Suffer the little children to come unto me ...

One of my work associates asked if I could paint his niece and nephews around the Savior in portrait form. He gave me a photo of them with their mother to use as reference. Portraits are always challenging for me so I took me time and really tried to get each child's countenance just right. Then it came to the Savior! I understand that we don't exactly know what He looks like, but I still wanted to give it my best effort so that the viewer would understand immediately who the children were with. It was a touching and tender experience for me.

I hope this painting brings a spirit of peace and understanding to this little family in the years to come.

I truly enjoy these meaningful painting experiences. A special thanks to many of you for providing these types of opportunities for me through the past many years.

For we have seen his star ...

The wise men described in the New Testament came seeking the new King ... "for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him". May we ever be seeking to worship Him through out our lives ...

See the Joy

I did two Christmas paintings this year, each of brass bells. We choose the "red" one to use as our Christmas card for 2015 ... hope you enjoy!

Hope

This piece depicts a young girl longing for her father's safe return from the sea as she waits for the fishing boat to return during a storm. It was a poignant experience for me to try to capture her emotions of concern and hope.

Bellevue Temple

I had the opportunity to paint and donate this piece to an auction to help a family in need. My sweet daughter-in-law was one of the organizers and invited me to participate. They had people bid on the painting, then collected the donations and gave the painting to the in need, who were married in this temple ... a very cool gesture of love on behalf of those who donated to the cause.

The View

We used this little study as reference material for my painting class this past month. A very fun study in values, creating distance, silhouettes, etc.

Roxy

Our niece's bulldog, Roxy, recently passed away. Maureen suggested that I do a painting of her for them to send as a gift of comfort. I thought it was a great idea and began researching her Facebook posts for pictures of Roxy. I found this one and immediately knew it was the one I should paint. What a wonderful experience for me to be able to help in this way ...

Pum[kins in the field

Had fun with these pumpkins with our art class this year. I have painted many seasonal harvest scenes through the years that include pumpkins and other harvest veggies and grains ... I guess one just can't have too many of such things!

The Surrender Field

This piece was a commission to paint the Surrender Field located in Yorktown, Virginia. I wanted to present it at sunrise so as to signify the dawn of freedom! It is humbling to contemplate that a bunch of farmers with pitch forks brought  the most powerful army in the world to its knees on this very field. So embarrassed was Cornwallis, that he sent a subordinate to surrender his sword. It is a reverent place for me ... Providence clearly aided our forefathers to create this land of freedom! May we ever protect, honor and reverence it!

Red Canyon Overlook at the Flaming Gorge

The Flaming Gorge area of northeastern Utah is one of my favorite places in our beautiful state! I was commissioned to paint this beautiful scene of the Red Canyon Overlook for the new ICO Management offices in Lehi, Utah. The original was large ... 60"x48", so it was fun to paint to that scale! Enjoy ...

Window in time

This was a fun piece to do as it had everything I love to paint ... mountains, old wood, a bird ... all in the wide open spaces of Wyoming! My sweet cousin commissioned me to do this piece for their home ... thank you, Christine!

The Miracle of the Book of Mormon

My friend, Glenn Rawson (host of the TV show, "History of the Saints") asked me to do the cover art for his latest project entitled, "The Miracle of the Book of Mormon". I was honored to participate in such a project! He wanted a scene depicting a sunrise through a frontier cabin window with a first edition Book of Mormon on a table in front of the window ... representing the dawn of the Restoration!

Grand Sunset

This summer, we had the opportunity to visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. While there, we were able to experience this spectacular sunset. I couldn't wait to get home and paint it right away! It is impossible to capture the grandeur of such a place on canvas, but it was fun trying!

Stump Cutters

There is a group of doctors who live on the eastern slopes of the Sierras in California who have come up with a unique way to "give back" to their community by providing firewood for those who are in need. Our friend commissioned me to do this painting of her boss in action! For me, this was a very challenging yet rewarding piece to do! Thanks, Missy, for the opportunity!

Casey

Our friend asked me to do a painting of her son's golden retriever, Casey, that recently passed away. I enjoyed the opportunity a lot! I hope this piece provides many happy memories for them ...

How do like them apples ...?!

Several years ago, I painted a similar scene to this one while on a family vacation. It sold right away, but I really liked the piece so I decided to paint another one ... slightly different from the first but using the same impressionistic techniques!

Wishing Well

My art students wanted to paint this scene of a Wishing Well within a lush garden setting. We had fun learning to paint it! Here is my rendition of the piece ... Enjoy!

