Over Bananas

There is a Polynesian fable, one which is more violent than is here related.  A monkey and a turtle were friends.  One day Monkey saw a banana stalk floating down the river.  He wanted the bananas but couldn't swim, so he suggested to Turtle that he retrieve it, and they'd split it and plant their parts.

From "The Fruits of Selflessness" on April 17, 2011

Once Turtle brought the banana stalk back, however, treacherous Monkey took the top half of the stalk, with all the bananas, and ran off.  But Turtle knew that his part had the roots, so it would grow into more banana stalks over and over, while Monkey's bananas would be the last, and would never grow anymore again.

I like using this children's book, storytelling style of illustration, so it was a fun opportunity.  Plus, I got to learn about how bananas grow!

Elder Wirthlin

Joseph B. Wirthlin said,

"Over the course of my years, I have met thousands of people. I have dined with the prosperous as well as the poverty-stricken. I have conversed with the mighty and with the meek. I have walked with the famous and the feeble. I have run with outstanding athletes and those who are not athletically inclined. 

(read from right to left)

 One thing I can tell you with certainty is this: You cannot predict happiness by the amount of money, fame, or power a person has. External conditions do not necessarily make a person happy… The fact is that the external things so valued by the world are often the cause of a great deal of misery in the world. Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however, are usually among the world’s happiest people. And they make others happy as well." 

(read from left to right)

The Warden

I was asked to illustrate a story about a warden of San Quentin, a high-security prison in California.  The prisoners were not treated well before he arrived, and he made major changes and improved their way of life.  They respected him so much for it that he could walk among them, as he is doing here in the yard.

To find my men and yard to paint, I found the old Humphrey Bogart black and white film "San Quentin" on DVD.  Not too bad, except Bogart dies in the end doing the right thing.  I also found some old war images of soldiers and prisoners to use.  So if you recognize anyone in this picture, it's probably coincidence.

We Need Others

This was an interesting experiment in painting that we'd never tried before.  The story is about a man who gets sick, but he wants to keep it to himself, so only his wife knows.  But slowly, friends, home teachers, visiting teachers, neighbors, and family learn about it, and help him by bringing food, praying for him, etc.  

 What happened on the TV screen was, they showed the first painting, then the husband's and wife's expressions changed and people started fading into the scene one at a time, until you ended up with the second painting.  It looked like magic!

It was very time consuming on our end, though.  I had to paint both paintings, trying to get the backgrounds identical, which is impossible, and then I learned it was also unnecessary, since we painstakingly masked them completely out of their old background anyway.  In the end, I learned a lot, it was nifty to watch live, and I'm grateful to Lori, Bill, Alyssa, Brian, Mark, Ann, and Lydia for their help.  And thanks for the yummy cookies, Alyssa!

Homesick

For this image, I needed to show a college student who was homesick and missing her family.

My good friend Caroline suggested I visit her niece Meka at BYU. The dorm was perfect--just what I remembered from dorm life--cinder-block walls! What says dorm room more than that? I had her resting on the top bunk of her roommate's bed. Meka was an excellent model, and I suggested she try a job as a model at BYU. We had a picture of her very large family, which we put on the wall as reference. I chose an image of a home with a forlorn, wistful sky to put next to Meka, trying to boost the mood of homesickness further. I heard that her father would be traveling from California to view the broadcast live! I hope they enjoyed it. Thanks so much, Meka!

"God Believes in Him"

I was asked to portray Tony Blair as a 10-year-old boy at school. He was worried about his father, who was serving in the war. His teacher suggested praying for him, but young Tony said, "I don't think my father believes in God."

"That's okay," his teacher said, "God believes in him."

I researched Tony Blair and learned that he went to school in a Choral School for Boys. I learned that most of those schools were converted old cathedrals, and the boys would spend a lot of time practicing singing--hence all the boys choirs with the high voices. I decided this would be best portrayed in a school uniform, however, rather than a choir uniform that looked like a high-collared nightgown.

Scott and his son Kaden were so sweet to do this for me! Kaden is a sensitive 10-year-old neighbor, and when I told him that his picture would be on TV, his eyes lit up and his jaw dropped! Getting him to act worried about his father while his father was standing right there was a little hard, though. Scott eventually achieved it by reminding Kaden of all the homework he still had left to do. That produced the sad face! Thanks a ton, Kaden and Scott!

Charles and Elaine

This is basically a love story about a couple who had been married for almost sixty years and still took care of each other and were devoted to each other. I was happy that John and Marion were willing to pose for me. I didn't make them get in a pool--we got around that by having them wear T-shirts and hide behind a kitchen bar. They were so sweet to rearrange their day, their furniture, dishes, and clothes for me. While I photographed them, they told me about their wedding day nearly seventy years ago! Thank you for the great visit, John and Marion.

