A True Pioneer Mother

Jane James, a pioneer woman, lost her husband one frigid, awful day as she and her family were crossing the plains. After they buried him, her daughter recorded in her journal how, despite her heart being broken, she loaded up the children and kept moving towards Zion. It is always painful to hear stories such as these, or like the one President Monson related during conference. I'm glad I have not been called upon to endure such horrible sacrifices in mortality, but I see people all around me whose loved ones have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses, or who die in accidents, and must continue on and be an example to their children. Yet I know we all receive blessings of rest in the next life, and that families can be together forever.

Thanks to my dear friends Christine (and Scott who posed but was eventually cut due to budget), Jessica (who jumped in at the last minute to be a pioneer girl), Kaiden and McKinley!

My Grandma

I was so glad to have the opportunity to paint my sweet grandma for this week's Spoken Word! It was about interviewing the ancestors who are still living as part of your family history research. I have felt strongly about this with my grandmother, and I spent a lot of time with her a few years ago, while she was still so talkative that we sometimes wished we could get her to stop. She repeated the same stories over and over, so you could recite them word for word while you listened. I'm glad she pounded them in our heads then, because now she doesn't speak. She doesn't know who we are or where she is. I am so grateful that I know the stories of her life that are the most important to her, and need to write them down so that others will know them as well.

For this painting, although the room, the chair, and my niece Megan were all photographed on location, I had to find older photos of my grandma actually interacting, smiling, raising a hand, etc. Nowadays she just sits.

I love and miss my grandma. I hope she's happy inside her mind.

Our Spirits Must Catch Up With Our Bodies

This was a painting for the Easter message of Music and the Spoken Word this year. I thought it sort of odd subject matter at first. A man was on tour of the Amazon jungle with some natives as guides. They traveled well for two days, but on the morning of the third day, he found them all sitting or squatting, holding still with solemn expressions. The chief explained that they were waiting for their spirits to catch up with their bodies. If you think carefully about Christ's crucifixion, and what happened with him on the morning of the third day, you'll make a connection, even though it was never mentioned in the Spoken Word.