Joy and Dixie

This story is about two women, Joy and Dixie, who were neighbors and friends for 50 years. They helped each other through many hard times, and celebrated good times together. Joy became terminally ill, and was too weak to do much other than stay in bed. Even though Dixie was in poor health as well, and was taking care of a sick husband, Dixie planted a beautiful flower garden for Joy to see out her bedroom window. After Joy died, the neighbors learned that Dixie had let her backyard go in order to keep up the beautiful front flower garden for Dixie.

I have wonderful neighbors named Josephine and Lyla who were generous with their time and let me photograph them for this painting. Thankfully, both are still healthy and able to plant and work in their flower gardens!

Notes During a Concert

I got to paint my mom in this one!  Thank you also to my cousins who also posed on the spur of the moment at their sisters' baby shower.  (Yes, two sisters--I punctuated correctly.)  I had a very short deadline, and it was divine planning, I'm sure, that placed me at a shower with all my models available that day.

The story is that a grandma of two teenage girls invited them to a choir concert.  She wanted them to experience some fine music with her.  As she was moved to tears, she looked over at her granddaughters, and was appalled to see that they were writing notes!  Later, she learned that they were writing a letter to their brother back home, sharing how moving and wonderful the concert was, and how much they were enjoying it.  The message is that we should not judge others too quickly, or jump to a wrong conclusion, but we should think the best of others.

Turtle on a Fence

Alex Haley, author of the book Roots, had a painting on his wall of a turtle on a fencepost.  When people praised him for his accomplishments, he would say, "I am like that turtle.  He didn't get where he is without help."

It was a little tricky to paint this one, since my favorite position of Haley was in black and white, so I had to imagine the color.  I still need a lot of practice painting dark skin.

Jane Eyre

I was asked to illustrate the scene from Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre where Helen has just been flogged on the neck, yet she can still teach Jane about the power of forgiveness.  I had never read Jane Eyre, so this was another learning opportunity for me.  

I wanted this to be an impressive and moving piece, especially since it would have many more viewers than usual--it was shown before the October LDS General Conference.  But the scene was a very undramatic one by nature.  The girls lived in a boarding school, and everything there was very plain by design--the walls, their clothes, even their hair.  I decided the only thing I truly had to work with was the lighting.  So I chose to pose Helen in front of the fireplace so she and Jane would be backlit, and play with a bit of chiaroscuro.  Unfortunately, watercolor is very hard to darken, so once I did my best with the paint on paper, I had to employ a digital darkening and contrast as well.  Therefore, the original painting is not as impressive as this version.

Thank you to sisters Katrina and Rachel for modeling.  You've become some of my good friends since you moved in, and I've been hoping for a painting in which I could use both of you, so here it is!  Hope you like it!

Ben Franklin's Whistle

When Benjamin Franklin was a boy, he traded all his money for a wooden whistle.  He was excited and pleased with his purchase, until he brought it home and learned from his siblings that it was worth much less than what he had paid.  Any time since then, he used the term "paid too much for his whistle" any time someone was spending their time, money, or effort on something that was worthless.  Are we paying too much for our whistle?

Thank you Sage and Carson for playing dress-up and posing for my pictures, and for Anya, who always comes through with awesome costumes!

Amy Loader Dances

Lloyd Newell said, "If our own road ever seems to fit this description, we can take inspiration from the spirit of the pioneers. British pioneer Patience Loader described finding such inspiration on a frigid morning after a snowy night, when her mother asked Patience and her sisters to get up and start a fire. They each responded that they couldn’t—that it was too cold and they didn’t feel well."

 

"Mother said, ‘Come, girls. This will not do. I believe I will have to dance [for] you and try to make you feel better.’ Poor, dear mother, she started to sing and dance [for] us, and she slipped down as the snow was frozen. In a moment we were all up to help [her,] for we were afraid she was hurt. She laughed and said, ‘I thought I could soon make you all jump up if I danced [for] you.’ … She said that she was afraid her girls were going to … get discouraged, and … that would never do.”2

I was excited to paint Amy Loader and Patience Loader, since I had painted Patience Loader before.  She was one of the girls helping her father pull the handcart in a Pioneer Day painting I did in 2009.  So I asked the same family if I could photograph them again, and they were happy to help.  Thank you Heather, Erica and Nikki, and especially Tanya for dressing up and dancing, even though you felt silly!