The View

My son and his family recently went to Zion's National Park. They had a blast experiencing the breath-taking scenery that abounds there! His wife took a photo of "the boys" overlooking a valley on the edge of an overhanging rock ... I couldn't resist the opportunity to paint the scene. Since Kyle and Kaiden both have their birthday on the same day in June, it will be my present to them this year! Hope they like it ...

"Tazer"

Maureen's cousin and his wife visited us this past month while on their way to see a friend in Colorado. They are from Whistler, BC in Canada so we don't get to see them much. However, when we do get to visit with them, we enjoy their company so much! They are very sweet and kind folks ... we look forward to each opportunity to be with them!

This time, they asked me if I would paint a portrait of "Tazer", their son's German shepherd that recently passed away. I told them I would give it a shot! Hope they like it ...

A wonderful opportunity!

My sweet cousin, Christine, commissioned me to paint these two pieces ... one for her husband's office and the other for their home in Wyoming. The scale of both paintings was very fun to work with ... both are fairly large pieces and offered several challenges for me. I loved the experience, however, and learned a lot in the process! Thank you, Chris, for the opportunity!

"Escondido"

Several years ago, I painted a little Cottontail rabbit hidden in the weeds and snow along the Provo River. I ran on to him while fly fishing one winter morning. I used it as reference material for the painting class I teach. This time, however, one of my students wanted to do a fawn instead of the rabbit ... I liked the idea and off we went! This is my version of the little guy! One of my little granddaughters told me (when she saw it for the first time), "Grandpa, he looks so cold and alone"! I am glad my efforts evoked that sort of emotion from a little girl ... that is just what I was trying to portray. Must have got it right somehow this time! Enjoy ...

Lighting the Coast

My friend is quite a photographer ... he took the reference photo of this lighthouse along the Oregon coast. I thought it was just stunning! The members of the painting class I teach voted to use it as one of our subjects this spring! This is my rendition of our classwork effort! Enjoy ...

PS ... I gave the original to my friend who inspired the piece!

Bella

My friend asked if I would be willing to do a painting of their young English Bulldog, Bella, who recently passed away due to complications with cancer. I love doing animal portraits so I jumped at the opportunity!

I had never tried to paint an animal with so many wrinkles before … it truly was a challenge! However, I learned a lot, not only about the “how to’s” of trial and error, but also about the bulldog breed in general. In the process, I discovered that several other friends also have bulldogs as pets.

I certainly hope that this painting will bring comfort and closure to the family along with some good memories of Belle during the short time they had her in their lives.

If any of you would like a portrait done of your pet, please don’t hesitate to call or contact me … would love to help you!

 

Quincy, Illinois ... generational gratitude!

 I have had another opportunity to participate as an artist in a commemorative work related to early LDS church history, working with Glenn Rawson of the History of the Saints TV program.

Here is brief history regarding these pieces ...

After Governor Boggs of Missouri issued the “extermination” order in 1838, the saints were driven from Missouri and sought refuge across the Mississippi River in Illinois. The good people of Quincy, though outnumbered by the refugee Saints, were among the only ones who would give quarter and refuge to them. They literally saved their lives during the winter of 1838-39! John Wood, the founder of Quincy led the effort to help the beleaguered Mormon refugees.

The LDS church will be placing a permanent exhibit in the new History Museum in downtown Quincy, Illinois this spring as an official “thank you” to the people of the Quincy area for the kindness of their ancestors so many years ago.

In these two paintings, I was able to render how the Quincy downtown area may have looked in the 1840's, and how the Jonathan Browning home may have appeared just before he and his family left Quincy for Nauvoo around the time of their conversion to the Church in the early 1840's.

I am again honored to have been able to participate in such a project.

 

Kirt Harmon Documentary

One of my young friends asked if she could do a documentary of me and my art for a school project last year. It was fun to work with her through the interviews and filming. I soon forgot about it until one of my associates at work congratulated me on my documentary that he had seen on you tube! I really didn't know to what he was referring at first ... then I remembered Jana's project. Well, here it is ... enjoy! I think she did a great job!

Candice's Dolly

Last year, I had the opportunity to go to Alaska with my friend, Brett. His daughter, Candice, and her husband were in our group as well. This piece depicts her first encounter with a large Dolly Varden.

Nathan's Buddies

20 years ago, Nathan and I had the privilege of our first Alaska adventure, compliments of Gary Wright. He and his son, Colin, invited us to go with them to the Kenai Peninsula. One of the fishing adventures was to take a float plane across the Cook Inlet to a lake where Sockeye salmon were migrating upstream into a little creek to spawn.

