Young Family Portrait finished-Really!

David and Ruth Anne Young have a great bunch of kids and in this painting they are having their own patriotic parade. Little Julia is on AJ's shoulders and Bethany is in the wagon being pulled by Matt. Kimmie is holding the flag and Joey is leading out on his bicycle. Why is this painting being shown again. See if you can see the subtle additions I made since the last time I was finished.

Cole Lofgran, one year old grandson

While I was working on the Portrait of the Young family I had some baloons in my studio and grandson Cole (child of my daughter Summer and her husband Mitchell Lofgran) was playing in my studio with some of the baloons. As so often happens with fleeting moments of light and life, I grabbed my Nikon and shot a bunch of pictures. I love to paint models from life but when it comes to young children and animals you pretty much have to have the camera handy.

Simeon Dunn Meets Joseph

This painting is finally finished (I think). As it was nearing completion I posted a photo of it earlier (Oct. 9) and told a brief story about Simeon walking 500 miles to meet the Prophet. Joseph has completed a ride and is visiting with Simeon. This occurred in 1841 and the Joseph Smith Homestead (that is what it was called) is in the background on the left of of the painting. A phone call to the Nauvoo historical director of The Community of Chirst Church which owns the J.S. Homestead told me that the log building was added onto and then siding was put on and it was painted white.

The famous Red Brick Store that I put in the painting at first is now painted out and is replaced by the frame of a building under construction. If construction of the Red Brick Store was under way in 1841 then that is the building. If not, then it is another building. There were several buildings along the Mississippi River's edge so it could be one of those. A tent is on the right side of the painting to represent the phenominal growth and the poor circumstances of many Mormons who were moving to Nauvoo and building it up to some 18,000 to 20,000 people by the mid-1840s, rivaling Chicago in size.

In trying to make a beautiful and yet accurate historical painting I chose a time of day that has cast a golden glow over the earth. Simeon and Joseph are both dressed in a way that was common in the early and middle 19th Century. Both are in shirt sleeves but their coats are close by; Simeon's coat is on his bedroll on the ground along with his hat and Joseph's coat over the saddle. I tried to figure out a place to put Joseph's hat which would have been the "top hat" as we like to call it. Finally I decided to put Joseph's hat on the well behind him, so you can't see it. That makes it easier to paint. Coats, hats, vest, and a stock (neck wraps, often pre-made) were what gentlemen wore in those days, even when it was hot and muggy. Being in their shirt sleeves shows them in a very relaxed and comfortable situation and I'm allowing this because it is June.

Joseph was a tall and vibrant with a pleasant and jovial personality. Many clergymen from other religions came to Nauvoo to see for themselves this "Prophet". Can you imagine how disappointed many were when they found this common man who laughed and joked and didn't put on airs, but he was serious as a heart attack when he bore his testimony of Jesus.

I have a photo of Simeon taken some thirty years after this episode and he has a full beard, yet you can tell he was a handsome man with chiseled features. Beards were not worn by gentlemen until the early to mid 1850s. By the time the Civil war came along in 1861 Beards were worn by most men. Simeon's clothes show wear and tear from the long journey and his hat is a farmer, or worker's wide brimmed hat.

Young Family Portrait

Friday I spent the day putting some finishing touches on this portait of the children of David Young in Salt Lake City. It has been a fun project and Monday morning it should be ready for signing.

The First Day

On a Monday morning I was excited to get started. I decided to do a painting in a day! A wonderful western scene on a prepared 24 x 30 canvas. I love to see riders on horses and so I decided to do a beautiful snow scene with some Plains Indians moving their winter camp to find some game.
I start with the horses and riders spending most of the day on getting them well drawn and painted. I usually "draw" with the brush and some thinned paint. Occasionally I'll start a painting by drawing the scene in charcoal, but usually I just start blocking shapes in with paint. After I've got the horses well done, I leave the riders pretty sketchy and lay in the mountains, clouds and stream as well as the tree line and rock formation.

At the end of the day I wasn't finished.

Work, work, work...but somebody has to do it!

A couple of days of hard work go by and I get a little further along. Looking better but still a ways to go.

I finish the mountains and trees, do some more work on the stream and add some tree shadows in the foreground. I spend a little bit of time on the two men in front and then add some riders in the back ground. One is another warrior and the other are women, two dragging "travois" and the woman on the horse second from the end has a child on her horse. These are very small figures but they help to tell the story.

