have you tried Yoga? and if so what type of yoga do you like.

ANSON: I've played around with yoga several times. I think yoga is a great way to keep the body up and going, limber and well-circulated, among other things. Yoga is just one of those things that I have to organize into my life, and for now I'm content to sprout a few well-chosen yoga moves after a workout, or before meditation. As for the deeper philosophy underlying Yoga, for example, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, they are very interesting to me academically, though not so much spiritually. There's quite a lot I've yet to learn about it though. I've given some thought to taking a teacher-training class, but they tend to be quite expensive, and I don't know how I'd work it into my schedule at the moment. The possibility is still in my mind though!