Photo Cut Out Board

Acrylic on cardboard.
My sister-in-law is a leader for the Activity Day Girls (ages 8-11) in her ward and she asked me to do this photo cut out board for their Daddy Daughter Dinner Date activity.  It was a western theme.  She said everyone had a wonderful time and had a blast taking pictures with the board.  I'm so glad I could do something fun for them!

"Consider the Lilies"

60x38 1/2 Acrylic on canvas
This was inspired not only by this passage of scripture but also by the beautiful song based on this passage.  Hear the Mormon Tabernacle Chior sing this hymn                                            Matthew 6:26-31
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Details of "Consider the Lilies"

"If Only"

36x48 Acrylic and Marker on Canvas Board
If Only...
This is the idea of Hell that we would meet our glorified, perfected, happy self. Then we get to live for eternity knowing that we could have been that person IF ONLY we had worked a little bit harder and put forth a little more effort.

"Spiritual Privileges"

18x24 Acrylic and Water Color Pencil on Canvas

From Sheri Dew's book, "God Wants A Powerful People" p. 56 "The question , then, is this How much power do we want to have, and what are we willing to do to obtain it? Heber C. Kimball said that 'the greatest torment [the Prophet Joseph] had... was because this people would not live up to their [spiritual] privileges. ...He said sometimes that he felt pressed upon as though he were pent up in an acorn shell, and all because the people did not and would not prepare themselves to recieve the rich treasures of wisdom an knowledge that he had to impart. He could have revealed a great many things to us if we had been ready.' " (Journal of Discourses 10:167)

What would happen in our lives if we lived up to our spiritual privileges and burst open the acorn shell, so to speak? What could the Prophet teach us if we would make ourselves ready? I want those blessings!

"The Light Divine"

18x24 Acrylic, watercolor, marker on Canvas
I did this for a friend to use in conjunction with one of her projects but she ended up going a different way with her graphics. No big deal. That means I get to keep it and don't have to share it if I don't want to. I quite like it. It makes me happy!

Now for the symbolism... It is painted to look like stained glass in a cathedral, a very holy place. The pure white color of the light house is for the purity of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The rocky shoreline in the foreground is to symbolize the sure foundation that He is. The Heart is for the love of Heavenly Father to all of us through the gift of his only begotten Son. The rays of light show how their love is powerful enough to penetrate even the darkest night. Some of the lines do not line up intentionally, the way hand cut glass might be.

Now that it is staying with me I have since painted over the cross. My friend is Catholic and when it was for her and her project it was appropriate. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I am a Christian but we focus more on the resurrection and his life than on his death.

"3 Bears"

3- 9x12 Color Pencil, Pencil, Water Color

This is a study of a Polar Bear in point, line, and plane.

"My Focus"

This is a study for a painting for a painting inspired by Mosiah 2:5-6.

"And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another.

And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them"

"Your focus determines your reality" Qui-Gon Gin Star Wars - Episode II

"The Light Will Appear"

Acrylic on canvas 24x30

President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has quoted President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) as saying, “You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and perhaps a few steps into the darkness, and you will find that the light will appear and move ahead of you.”

"SQUIRL!"

This guy was an after thought at the end of a drawing class and ended up down in the corner of the page. My teacher decided to grade it as she walked by. Who am I to refuse an "A"?

"At the Glorified Throne"

Its finally done!
acrylic on canvas24x36

This was inspired by the hymn "I Stand All Amazed", 3rd verse. Hear it and see the words at this link.
http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=193&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=193&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

3D Animation Still

This is Abigail and Sam in a still from from one of my animations modeled in 3D Studio Max. The sky was painted in Fractal Design Painter. The snow man is "Jake Frost -the blind snowman". His creator , Jason McCue, allowed him to make a cameo appearance in my animation in exchange for my help learning to apply bones to a mesh since he missed class that day.

Witch's Castle

The "Wicked Witch of the West's" castle in "The Wizard of Oz".
16x10 Marker, color pencil, and water color on marker paper.

Life Drawings

Charcoal and Color Pencil on newsprint. 24x36

Life Drawing

Charcoal on newsprint. 24x36

"Daisy"

This is 'Daisy' from the garden scene in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland".

10 second sketches

These are warm up exercises - 10 second sketches. Very fun.

Sketches

These are some of the random thing out of my sketch book.

"Wilt Thou Not Partake?"

Acrylic on canvas 16x20

The fruit symbolizes the love of God. " Wilt Thou Not Partake?" Inspired by Neal A. Maxwell's Oct. '98 Conference talk about how some people reject the love of God and partaking of His son's Atonement when its right there.

"Line Upon Line"

Acrylic on canvas 24x36

This symbolizes how we learn and grow. It reminds me that I don't know everything yet and also to be patient with my children because they are learning, too.

"The Final Interview"

Acrylic on canvas board 34x60.

I painted this to be a daily reminder that one day I will have my turn to sit in one of those chairs and answer the question from my Heavenly Father "So, Karen, how do you think you did?"

"Concilio is a seating together in a council. Our word council comes from that. Reconciliation is to be called back to the council and sit down again. You are called to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - to return. ...These words from Latin that begin with re always imply going back to a former state, returning home again. And, of course, the Hebrew word for that is teshûvāh and then yeshîvāh. The teshûvāh is return home; the yeshîvāh is sit down when you return home."
~Hugh Nibley Teachings of the Book of Mormon Semester 1 Transcripts of lectures presented to an honors Book of Mormon Class at Brigham Young University 1988 – 1990 p.391, 393