New artwork: Before the World Was VII. Exploring the idea of using semicircles to represent Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father. (The other ways I’ve tried so far include interlocking circles, yin/yang shapes, whole circles, triangles, and circle-and-triangle figures.)
A few new pieces of art.
He Will Deliver Me, about David and Goliath:
Nevertheless II, another Gethsemane piece:
By Day and by Night, about the pillars of cloud and fire. I’d tried to do this piece multiple times in the past but it never clicked for me until I brought the pillars together at the center.
New artwork: Lamb of God.
New artwork: Their Work and Glory V. I wanted to do a warmer, more subtle version of TW&G IV with (I believe) better composition. The colors ended up pairing with New and Everlasting III and Peace Be unto Thy Soul.
New artwork: When Our Heavenly Parents We Meet III.
The Doors of Death, based on a conference talk instead of a scripture (which is something I haven’t done much of yet). I like to think of this one as me talking with my dad.
More new artwork: Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet II. I haven’t been happy with the original and wanted to rework it.
New artwork: Holiness to the Lord II. I wanted to make a new version of Between Heaven and Earth and this is what came out of it.
I made this a couple weeks ago but haven’t posted about it here yet:
When we were going through my dad’s things, we found a framed version of the original piece that he’d hung up in his office. That version was more representational than my more recent work, though, so I decided to do a more abstract, minimalist version in memoriam.
My dad died this week. He went missing on Tuesday and we found his body in the mountains on Friday after three excruciatingly long days of searching.
It’s been awful, but in spite of the core-shaking pain and a whole lot of crying, I’ve felt at peace — even more than I was expecting. I am so, so grateful for Christ and his gospel, giving me hope that I will see my father again and that this is just a temporary separation. I’ve also been amazed to see such a massive outpouring of support and love from family and friends and complete strangers.
Over the last day or two I’ve felt I needed to make this new piece about my dad and all the people supporting him and my family on both sides of the veil. It’s called Taken Home:
