Temple Doors

and here it is in its final state.  click on it to see detail!

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Temple Door Detail

here it is up close.

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Temple Doors

check it out!

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The Minds of James Gardner

this is my cousin james.  i dont know exactly what to say about this peice but i do know that it is an accurate portrayal ofhis mind before he was converted.  how can i know that?!  he told me so.  when i first showed him this peice he looked at it for a few minutes in silence and then said that he has never seen anything like it and that it was right on with how he felt and thought. 

the plurality of his person represents his instsability and  lack knowing who he was.  he would migrate from personality to personality each being determined by his awdience and the way he felt.  it also shows that there was a very large ammount of darkness in his life, contained in the confinds of his cell-like inner world.  the checkered floor shows the alternation of happiness and sadness, good and evil, peace of mind and instability.   all these states of mind were unfortunately reached by the very thin line of cercomstance from moment to moment.  the ribbon further illustrates this feeling of being bound in such an existence- his cell now becomes ever more small  as he is forced to feel, with incresing intimacy, his sad existence in all its potency.  such spiritual claustraphobia forces its victums to further feel their pain and in his situation he definately felt some pain.  but look at his faces...does he seem pained?  perhaps he was well experienced with this old friend  (pain) who causes so many to be troubled, but he-numb.  each focus, or mindset is different but notice that each looks up, each senses at least a general directon of light.  and thankfully there he went-every one of him.  there is nothing in this cell of his, look by his feet-nothing!  No real friends, no sign of a purpose, nothing of real worth is before him here.  such darkness and emptiness demands, no pleads for, an excape.  James Gardner found his way out some time in 2005 and has recognized the light for what (and who) it is ever since then.  he is happily married (and sealed) now with 2 beautiful young daughters and is living in Gilbert, AZ.  i have never seen such a change in a human being!  he is a living testimony of Christ and the truth.  Love you james.  

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Pumpkins and Squash...Mostly

this was fun. i started with a slightly greened black charcoaled backgrownd and drew in the subjects with white conte crayon, and white prismacolor pencil.  this one was real fun.  gosh im having so much fun with art lately!

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Grey Cactus

for the longest time i was stuck in a world of color.  this was a pleasant place to be, i argue  it's the BEST place to be.  But Ted Wolter (at CGCC in AZ) sent me on a different path.  I hadnt touched the black and white world in years and just about lost touch with it.  Ted helped bring me back into it with the wonder of charcoal and conte crayon, and not to mention willow charcoal and the eraser (the secret of the photgraphic quality of this peice).. i find im pretty good here, in this black and white world...if not better than i am in the color world. 
I WON AN AWARD for this one (ha, just wated you to see that)...well it was chosen along with 10 peices in all of Maricopa Community Colleges to be entered into this contest.  i understand why it didn't win anything up there, all it demostrated was a matured understanding of the basic princples of design-and not all of them btw...all this, but with no real conceptual aim.  i guess that would land this peice no higher in the art world than cowboy art. 
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Dawn of My Second Estate

i was born on December 21, 1985 at 10:45...or was it 11:45? (nevermind that the time is an important aspect of this peice). either way, after asking my mom what time i was born i set out to complete this peice. i am standing on this time (11:45), as you can see, to show that this was the very moment i became my own, and without cord or womb i, within my body, was a complete and whole vehicle unto myself, until the time i should pass away. there is a profound signifigance to this point in every souls existence, it is the dawn of the life we were meant to live here on earth. I appear as a monument, aged and statuesk, to immortilize and show greatness to this point in time. never before had i been embodied with flesh and blood, and until now i had not known sufferng. now i can feel as never before. the utmost bounds of pleasure and pain could now be appreciated due to the opportunity to feel both in the same sphere of existence. i never knew bitter, and therefore never really knew sweet, until now...and the same goes for all the opposites including good and evil. this, here depicted, represents the beginning of my journy as an agent unto myself here on earth.

          Also notice the placement of my feet. im on one of the hands of the clock. not only does this say that then was i born, but also that here and only here- in the moment- do we stand. not a filangey can excape this part of the clock (time), no it cannot touch either side of the hour or minute, but must remain where it always has been: in the moment. since before my earthly beginning i was in the moment, inexcapably, but now i am bound to stand and be measured by time. Continue Reading »

Man of Trees

i was in my controversial life drawing class when my favorite dude to draw struck this pose. it was a 50 minute drawing and i was done before everyone, about 35 minutes into it. i decided that I should plant some trees on him and some hills behind him (to his left)-i mean what else am i gonna do with 15 minutes, just sit there and look at this naked dude?-no. so there you have it, my obsession of humans and their surreal interaction with nature shined through without much thought or brainstorming. what does it mean ....???

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Long After the Sandstorm

the man standing here, by his very presence and relationship to his surroundings, seems to beg many questions. "what is he thinking?" we have to ask that, right (?), his house hs been taken over by sand! how about: "how long has he been standing there?" or, "whats with the sand at his feet?" "what was he thinking when he arrived as opposed to now?" "when did the storm hit?" "does he really care about his house?" after questioning and observing it seems clear that he must have been present durring the storm-see the sand at his feet? He must have watched his house from before, durring, and long after the sandstorm (see the weeds and sticks poking out of the long settled sand, also the cob webs in the open door?). but then why does he appear surprised? why does he look like he is arriving? why is he holding luggage as though he's returning from a safer place as to avoid the storm, (yet never leaving?)? the answer is symbolic in nature. one may look at his life and believe that there must be something wrong with it-that it is taken over and of no worth. he stands outside of it with such crippling beliefs and, almost ready to check out, he sadly gazes into it seeing it as something it is truely not-worthless, taken over, weathered and perhaps destroyed. little does he know that such thoughts bring the storm that will only confirm his belief. from the start he stsnds here and sees the invisible-inevitable, inevitable and invisible only because HE sees it. eventually with such negative thoughts of his life the storm happens-it takes over his life, it takes over him. Of course, because we are redeemable creatures, we can stop this before it ends us.

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Statues In the Water

There are many possibilities here: Either these statues-these creations were made to face the moon only on a certain time of year, and at a certain time of night, thus facing an empty spot in the sky all other times of the year-and at night. which would mean that they were created with a statement to the significance of this light source in relation to a certain time. That, or they are always facing the moon...that's right-they could be living, rotating, light-attracted stone giants created by the hands of a magician-like stone carver with great secrets to his design. wait! maybe no man created them but they are works of the gods. but could they have always existed? perhaps they can look anywhere they want but choose to face the moon? or maybe I'm lying to you and these statues in the water don't even exist-i just conjured them up. this, i guess is a work of questions- without a given answer, or maybe there is an answer, maybe more than one. Now what are you? are you a creation made to be already pointed toward the light, as a statement of its significance? are you a living art form naturally designed to move about wherever good is-who knows how...a mystery of nature? maybe you and i are created by the Governor(s) of the universe? but could we have always been? do we choose to be looking where we look? are we even real? This is the great dilemma placed upon us as we enter, and then go about this life viewing one another...what is going on here? who are we? where do we come from? why do we face where we face (and why do we love the light)? well whatever the answers, we are perpetually questioning due to the peculiar nature of our very existence-how we stand, where we face and how we came to be. We are statues in the water.



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Moon

yea here you go. i couldnt come up w a better title, sorry. ok this is the first, and yet one of the best moonscapes i have ever made! do you see it? can you feel it? i can! i think that the reason it was so good for its time, even better than many i make now, is the same reason any artist often creates better things in the beginning. its because at first all you have is blankness. a canvas, a paper-thats all. from there you are not pressuring yourself to improve, you are only exploring-unafraid of mistakes. as time passes you begin to compete with yourself and any mistakes are, to you, a supposed sign of digression, or a step backward. the blank canvas becomes a dare to conquer yourself-you having created so much already. now the drawings of the past are not percieved by you as step by step creations, they are there own living thing, appearing as though theyve always existed (because, i guess, in a sense they have). And viewing things like that (looking back rather than ahead-and without the encouragement of seeing the steps) can be very intimidating to you. funny how you intimidate yourself. a pride thing perhaps? one of the many artist blocks suffered by most-all you artists are so prideful! Me too dagnabit! this is a fear i have struggled with for years. this drawing, along with Faith Fishing, Pure Thoughts, and Rise of the Tree-Men are the poster children for what i am speaking of here. they seem to dare me to try, saying "Beat this!" i will. Betsy Bush you better believe i will! this piece now belongs to Jenny Miller, a very good friend of mine.

