This is Sariah, one of my favorite characters from the Book of Mormon. Well, I should say it’s what I imagine she may have looked like. Her family was commanded by Heavenly Father to leave their home and travel into the wilderness and eventually settle here in America. It’s so neat to read about their struggles and triumphs and about their faith in Heavenly Father. There is a time where even Sariah (who from what I can tell was a very faithful, brave woman) struggled with her faith. It’s encouraging to me to realize that even the strongest among us struggle sometimes and that we all have trials to overcome. I’m so grateful that these people took the time to write about their lives and about the amazing experiences that came to them because they were obedient. I am forever grateful for the Book of Mormon and the strength it brings into my own life.

Sometimes it’s really hard for me to be an artist. So many people have so many different things to say about what I should paint and I have so many ideas of my own that it can get kind of confusing. I personally love to do portraits, landscapes, animals, figurative, urban scenes, pretty much whatever strikes me as beautiful or interesting. Sometimes I like to paint something because I feel like a story needs to be told. I like to tell people’s stories through their facial expressions or their body language or a moment in their lives. I like to paint things that are stimulating and challenging and really just a lot of fun. However gallery owners generally don’t like portraits or figurative work. They say people won’t buy a picture of someone that they don’t know.  Okay, so much for telling people’s stories… (more…)