THE BLOG
Artist on a Mission -Noah’s Ark
I love to see a project go from beginning spark of an idea to a completed project. It takes a great amount of faith, courage and perseverance. You have to believe in yourself and the project enough to see the completed project in your head and then move in that direction. Robert Wright had that sort of vision and moved to complete the idea in an amazing fashion. He envisioned a flood museum in Nauvoo, Illinois.
Becky Hartvigsen and I where delighted to get to know Robert and his wife while they shared their historic home with us in Nauvoo, Illinois. We were in Nauvoo for a Gallery Show at Havenlight Gallery. One of the great things about creating art is the people that come in to your life. Robert talked about a flood museum in Nauvoo while we were there and now it’s a reality.
If you are in the area of Nauvoo, Illinois and would like a good experience for you and your family, you can check it out. Check their website for times and safety concerns for the visit. You can check out a video by Mark MacDonald who does “Illinois Stories” for the local PBS Station at the link below.
As soon as “The Stones Would Immediately Cry Out” is framed, it will be on its way to be exhibited in The Flood Museum The inspiration for this painting was the Easter Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was not hard to envision the pure joy of the people as they waved their palm fronds. You can see the painting and purchase the Noah’s Ark prints at the museum.
Illinois Stories – The Flood Museum Video
Artist on a Mission – Grab Your Pencil
Sometimes a face will grab you and you run to get a pencil and your sketch book. It could have been the lighting in the video or the angles on the face but as I was watching the interview of Elder Jeffrey Holland by Rabbi Alon Goshen Cottstein, the director of The Elijah Interfaith Institute, I jumped up and ran. First it was just a little itch in the tips of my fingers and then I had to try to capture on paper what I was seeing on the video. It’s a nice way to keep your observation and sketching skills up to date, besides the pure joy it brings of watching magic come from the end of your pencil.
Below is the link for the Interview Video and a Link for a watercolor video I made on my process for painting a landscape at City of the Rocks, Idaho. I hope you enjoy the video. And I hope you spend some time with your sketch book.
Artist on a Mission – Getting your feet underneath you
Here’s nine suggestions for when life goes a little crazy.
- It’s ok to sit and stare out the window. Madeleine L’Engle in her book “Walking on Water” talks about the importance of “being” time. It’s like the time when you were in elementary school and you would lose yourself staring out the window. Not even thinking of anything. Just being.
- If you’re kicked out of your routine, try something artistic outside of your routine. If you usually paint, then sketch in a sketchbook. Write in a journal.
- Start small. If you have a big project looming, do a small painting to warm up and get back into the mode.
- If you have a deadline looming, start on that first thing in the morning. Putting it off won’t make it any easier.
- Have hope. Write down where you want to head in the future. Trust that there is a future.
- Take advantage of social distancing. If you are in a house with grandkids, share some artwork with them.
- Feed your soul. Take some time to look for blessings around you. Open the windows and listen for a bird song. Listen to a devotional.
- Feed your creative side. Listen to a podcast, Study some paintings from a favorite artist.
- Set up a routine. Get up at the same time. Exercise. Meditate or pray what ever gets you in touch with the spiritual side to start your day. Read something uplifting and dive into your work.
A couple of the blog posts I enjoy are Three Point Perspective with Jake Parker, Will Terry and Lee White and Illustration Department with Giuseppe Castellano. And the Brigham Young University Hawaiihas some great devotionals.
Here is a link to one of my you tube demos:
Artist on a Mission -Reading The Emotion Behind The Mask
Artist on a Mission – Getting My Feet Underneath Me
So I’ve played with those light beach balls before. It doesn’t take much energy or power to smack them up into the air. That’s what I thought I was hitting, a light beach ball filled with light air. Also I wouldn’t usually show up to a family home evening activity in a skirt and Sunday shoes but we were just leaving a zone meeting. I couldn’t stand it. Who wouldn’t want to join in the fun and play with a giant ball. So I stepped up. . . .
‘The ball weighed a ton and knocked me off my feet I learned I had to steel my feet under me in order to hit the ball and not go down it’s been a long time since I’ve had my feet knocked right out from under me. It was dark. I’m sure not very many people saw me But Quincy saw me in the hall of the Aloha Center the next day and asked if I was okay. When we walked over to where the Bishop was, he asked if I was okay. Yup, went down gracefully. When we were at a high council meeting a few days later and we were invited into the cultural hall to play games, I said to the Bishop, “I wonder if they are going to have one of those giant balls in there?” His wife got a big grin on her face. I guess she had heard about me flying off my feet.
So sometimes it takes a while to get your feet underneath you after you’ve been hit with a big mega ball. But there is great joy in getting back on your feet and starting to move forward. Last night my mind started working on projects again. It had been about three weeks and one day since leaving the mission in Hawaii. A long time for me to not be painting. The ideas started running through my mind last night when I should have been sleeping. It must be time to start a painting or two. Has it taken you a while to get back to creating?
Artist on a Mission -The Power of Prayer and Fasting
So after a two week voluntary quarantining in the cupboard under the stairs, I’m back up the stairs and in my studio. It has been nice to sit at the familiar art table and look out the windows at the mountains. It would be nice to have those familiar things around me such as family sitting down together to eat dinner and hugs from loved ones, friends opening the front door and yelling a greeting and walking in.
So the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked again for a day of fasting and prayer tomorrow, April 10. So along with social distancing and trying not to go to the store to buy non-essential items like barbecued potato chips, black licorice, or a Mars Bar, (I did forage around in my art room and found an old See’s Caramel sucker which had the wrapper stuck to it and took great diligence to get it all off before I plopped it in my mouth), I’ll be fasting tomorrow and praying for blessings to be upon those who are on the front lines and that this pandemic might be brought under control. I would like to invite you all to join in. There is power in prayer and there is power in uniting in prayer and fasting. We are all children of God and this is a crisis that we have all been dealing with all over the world. I pray that the Lord will bless us with patience and long suffering and relief. God bless us, everyone.
