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The artwork on this website is copyrighted to the artist Sherry Meidell and may not be used without the express permission of the artist.

THE BLOG

Artist on a Mission – Grab Your Pencil

June 25, 2020 No Comments
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Rabbi Alon Goshen Cottstein – Director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute

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.

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Elder Jeffrey Holland

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.

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Here is a video on my watercolor process, painting in City of the Rocks, Idaho

The Interfaith Interview

My Video City of the Rocks

Artist on a Mission – Getting your feet underneath you

June 11, 2020 6 Comments

Here’s nine suggestions for when life goes a little crazy. 

  1. 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.
  2. 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. 
  3. Start small. If you have a big project looming, do a small painting to warm up and get back into the mode. 
  4. If you have a deadline looming, start on that first thing in the morning. Putting it off won’t make it any easier. 
  5. Have hope. Write down where you want to head in the future. Trust that there is a future. 
  6. Take advantage of social distancing. If you are in a house with grandkids, share some artwork with them. 
  7. 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. 
  8. Feed your creative side. Listen to a podcast, Study some paintings from a favorite artist. 
  9. 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:  

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Artist on a Mission -Reading The Emotion Behind The Mask

April 22, 2020 2 Comments

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After being voluntarily self-quarantined for two weeks, you can go to the store.

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You can go to a store now but you will have to wear a mask and stay 6 feet away from people.

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Do you want to go during the senior hour or during the General hours

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Everyone is wearing a mask.

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That person isn’t wearing a mask.

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That person does not know how to measure 6 feet.

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They took the last bottle of creamy peanut butter.

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Osterage – When you come home from grocery shopping and you want to completely hide your emotions. Oste-rage

Artist on a Mission – Getting My Feet Underneath Me

April 15, 2020 No Comments

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The Big Mega Ball

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.  .  .  .

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It hard to fall gracefully in a skirt but it can be done. 

‘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

April 9, 2020 2 Comments

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From my sketchbook

 

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.

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Back in the studio.

 

ComeUntoChrist.org

Artist on a Mission – A Bicentennial Celebration

April 3, 2020 2 Comments

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“Mother, I Have Learned for Myself” oil on board 10”x10”

I am so excited to be participating in the Alliance of Covenant Artists Spring 2020 Bicentennial Exhibition. It is a celebration in art of the first vision which occurred 200 years ago this spring. The first vision was the heavens opening up and laying the foundation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Joseph Smith as a young 14 year old boy read in James 1:5 “If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God”. We are surrounded by people in our life who influence us and support us. We can talk to them of things that are important to us. We can count on their love and support. I thought of Joseph’s mother and her love and concern for her son and his search for divine guidance. We all need loving support in our lives. And people during this Covid-19 pandemic are finding great ways to support and reach out to others while still keeping safe. There are collages of James 1:5 in English, Korean and Spanish to symbolize the influence this vision has had on the world.

The exhibition was going to take place at the Joseph Smith Building in Salt Lake City during General Conference. But now it will be online and if all goes well with this beautiful world, the exhibit will be in real life at the Washington DC Temple visitors center.

You can find this painting and others at the link below. There are two galleries: First Vision Gallery One and Faithful Saints Gallery Two. Mine will be in the first gallery. Scroll down to Commendation Certificates. Enjoy the exhibit as you sit in your pajamas and sip some hot chocolate.

ALLIANCE OF COVENANT ARTISTS SPRING BICENTENNIAL EXHIBITION

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