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The Island

i love this piece! mainly it was inspired by my friend Jen (Yes, "The Hen") but also applies in many different levels and directions in my mind. 1st off why call it the island? that is a term that applies to a person, or people who are completely alone in a sense of being different, living off their own fruit, and who stand as a source of life for others (or a haven) in the middle of a deep black body of water that, by its very presence threatens to consume the weak and ill-prepared. i guess through these symbols one can understand the type of person this piece is referring to. There is one who is lodged in the branches of the tree on this island; there and only there fall books, or a record of the life had by, and made through this soul (the island) depicted here (for the tree lodger to receive). these records, or books, are meant to show that the life of this "island" is worth not only depicting, but also digesting through hearing of, dreaming of, learning of and seeking to understand the essence and motivation of this person. often estranged, these islands rarely shine as this one, due to loneliness or a people-trained inferiority. perhaps this piece stands as a statement out there to all the islands: I can see your light, i can see your life- your thoughts worth consuming, your ways worth studying. I say this not to bring the attention to myself as if I'm some sort of noble seer-a teller of personal greatness within you...no I'm just saying that though there are others in the world who are often blind to such light, or afraid to announce it, these great things DO exist within you...and i am not affraid to announce it................................there are other symbols hidden here: the eyes on the tree, the roots, the sun and moon etc- i have my thoughts on them but ill let those be to yal for personal interpretation.

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Against the Wind

This ones cool. look at it...see? it's COOL!

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The Human Connection

The main idea behind this piece comes from a hypothetical i had on the power of human intimacy-the very fullness of its desire being revealed through the deprivation thereof. what if all the world suddenly shook and there appeared a chasm in the form of a ring down the center-around the globe? (in this hypothetical there are no bridge-making technologies...or axes to cut down those trees :) friends and family would be separated, hearts would be broken and all attention would be devoted to the reuniting of us all. people would come in droves to all the places of connection on earth. These places would be greatly sought after, and revered as sacred. Each of these they would title: Connection, and to but touch the fingers of the ones they love would make their travels all worth while. That which was felt there would be the holy moment they would treasure until the next connection arrived in the form of another simple touch. this is simply demonstrating the potential drive for man kind to feel and be felt, to know and be known, to love and be loved. The next person who reaches across a Connection for me, i hope i will also be there reaching for them with equal strain.

Notice the point of connection, there are green leaves. are there green leaves anywhere else? this represents all the life found in that moment.

I made this for my friend Roni last year.

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Without Roots

What would happen to trees without roots-and that could fly? i don't think they would be content with the soil or water at their...uh feet (for lack of a better word) nor would they stay grounded- ever reaching at a snails pace for the sun. what would happen is these special trees would fly into all of the bodies of water, and up through the sky and to the sun. drowning and burning aren't the thoughts that come to mind when one looks at this piece...i think "release" and "freedom" are more like it. but really, that is what would happen, drowning and burning that is. trees are specifically made to move, grow and reach in a manner that is best for them. roots are what we need, on the ground is where we belong. what if, at any given moment, we could fly to whatever it is we want? before we realized its consequences we would find ourselves consumed in them (the consequences). puritanical sounding? Perhaps at first, but go ahead and live both lives and discover that it is infinitely better to be disciplined, to ponder our decisions and to work for what we want. (drawn for Tim Heywoods guitar studio place and is now hanging in his home.)

Compare to "Rise of the Tree-Men."

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The Tooth of WISDOM

5 years ago my Uncle Eldon pulled 3 of my wisdom teeth free of charge. this dentist of dentists has such a large heart and is always so giving. after he pulled em out i sketched one out in my journal and decided that i should draw him one for his office. I guess once a wisdom tooth becomes this big and this powerfull...and glorious, it no longer is a wisdom tooth but becomes a "Tooth of WISDOM." He loved it and it's hanging in his office.

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Betrayal Betrayal

Betrayal was the first word that came to mind when i looked at this peice and was trying to understand it. it really came out of nowhere, without rough draft, key drawing, or even a vision of what i wanted as i drew it (this was one of the few that arose in such a manner). while looking at it now i think im realizing what it really means: Self betrayal, the ultimate betrayal of all. look it over carefullty and try to understand what i mean and see what i saw.
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The All Seeing

at first i called this piece "the mother." It has this story attatched to it that some kid was out on the beach and suddenly a shark nabbed him. his mother noticed and went after her child but was also gotten by the shark. poor kid. poor lady. to this day she (her ghost) walks upon the water of that beach with her baby (ghost baby) in her arms watching out for all who might be in danger, and she protects them...i guess. i think that is a pretty cool story, don't you? the eye symbolizes the loving watchfullness of mothers, even beyond the grave. it could also be the eye of God...na, its a mom. (this is now hanging in the home of: Tyler and Zac Beus, Tim Heywood, Franklin Lang and some other hippy guys.)