Nearly finished

I met the two young men who posed for the main riders at Crow Agency in Montana. One was a Crow Indian and the other was a Cheyenne Indian. Every year in late June a lot of guys gather near the Custer Battle field to have fun running around on horses like wild Indians re-enacting the Custer Battle. They are happy and fun-loving and do some of their best riding when they see me aiming my camera.
Back in my studio, the week has ended (what happened to the one day painting?) and I still am not finished...but I almost am. I set it aside and work on some other stuff, so that when I come back to it, I can see where I can improve it. I hope I don't paint over it (against my Dad's advice) but a painting sitting around my studio is always at risk. On this one though, I am unusually pleased with how it is turning out, so really, I won't be painting over it. When my kids were growing up, as they reached about four years old, each one had to sneak into my studio, grab a brush, put it in a big gob of cadmium red light, or cadmium yellow (two expensive colors) and do a Picasso on my wettest and best paintings. In case you are wondering, all five have grown up into wonderful, law-abiding adults and I love them anyway. They are prolific and I've got a bunch of grandkids, but I have learned to keep all my paints and wet paintings up high.

Winter's Move

This 24 x 30 inch oil painting was started on the bank of the North Fork of the Shoshone River near Yellowstone, Wyoming. This little pool was left as the summer river lowered. It was a nice summer scene. It hung around my studio too long and I couldn't leave well enough alone and I turned it into this great winter painting. Sometimes I'm smart enough to take two good paintings and turn them into one. No wait that isn't smart! My Dad used to tell me, when I was about ready to repaint an entire picture, "Leave it alone! Just paint another one." That is good advice and because I forgot to follow that advice on this painting, the nice summer pool is gone...covered by my winter snow.

Red Brick Store-It's gotta go

Simeon Dunn Meets Joseph Smith

This painting is in progress and was commissioned by a descendant of Simeon Dunn. After Simeon had walked about 500 miles from Michigan to Nauvoo Illinois, he met the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The following is from the Life Sketch of Simeon Dunn and I believe it was presented at his funeral In Brigham City, Utah, February 24, 1883

In 1838 James Dunn, the brother of Simeon Adams Dunn, came to Simeon’s home in Van Buren, Michigan on the Huron River. He was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Simeon was baptized by him on the 15th of April.

Simply embracing the gospel was not enough for Simeon. He had to see the prophet for himself, and perhaps offer his services to the growing church. In June, of 1840, Simeon left Van Buren on foot for Nauvoo, a trip of over 500 miles. There, for the first time in his life he saw a Prophet of God. He also received his Patriarchal blessing from the hands of the Church's first Patriarch Joseph Smith Sr. On July 10, 1840 Simeon started on foot back to Michigan; bearing his testimony to all who would listen along the way. On June 20, 1841 the Dunn family left Michigan to gather with the Saints in Nauvoo, where they arrived on the 5th. of August 1841.

The Prophet Joseph was there to meet them and shook all of their hands. Simeon purchased land from the Prophet on which to build their home. It was located near the mansion house on Hyde and Parley Street. The children of the two families often played together.

The Historical Painter’s Challenge
When depicting a scene sometimes we have more information than this and often we have less.
How did they meet? That, in this instance, is up to conjecture. I have depicted them in conversation at a water well near where Joseph later had a brick barn built for his horses and animals. The Smith Family log home is in the background as well as the Red Brick Store. Thinking about the Red Brick Store that has now become an important Mormon landmark in Nauvoo, I went to Joseph Smith’s journal and found out that the store wasn’t finished and used until 1842. When I told my best critic about my problem, Pamela said, “good, it doesn’t look right to me anyway.” So even when I am almost finished with the painting I find things that need to be changed for the sake of accuracy.

Crossing at Dusk

When our anscestors came across the plains, they couldn't just zip over some river bridge. It often took several days for a wagon train to get everybody over a big river. I have enjoyed painting many river crossings and have great plans for some more in the future.

Evening Encampment

A peaceful night with the warm fires glowing from within the tipis gives us the feeling that all is well.

The View from the end of Lone Dove Trail

When we decided to move from Mesa to Tucson I had quite a number of people ask me "Why? Why are you moving to Tucson?" as if it were across the globe, a fourth world country with unknown risks and dangers. This painting was painted in my studio from a smaller painting I did one gorgeous morning just outside my studio, looking North to the everchanging and dramatic Santa Catalina Mountains. This is the reason I moved to Tucson.

It might have been the longest move in history. The first two or three weeks we moved everything down that we needed to live and function, and then over the next year and some months we would bring a load of stuff, either from the Mesa house or our storage, until finally in August of this year (2008) we made an extreme effort with several trips and large loads and got everything down to Tucson.

So, we drive "up" to Mesa because we are going north...but we are descending from 2500 feet above sea level to 1100 feet, so really we are going "down" to Mesa. But I can never really say I am going "down" to Mesa when I leave Tucson. Up is always north and down is always south and east or west are always over...unless there is a drastic variation in altitude. It's a case where the metaphysical trumps the physical.