Better than Paradise
In the biblical account of the Creation, Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit and are driven out of the garden of Eden. Better than Paradise contrasts that curse and the loss of a paradisiacal garden, with the joy that family brings. Eve herself thanked God for the children she bore, and mourned the son she lost.
1820, The First Vision
My ancestor, B. F. Johnson, wrote in his autobiography, “in the year 1829, in our village paper, was published an account of some young man professing to have seen an angel. . . and I could hardly refrain from wishing or hoping it might be so.” I always loved that quote and how his testimony first took root. In working on this piece I thought on his words over and over. I wish it, I hope it, I believe it.
Baby on Board
Baby on Board depicts a Jaredite barge. The book of Ether tells how an ancient family built airtight submersible barges, lit from the inside with stones prepared by god. They loaded each barge with food, fowls, and honey bees. They took their children on the voyage with them. Through furious winds and mountain waves, their little barge became their home for almost a year. They sang day and night until they came to a promised land.
This piece is a gift for my newborn niece and her family. I hope the blessing of this ancient family will also be theirs:
No monster of the sea could break them
Neither whale that could mar them;
And they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or below the water.
And thus they were driven forth. . . And they did land upon the shore of the promised land.
Ether 6:10
Family Prayer
Family Prayer depicts a scene of Noah and his wife waiting for the floods to subside. I have always been impressed by Noah's faith during this trying, unadventurous time. The collage is made of thousands of hand-cut pieces of colored paper.
I Had Myself A Wound Concealed
Shop PrintsHe Comes Again
This picture of the second coming was for a picture book about my brother, Stuart, and his lifelong challenges with crippling cerebral palsy. This illustration represents the Lord’s walk with those who suffer, and his promise about the second coming.
From Isaiah 42:
“I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I . . .make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.”
Simple Message
During our trials, we often feel that the hour is late, and our faith is spent. So it was for Noah. He and his family had survived in the flood and held out in faith, but his first test flight with a dove was a disappointment.” A week later, a second dove left Noah waiting into the evening before it finally returned with an olive leaf.
Simple Message uses layers collage to create a feeling of “complexity, chaos, and weight of the world as we struggle to make the right decisions.” However, even in areas of darkness, religious imagery appears, emanating rays of hope.
Enoch
This piece depicts Enoch's vision after Zion was taken up into heaven,
"And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook."
Freedom
Freedom was originally created for a picture book. The barn swallow represents the concept of freedom.
The Whale
He lives at dark and dreary depths
From winter storms he takes his breath
There are no walls to mark his maze
Of empty views and endless waves
The sea in waves of emptiness
Would wash away all evidence
Of where he's been or ought to be
And set him wandering aimlessly
And so the whale must concentrate
Hold his bearings and navigate
He doesn't mind the waves or wind
For he carries peace within