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crazy shiney moon

hey here it is. i made this one for a good friend of mine. there you go Becca Joy!

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desert of the night and day

This was actually the first night/day picture, comparable to Children of the Night and Day, that i drew. I love the hills in the center of the peice the most-how the moonlight hits the top of them.

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Sister Huso's dream car

kinda different huh? yea it was a commisioned peice for the Husos. tis now in their garage. it was the first peice i used white-out on.

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Into the blue

An old acquaintance of mine was angry that his girlfriend wouldn't marry him-at least right then. so he went out into the desert and shot himself. his death haunted her, my good friend (whom will also remain nameless), for a long time. after a week or so of absence from school, she returned teary-eyed, head bowed and emotional as can be in such a situation. somehow, in the midst of her comforting friends, i was able to get some alone time with her. i asked her if there was anything i could do. she, of course, said no.  But if you're a friend you obviously don't stop there.  i asked "are you sure?"... same response. Then i thought i should offer her something she would want, and something most could not give. "Can i draw you anything?"  i know, weird offer for the situation at hand, but i guess if that was all i could do then...there you have it. she accepted, and then thought for a bit... "Mermaids" she said. "oh no" i thought. "how corny, how cliche. Ive never drawn mermaids!" i asked her if she was certain what she wanted, and "why mermaids?" She responded, "[My boyfriend] would always draw them for me." so i went to work and for some reason the piece felt like it created itself while i just moved my hands around. the composition just happened without any thought about symbols or the meaning behind the mermaids positioning. a few days later i finished drawing it. i brought it to school but she dropped out -right on time, i know. i asked her friends if they could give it to her but she had cut them off completely. i hear she turned to drugs for a while. i dropped the piece off in one of her classes hoping that if she did come back, the teacher could give it to her for me. still nothing. summer passed, and on "meet the teachers night" i went by that classroom and asked for it back. Soon i found out where she lived and dropped it off with her mom. a few weeks passed and i went by again to ask her mom if she got it. she said that she had, but I recieved no details on her reaction.   Now i know why the peice seemed to draw itself-i had help.  after studying the picture of it i can tell now what it all means.  the mermaid was in the very act of letting go of the merman-he who held her down.  the light on the surface of the sea was her goal now, or at least should be.  simple, i know, but very profound.  my friend, if you somehow get the chance to see this, may God bless you, and i hope you have a GREAT life!

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Dancing Fire-Ghosts

one of my first color drawings. i think i was 15. when i was a scout i had a friend take a picture of me behind a fire. i was wearing a yellow shirt and the fire in fromt of me was covering my legs and therefore the my only illumination from the fire appearing in the picture was my arms, my yellow shirt and my ghost-story telling style lit face. after seeing these accidental photographic arrangements i thought that i looked a lot like what ive always wanted to see- fire ghosts. yes that is ghosts made of fire, dancing in the flames!

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Invincible

i have always had this fascination with lightening. i remember my cousin Nyline telling me about this girl she saw get struck by lightening, and she survived-i guess it being charged...wrongly (?) (or in a manner that would cause her no harm. I'm sure it was just an adolescent creative liberty, but i think i remember Nyline saying that this girl was glowing blue for a few seconds after being struck. for years after (up until now actually) i have wanted so badly to be struck by lightening, and yet be completely OK, and maybe have a large group of people see it. moments after, they would hesitatingly surround me and i would here them question among themselves, "is he invincible?"
this is my second attempt to seriously portray lightening in a final piece (i did it with oil pastel and a white-out pen).

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Children of the Night and Day

This idea came from somwhere around nowhere, like many ideas do. i cant recollect any inspiration for it-just a little corner of my mind that hasnt been interperated yet. i pondersd how to make the shaddows have some sort of unity and partenership in terms of movement in the composition (where they-the shaddows-are casted and how they direct your eye) when, out of nowhere, i felt that the sun and the moon should be the same light source for this little land, transforming from one to the other only by the bubble sepparating the night and day. the kids are naked, i don't know why.