Unspoken Prayers

This piece was a challenge--it was to show three different people who wanted something in life but were denied their wish, only to be rewarded with something better that they didn't expect. The first is a young man who didn't make the high school football team, but grew up to become a successful author. The second is a woman who didn't win the election, only to become a big humanitarian aid worker and helped thousands in need. The third is a man who didn't get the job he wanted, only to become fulfilled and successful in a different career. I decided on charcoal, and the original piece is 48" long! Thanks to Elaine Glenn and Nick, Lacie and Blake Pearson for modeling for me!

Wheelchair

The story here was about Don ____ who saw a woman crawling across a street like a snake when he visited a third-world country. It bothered him, and he pondered it, wondering why someone couldn't just build cheap wheelchairs for people who couldn't buy them. Eventually he invented them! He made a nonprofit foundation and gives them out to those who can't walk and can't afford a wheelchair. The first one he gave away was to a boy in India, whose mother said, "Thank you for this chariot." My favorite quote is from this episode: "It is not enough to be happy in life. We should be useful."

The Old High School

Thank you Ruthann and the people at PGHS for helping me out for this one. It's about a woman visiting her old high school, noticing how small everything is, (check out those short lockers!) and wishing she could go back and change some things, and how we should move forward and be better. They used to teach a preschool right down this hall, and my daughter recognized her old preschool just by looking at the row of lockers! I love painting beautiful people, and Ruthann is definitely one, and so sweet to model for me too. Thanks again!

Good Intentions

The boys I babysit are always sneaking toys in their pockets to play with at my house, despite their mother telling them not to. I'm sure most of them make it to school as well. These are usually Spider Man, Star Wars or Indiana Jones action figures, or legos or green army men. All very "boy." So when I was asked to paint this piece, I immediately thought of these boys.

The story goes that a little girl was sharing with her class at school that her grandmother had just died. She became overcome with emotion and had to sit at her desk, in tears. A little boy in the class got up and sat down by her. He reached into his pocket and gave her the toy he had smuggled into the classroom that day to make her feel better. It doesn't matter that it was a "boy" toy, that she wouldn't have cared about. It was special to him.

The day of the photo shoot, I just asked the boys, "What do you have in your pockets?" The oldest boy reached in and produced a little green army man. Perfect!

Thanks so much to Kira, Aidan, and their Kindergarten teacher for letting us photograph the classroom, and to my daughter for hiding in the background with her cast on.

Christmas Cards from Grandma

I had the privilege of photographing Elijah, one of my daughter's friends from Kindergarten, for this piece. He is such a happy soul! He was willing to help out, and couldn't stop smiling the entire time. I told him that I'd be painting a picture of him for TV, and he said, "Make sure you paint my skin brown!" I assured him I would. That was actually pretty tricky, since I'm so used to painting pinkish beige tones, and I'm afraid his skin got a little overworked, but I appreciated the challenge to paint brown skin, and hope to be able to do it a lot in the future.

Heimlich

What an unusual Thanksgiving painting! The story goes that this man stood up choking in an office lunch room, but nobody stepped forward to help him for a while. Then some man he didn't know came up from behind and performed a successful Heimlich maneuver and saved his life, for which he was very grateful. See how thanksgiving comes into play? Thanks so much to Matt and all his friends at Ancestry.com for helping me out! I'm thankful for your help!

Armistice Day

This is a painting of the end of fighting in WWI in France, on November 11, at 11 a.m., Armistice Day. They say the fighting intensified, then right at 11:00, it was like everything hit a wall, then was silent. A man ran out into no-man's-land to plant an American flag in a shell hole, and a soldier played music on a German trumpet. I had to research to get the helmets and uniforms from the right war.

By Hawking's Chair!

I felt it an honor and a privilege to paint Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant astronomers and mathematicians of our time. I was disheartened to learn that he was an atheist, but glad to know that he relies heavily on family. This was one of the first paintings I've done where the end product is almost exactly how I imagined it in my head!

Good Sports

The awesome young women in my ward modeled for this shot.  It's about how winners can be rude and isolated, or they can be friendly and encouraging to the losers.

Lewis and Clark

This illustrates the Corps of Discovery (the Lewis and Clark expedition) in 1805 when Captain Clark carved into a tree in Oregon in December 1805 to prove that they had been there.  Thank you to Summer and Bryant for being so willing to model for me on a time crunch, and to Anya and Kent for providing such excellent costumes.  I'll need to do a larger painting of Sacagawea some day with some other photos I took, just to do the costume justice!

Let it Go

This is a story about a man who kept a list of all the people he was angry with.  Years later, he realizes and regrets his mistake.  I loved the quote, "Holding a grudge is like taking poison and then waiting for the other person to die."

Mike and his father were so wonderful to pose for me--thank you so much!  They are in the theater business, so they were great models.

Bragging Rights

My sister and her friends volunteered to pose for me, and she and I squeezed some of our children into the shot.  I needed a scene at a ballpark, and my sis is always attending ball games for her children.  She's amazing.  Thanks for helping out!

Lincoln on a Train from Springfield

It was a gloomy day when Abraham Lincoln departed the station in Springfield, Illinois, headed for the nation's capital to become the 16th president.  Hundreds were gathered there, as he gave a memorable speech.