In studio with J Kirk Richards

So Kirk has been working on these new paintings,  actually transfers drawings,  As a favor, he let me help with them, which makes me feel quite 5 years old again. (OK, he did have me set them on fire.  I wouldn't let my 5 year old do that.) It is amazing to me all that he can get out of so much chaos.  And yet I think the trick is not to push it too hard.  Just let it  work itself out.  Anyway they have so much beautiful randomness,  and primitivenes to them-  a commodity that I am realizing is so much harder to come by, than originally thought.  Since I am working on  these pieces from the Egyptian Book of walking forth by day-  Basically family paintings,  I would like to figure out how to capture some of that primitiveness.  Gougin!  Help!

Coptiv text on Adam

I love this Strange St. Michael coptic drawing. It seems to a great place to share Hugh Nibly's insights  "in the coptic text Hypostasis of the Archons, the "spiritual woman" comes to the sleeping Adam and says, "Arise, Adam! and when he sees her he says: "It is thou who hast given me life! Thou shalt be called the mother of the Living!' She is indead my mother, even the physician" --That is, she both gives life and restores it."
 Pg253 MJSP

Bob Gay- what a thoughtful man.

Yesterday

Joe Summerhays

• Mary, I have sent this to Jim, but I paste it here for your enjoyment. Your painting of the Nauvoo temple made quite an impact on Bob Gay. I sent a note with it indicating that even though the name said Mary Adams Summerhays, that you are a great great great granddaughter of Hyrum Smith.
  Both Truman Madsen and Elder Ballard have given Bob a personal testimony tour of Nauvoo on separate occasions. Nauvoo is also one of the places his prodigal son joined him on his return to the fold. So his words below are extremely heartfelt. I can think of no greater honor for an artist, to hear of the stirring of a soul responding to your vision out of your earshot. What a blessing you've bestowed.
  
  Here is his response ( I had the painting delivered via his son Chris. )
  
  "Joe A belated thank you for this note---this is one of those life changing moments—we are headed to the Central America area presidency in August but will be in Ct for part of July—would love to get together—Hope you, Holly and the kids are well--- Now on another note—Chris gave me the watercolor print you gave him to give me---I will cherish this as one of the most special gifts I have ever received—I am touched to my core—it has more meaning for me than you will ever know —it will hang in my office in Guatemala---Bob"
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (Hi,  this is me writing,  in parenthesis because I don't want to break the reverie--   This guy is a billionaire business partner with Mitt Romney; Just called as a General Authority in Guatemala. I don't even know what to say,  I am so flattered that he would take the time to make such a sincere note of gratitude.  Wow.)

"Unknown Allegory" is such a perplexing title for such an inspiring painting as  Brian Kershisnik's  entry to the Spring salon this year.   Rumor has it that Brian insists that he does not know the meaning of the painting,  that it just came to him, When I saw it,  I interpreted an immediate meaning to it- as if it had been a purposeful message, spoken in symbols very simple to read. On a ground made of four pannels, Woman (with two gardening companions floating with her) faces man and holds a piece of fruit.  One of the floaters tilts his head as if waiting to see how Man responds to the invitation.  And then,  absolutely brilliant:  The man's panel and the woman's panel each have door knobs. They are doors.
 

To me it comes through as a brilliantly  simple way to say  what my very complicated piece was attempting to say.  Or am I just so focused on that message that I see it everywhere.  So I can't help but wonder how other people respond to his allegory?  Tell me how you read it.  I'm dying to know.

Oh, Morning Star, Make a Path for Me- Wins an Award of Merit

I have no intention of cutting off my ear.  But this painting did give me some sympathy for  Van Goh's creative frustrations. Less of a painting and more of a pilgrimage through uncut roads, questing for an unknown ideal, rather than a vista.  By the time it was finished I couldn't tell if my love for it was born of pure loyalty to the quest or the reality of successful painting. I am so delighted the SMOFA found some merit in it.

Although it is a mystery piece, It is obviously an exposition on the hypocephalus. As the Egyptians described the hypocephalus, it was a spell or prayer to "cause heat to come under the head of the glorified being."  In other words- to begin their resurrection.  Although it initially reminds many of the Catholic halo,  scholars have more often drawn parallels to the taijitu  and ancient star maps, hence the title "Oh Morning Star, Make a Path for Me," quotes from the Egyptian belief that the king has conquered death, becoming deified in the stars, proving that path available to us.

 The taijitu is more commonly known as the yin and yang circle, the "diagram of ultimate power" of the Taoists.  The two complementary opposites I am focusing on here is the magnetic pull between the mortal (Chthonian) experience and the promise of the eternal.

 In other words the interdependence of two opposites: man and woman.  Woman being the giver of  (mortal) life, while man, particularly the Son of Man, holds mastery over the immortal sphere, priesthood.  His ultimate triumph is resurrection, particularly  as he achieves it for his wife and children.  (Which came first his child, or his desire to resurrect him?) And with fatherhood, suddenly, there is an intensity to his desire to wield the power of the priesthood- an intensity IMPOSSIBLE without family.  That intensity is what fuels the priesthood, and in partnership with motherhood,  becomes the building block of the eternities.

Here is what's on my easel for DB's gallery "He is not here, he is risen."  This is just a snippet of the unfinished painting.  I could yet spill purple ink over the entire thing, and discover my career as an abstract painter. 


I think it so interesting to consider the word's Christ uses in the garden at the morning of the Resurrection-  "Ascended"  Spatially it doesn't make sense.  We quit thinking of the hot place below and the harp singing above back in the 5th grade.  If anyone, Christ knew the location.  Yet he uses this word that means go up,  in the middle of a historical setting.   With all the debate between historicity or allegory in the scriptures, I wonder, was Christ suggesting that the allegory was historical? It would have been metaphorical, even if he hadn't made it an allegory.

 In my head of course that takes you straight to the hypocephalus. The subject has been interesting to paint while reading Hugh Nibley's One Eternal Round. FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME.!!!! Despite it being so hard to understand, (sorry Hugh, gotta say it.) It was so worth the effort.  

Meanwhile, There's another sneak peak for Friday.

Lunch and Learn At Deseret Book Conference Weekend

I want to invite you to the Lunch and Learn  I am doing at  Deseret Book next Friday 11:00-1:00. Feel free to bring any friends along with you for the festivities.  I'm giving a free print to anyone that brings a friend looking for an entertaining lunch break. (Or at least the first 50. :)

I'll be doing a painting demo using volunteers from the crowd- (yeah, that's risky, anything could happen to those paintings.)   I'll also be unveiling some new paintings (including some spectacular flowers from the temple square gardens) as well as a couple of free give-aways, including a framed print of my best seller, "Almond Blossoms."   It's a giclee print of the Salt Lake Temple with a deckled edge framed and float mounted.  It really is gorgeous, and retails at $150.  I'll be doing that drawing right at 11:00 so you'll have a good chance to win because everyone else will be late. (They're Mormons. ;)