We were not the only fishers there ... several brown bears were also interested in the tasty denizens. These two characters entertained us almost the entire day. Nathan even had a confrontation with them over one of his fish!

This year, Nathan and I returned again to Alaska together for another fly fishing adventure! We didn't have any intimate encounters with bears this trip like in years past, but one bear did find us curious enough to check us out several times during our wade into his "fishing grounds". He was just leery enough of us to give us "wide birth" though. It was fun to know that he was always around and interested in what we were doing!

Enjoy!

Misty Morning Elk

A friend of mine gave me a photo of this majestic royal elk crossing a river on a crisp September morning last year. I loved the early morning fog and light. Hope I captured the beauty and raw nature of the moment!

Christmas stories by candlelight

Each year I do a "Christmas" painting that we use for our family Christmas card. This is the 2014 version. I wanted to do an old fashioned "scripture by candlelight" composition. I had done one similar to this one years ago as a study with Jerry Yarnell. Hope you enjoy ...

Portland Temple

Nathan and Holly sent me some beautiful photos of the Portland Temple that they took while there recently. This is "their" temple and I just had to get it onto canvas for them!

Ellie's Day

Our grand daughter, Ellie, chose to be baptized last month. She lives up in Seattle, so I was able to go up and attend the service. After the ordinance, we went over to the Bellevue LDS Temple for some photos since it was so close to the Stake Center. When I browsed my photos upon my return home, I realized that I just had to paint this one! What a beautiful girl on a beautiful day!

Tell me the stories of Jesus

Several years ago, I went to Seattle to meet our newest grandson, Matthew, right after he was born. I immediately fell in love with the little guy! While there, I also got to play with and read a new book that Grammy had sent along to Rachelle’s older children. At the time, I did not know that Cory had taken a photo of the experience (see below). He later sent it to me … I filed it away in my “Grandkids” file for affectionate viewing later!

This year, the LDS church sent out a “call for artists” to participate in the Fine Art event with the theme, “Tell me the stories of Jesus”.

I immediately thought of that photo of me reading to Rachelle’s kids, and this new image was born (above)! It was a little daunting at first placing us in this scene, but after a few attempts, it became a fun and meaningful painting experience for me. 

I believe there is nothing more important we can do with our little ones than to tell them the stories of Jesus while teaching them His gospel.

Mortality challenges us with weakness, sin and death. The “good news” that the angel brought so many years ago was that a Savior had been born for all of us … and He can ”fix” and help us navigate through all of these mortal challenges. May we all be able to tell the stories of Jesus to those we love!

 

Another view of majestic Machu Picchu!

I decided to try one more piece depicting the remarkable Machu Picchu in Peru! We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and I hope I have captured some of the drama and mystique of this special place!

Spectacular Machu Picchu

When we arrived at the base of Machu Picchu, it was pouring rain ... the locals called it, "raining llamas y alpacas". We were so disappointed ... we thought our trip was blown! However, we made our way to the top and the rain had turned into a drizzle. By the time we had hiked to this vantage point, the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking through the misty clouds that still schrouded the citadel. It was so cool!

What an incredible experience!

Old iconic barn

This is one of the many iconic old barns in rural Utah. This particular one is located in the West Layton area.
Sure enjoyed this nostalgic painting experience ...

Little Llama girl

On one of our lunch stops during our visit to Peru, we came on to this little girl and her llama. She was so cute! Our granddaughter, Katie, took some candid shots of her from a distance. In this piece, really tried to capture her innocence along with her relationship with this beautiful llama.

Uros Boys

During our visit to Peru, we had the opportunity to spend some time in Puno at Lake Titcaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. In the Puno bay lives a group of people, called the Uros, that still make their homes on floating islands made of the lake reeds. Everything they own is made of the lake reeds ... their homes, boats, nets, etc. They even use the reeds as a food source.

This happy, little guy lived on one of the floating islands we visited and I just couldn't resist painting his joyful face as soon as we returned home!

Brad and Cisco

This is the third piece in my body of work called "Brads' Gang". This was a wonderful experience for me! Though horses are one of the most difficult animals to paint, I love to try! The southern Utah setting and Cisco's beauty made this a real joy to paint!

Austin and Chance

Austin Cooper, my nephew, sadly passed away last month. His parents asked if I would be willing to do a painting of him with his little son, Chance. Of course, I wanted to help ... humbled I did my best. I hope it brings comfort and peace to their family.

