Among others,
I have one especially dear friend with mental illness. Last year our relationship became tumultuos due to a particularly intense manic. When it got to the point where talking made things worse and I found myself bursting into tears infront of strangers, It occured to me that this was a perfect time for a painting trip. Knowing that BYU studies was looking for a painting of the Mountain Meadows Massacre site, I used that as an excuse to throw aside all responsabilities and head south to scout out a pianting site there.Along the way I read Ron Walkers fascinating book, Massacre at Mountains Meadows.
The dust jacket begins "On September 11, 1857, a band of Mormon militia, under a flag of truce, lured unarmed members of a party of emigrants from their fortified encampment and, with their Paiute allies, killed them. More than 120 men, women, and children perished in the slaughter."
Being a person of Faith, often requires something the Psychologist Jeffery Schwarts called "directed attention" , a method used to overcome Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is a technique used to look past a "cognition" that can become disabling, in order to focus on the whole context of cognitions that work together as part of a succesfully functioning life.
I took tons of pictures there; It was a truely beautiful place. Ironically, I ended up with several other paintings, but never quite got to sit down and finish the one on Mountain Meadow, which is, I suppose a note to self: Just to round off the collection, I ought to do a quick one of the musago? creek.These are a couple of my watercolor landscapes from the last year or so. The Cabin is of course, The Summerhays Cabin at the mouth of Smith Moorhouse Canyon
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