Things I Am Thinking About This Week

Rodney White, the artist, has become mass-popular, but I love the patina, the words.

Another source I like: Hang a Ribbon on the Moon.

I am looking at different ideas to display family trees, family history visually, decoratively. Anything else you have seen?

Artist Inspiration

A modern Mormon artist I admire: James Christensen

"Ten Lepers"

I took a watercolor class from him when he taught at BYU. I haven't watercolored in years, and I've been thinking about starting again, dusting off my kit. Buying a new brush or two (since I've used my good ones with acrylics).

I am thankful for my talents/interests in art. I was challenged yesterday to find a way to share my gifts with others. And I thought of a daunting project that I need to start this week. With paint. It is time. More to come...

Artist I Admire: Harry Anderson

Harry Anderson's paintings are used often when we teach in the LDS Church, and not many members know he was a 7th Day Adventist. "In the mid-Sixties, he expanded his religious horizons to include the Mormon Church, for whom he created a mural for the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was done in oil paints which he'd abandoned early is his career due to allergies to turpentine. New thinner products allowed him to explore the medium again. He produced a dozen more oil paintings for the Mormons, many of which have been reproduced in one of their publications entitled the Family Home Evening."

And his paintings are everywhere, in visitor's centers across the country.

Laser Game at 6 am in Bible Study Class

3 year old mural on basement classroom wall:

Welcome to seminary. DAILY seminary. EARLY MORNING seminary. Class starts at 6 am. Every school day. We start with a song. Suzanna plays the piano.

This was the early/on-time crowd. The hot chocolate for early birds is no longer a crowd draw. 3 more students came after we got started today.

This is a memory map of our Church building, not really drawn to scale, but you can see the two long hallways that meet in the chapel foyer? It was a building we have all been to, seen most of the rooms (not many knew about the mother's lounge for nursing moms). Every "room" has a scripture mastery, one of 25, from the New Testament.

I have made laminated flash pages, with the reference on one side with helpful hint pictures, and then the full scripture written out on the reverse.

This morning I put the map up on the wall and played a game with these laser finger pointers:

If an activity helps one student learn/remember one scripture one time, I have done my job.
Suzanna's feedback, "Seminary was fun this morning!" as she left for school.

Need a Little Soothing Pink?

Scout Fund-Raiser: auction off services. I volunteered painting a room. This was going to be a Santa surprise, but the new key didn't fit the lock while the family was gone Christmas Eve, so it was delayed. Here is the BEFORE...

...(I did try to paint over the vinyl lettering, reverse stencil-style, didn't work with texture of walls or age of vinyl.) During...

Almost after; needs another coat of paint...

Dark greeny-gray needed a white base to work on for this WONDERFUL pale pink, Benjamin Moore "Bridal Pink." Idea for this color from Making it Lovely blog. It looks nearly white going on, but the build up of coats shows a really subtle, sweet pink, without any sticky-gaggy Pepto Bismal feeling. It has been awhile since I painted a room, and it was very relaxing, therapueutic, even if I came home sore from bending over to cut in the bottom of the wall. I always cut first, then roll, but I have heard of some painters rolling first. I keep a plastic shopping bag over the tray while the first coat dries (2 hours on a non-raining day).

Gracious Lady

Today was the funeral for a Gentle Woman. A real lady. Proper and funny, personable and refined. Southern accent, humble, gracious. Mother of our stake president and wife of the patriarch. It was great to see her posterity gathered, all but one missionary grandson, solemn and full of tender feelings.

Suzanna came, since one of her granddaughters is a hopeful BYU roommate next fall. The grandson on a mission was Stewart's freshman roommate. Two of her great grandchildren are my little friends who used to come every Tuesday to play. It is hard to think of our life without the Halsey influence!

And her husband said the best choice he ever made was to marry her.

Commemorating "Firsts"

Happy Birthday to my first Son-by-Marriage!

Your name is written on Emmalyn's heart, permanent ink!

(Sarah Pope, photography)

First couple dance to first in-laws. My in-laws call each year and sing "Happy Birthday" on the phone, this last year I was at work and put them on speaker phone. We thought about doing that to you, but couldn't figure out which version of the song you would like the most and then how to do it without waking you up at 4 am your time. Maybe we will start that first tradition next year?

Happy Birthday-dirge style? En espanol? With our 2nd verse? 'Tis love brought you into our family!