Ellie

The elephant has long been the symbol of the “Ivory” companies where I have worked for over 30 years. Our CEO, Clark Ivory and his wife, Chris have been called to serve as Mission Presidents in Romania beginning in July 2014, so in their honor, I wanted to paint my version of the majestic elephant.

My wife had the opportunity to spend some time in Africa this past spring, and came home with many fun photos of African animals. I have had fun painting many of them  … lion, leopard, wart hog, and gorilla so far. I finally worked up the courage to try to paint one of these unique creatures … the elephant!

It posed some interesting challenges not the least of which was how to make their skin look so rough and wrinkly! I had fun experimenting with several different techniques, and just making it up as I went along!

Last month, our group painting class wanted to use my painting as reference material and learn how to paint him as well! I think they really enjoyed the  experience.

This piece is currently being framed, by my friend Cindy Cima (who, by the way, does all of my framing  and who I highly recommend to you for your framing needs!). I will deliver it to the Ivory’s in the coming days! Hope they enjoy “Ellie”!

 

Grand View

One of my young friends asked if I could do a painting of his girl friend and her cousin overlooking the Grand Canyon. It was a fun project ... enjoy!

Translating the Book of Mormon

A couple of weeks ago, the host of  "History of the Saints" TV program asked me if I could paint a piece depicting Joseph and Oliver translating the Book of Mormon. He said that most of the pertinent art was not accurate. He wanted Joseph with elbows on knees looking into the seer stone (not shown) with Oliver, with quill and ink well, looking a bit weary. A candle was their light source and the plates were on another table covered with a cloth. This is my version of that description! It was another wonderful painting experience. Justin posed as model for both Oliver and Joseph while he was here for the Christmas holiday.

JAG and Treasure

I had the privilege of doing a painting of my friend's horses last month in their home pasture located in the Bountiful foothills of northern Utah. I even got to ride them and know their unique personalities somewhat before actually trying to paint them!

This past week, I was able to finish this piece of Brad, JAG and Treasure, two beautiful buckskins, on the Kings Peak trail in the Uintah Mountains of N/E Utah. I absolutely felt connected with this piece! I spent many days of my early life in these mountains and with horses, so it evoked many memories and emotions as I painted.

Again, I was able to take from a couple of photos to create this composite painting. I so enjoyed the experience!

Joseph and Hyrum

Once again, I have had another remarkable painting experience! My friend, Glenn Rawson, of the History of the Saints and Joseph Smith Papers TV programs, petitioned me to help him provide a painting for his upcoming program centered on the story of Joseph Smith's early ordeal and leg operation when he was a young boy.

Glenn gave me some of the text and asked if I could paint a scene depicting Hyrum's compassion for his younger brother as he recovered from such an ordeal. Hyrum was constantly at this side, giving him comfort and even supporting his leg so as to help ease Joseph's pain.

I only had a couple of days to complete the painting in order to meet the production deadlines so I painted quickly and decisively, not knowing exactly what the end result would actually be. This experience taught me so much ... I am thankful to Glenn for the opportunity! I have a new appreciation for these two brothers, for their family love, support and commitment to each other.

Houston Homestead

One of our dear friends asked me if I would do a painting of her grandmother on the front porch of her old Houston home. She sent me several reference photos of the home and of "Bernice", and from these I was able to make a composite painting. It was fun to come up with a composition that incorporated the white picket fence, the tire swing the beautiful trees and pink bushes, and even Bernice knitting in her rocking chair on the front porch! Very fun experience ...

But Mary kept all of these things and pondered them in her heart ...

Over the past few years, I have tried to do a painting each year that Maureen and I can use for our family Christmas card. This year I decided to try a Nativity featuring a close up of Mary and Jesus, perhaps a little on the non-traditional side. I wanted to show, not only the intimacy, but also the perplexity of the whole experience from her point of view ... a young mother in such humble circumstances, knowing what she knew, but perhaps not well understood by most of her family and friends!

I wanted to express the humanity of the birth experience in a stable among animals but also the glory 'round about the life-changing event. A special thanks to our friend Shalon (model for Mary) and our new grandson Jaxin (model for Jesus)! Merry Christmas to you all!

Alpine Loop

Last month, Maureen and I had the opportunity to take the scenic route home from Heber City through Provo Canyon and over the Alpine Loop dropping us down into American Fork Canyon. Wow, the colors were strikingly brilliant, especially the aspens and maples! I just had to come home and paint it!

Maureen's niece and her daughters came up from So. Cal. to visit us that next week and they (the two girls) helped me block in the rich shadows of the under painting. I later finished up the details ... sure hope I was able to capture a hint of the grandeur and explosion of color that we experienced!