This was for a Music and the Spoken Word broadcast on October 23, 2022.
A leak was fixed in the family's bathroom, but they eventually came to ignore the remaining hole, until a neighbor friend came to their house and asked, "Why is there a hole in your ceiling?" Similarly, we tend to get used to our own bad habits and forget about them, but we shouldn't get complacent about fixing the holes in our own lives.
Thanks to Deseret and Clarissa, who let me come take pictures in your bathroom!
This was a painting for Music and the Spoken Word on Sept 4, 2022.
It illustrated the importance of hard work. A boy walked along a country road, looking at the corn fields on either side. On one side, the farmer was not working his field, and it looked neglected, stunted, and drying out. On the other side, the corn was tall and healthy, and he could often see the farmer working in the field.
My son Micah is starting to learn how to work hard, including modeling for me, as I have used him a lot as a model in the past few years.
This was a painting for Music and the Spoken Word that aired on Pioneer Day, July 24, 2022.
More than a century ago, two sisters, Lucy and Anna McClelland, lived in a small pioneer settlement in the American Intermountain West. As she grew into young adulthood, Anna, who was two years younger than Lucy, determined to leave home and become a teacher. Her parents reluctantly consented, and Anna started a heavy load of classes at the academy. In her own words, she “didn’t have much fun.”
Meanwhile, Lucy stayed home and worked to help support the family, but her sister was never far from her mind. Specifically, she worried that Anna wasn’t smiling enough—and not just because of her demanding schoolwork. You see, Anna had three front teeth that were badly damaged, and her family had never had enough money for dental work. Lucy wanted her sister to have the confidence to stand in front of a classroom and not cover her mouth when she smiled. So Lucy saved her pennies for a year and sent Anna $17.50 to get her teeth fixed—a small fortune in those days!
Anna wrote: “If [Lucy] could realize how much it did for me and how I appreciate it. … I could now be with people without being so ashamed.” Anna became a teacher in their frontier town, and she never forgot her sister’s selfless gift.
This was a story about Lloyd Newell's own ancestor, Anna McClelland. I was grateful to my friend Rachel for being the model for Anna, and for her beautiful smile, even when she is having a bad day.
I painted this for Music and the Spoken Word for the Mother's Day broadcast, May 8, 2022.
French soldiers met up with a poor mother and her children in the woods. One of the soldiers took pity on them, and handed the mother a loaf of bread. She immediately tore it in half and gave it all to her children. The soldier was confused, because he knew the mother was hungry, and asked why she hadn't kept any for herself? The captain replied, "You do not understand what it is to be a mother."
I was so grateful for my friend Melissa and her darling little girls for dressing up and posing for me, and was glad to give them the fresh loaf of bread I'd baked as a thank you. I was also very glad that the Clubbs and Bro. Dastrup were able to quickly find outfits and come help at a moment's notice.