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Black Angels

while on my mission in California i met the most wonderful woman named Shirli Groce. the day i met her i decided to call her "Aunti Suga." one day after seeing my art album she took me aside, away from the other elders, and said, "i wan chyou da pain me a picha...i wan angels- BLACK angels!" Because she deserved it, i agreed. i was so busy while there that i didn't get the chance to paint it. she reminded me the next time i saw her- i re promised, and started on it the month i got home. i finished it up and went back to Cali. unannounced i knocked on her door and here is exactly what happened (i video taped it):
"Who is it?!"
"iiiit's a friend- Spencer."
"what?"
"it's an Elder-Elder Stott"
"OHH," and she opened up the door..."Hey bab-OH MY! OH MY! No. Yes. No! (i guess this is where she noticed the painting) Oh MYYY-AAAAAH HA HAAA!"
"Come here you."
"Ohhh ho ho ha ha ha"
"I'm so glad you're here! Ha, I'm catching you on tape right now, me and you look at that. See. oh well here ya go- enjoy..."
And from there she fell silent and cried tears of gratitude- the best tears in my opinion. she then, after regaining her composure, she told me how her sister died right around the time i went home to AZ and she use to always bring Aunti Suga black angels, you know paintings, ceramics etc. At the moment of death, as she puts it, her sister became her black angel. months latter while cleaning the house Aunti Suga paused to look at a certain ceramic of a black angel her sister gave her. she looked at it, remembering her sister and getting a bit emotional. i guess at that moment i rang her doorbell with the promised painting of black angels. maybe, through me, her sister found it a good thing, at that perfect moment, to send her another piece for her collection.



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Sea of Grass

We know reality. We know the answer, right? To them each hill is a wave adding to the violent rocking of an ever churning sea (of grass). It appears that all is needed is for them to step out and walk off the boat. "if it were me i would just do the obvious and walk away from the percieved impending shipwreck-their problem isnt even real!" But the fact is their problem is real-it is very real-to them, and it could only be understood by those who remain in this boat "irrationality" as we may call it. "Step off and walk! Step off and walk!" But perhaps such an attempt would only spawn another problem for them: drowning. I dont know, maybe its just a reminder that every persons perception on life, and their reality within it, is different and, therefore, different solutions must be granted. Maybe they should just be left alone to sail on to safety. Continue Reading »

Faith Fishing

one day (when i was about 18 or so) Alli Ginos asked me the all too oft asked question, "Spencer, I've known you for a while..." and strangely i knew what was coming... "when are you gonna draw ME a picture?" i thought for a moment and made the point I'd like to make to you all, "well, can you make cookies?"
"huh?"
"cookies-you know, of the peanut butter kind, can you make them?"
"...Uhhh, yeah."
"Oh so you never made ME cookies before..." and its true she had'nt! ..."YOU make ME a plate of peanut butter cookies and ill draw you a picture."
"ok!"
She seemed to like (not love) the idea, but she agreed and by the end of the day we made the exchange.
its called faith fishing because this guy, even in the midst of men needing boats to catch their fish, he chooses the higher, and dare i say "cooler" way, and he walks out on top of the water (with his cat and his spear of course) and he goes fishing-"Faith Fishing."



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Allan (my brotha from...my motha)

here he is. This is the largest portrait ive ever drawn! It's real big! I cant remember how big, but "real big" i guess describes it enoug

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Headless Trio

i noticed a particular recurring detail in my drawings a while after drawing this, and that detail was: people facing away from the viewer. i wondered why, concluding that it was a symbol of being misunderstood or underappriciated for who i knew i was. Common among...everyone i guess @ least one time in our lives, but i thought it interesting that it came out in symbolic form. Here, not only are they facing away but they also are headless, i guess a representation for careless-mindlessness. this being present in superficial people (many of whom i was referring to my disconnected relationship with) i guess it gives me comfort in knowing that those who don't understand, or don't at least try to appreciate are often of the careless-mindless type who's attention i suppose is probably better away from me anyway. Wishing i was more optimistic, of course, i just can't deny such prideful thoughts that were present within me from time to time.

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Grass Bubbles

I was stopped at a red light while on my way to grandpas about 7 years ago (when i was about 16), and i looked to my right noticing on the edge of a golf course, by the road, there was a hill of grass different then all the others. it was tall, abnormally tall, disproportionate to how small it was at the base. A man, maybe a golfer, was walking near it or maybe on it, and suddenly (here's where imagination begins) the hill started rising higher and higher out of the ground, bubbling up and off its original surface, like the stuff in a lava lamp, and into the air. the grass, though out of its expected nature, just cooperated with these unnatural, law defying movements in the soil. the man seemed at peace atop that rising bubble of grass and even rested there as though he were in for a long and high ride through the sky to the place he desired far far away, where, when reached, the bubble would lightly settle again into the ground and mix with its surroundings as a drop of water would after falling into a lake...




The light turned green again i noticed (after a while), and as i proceeded to drive i looked out over the golf course, spacious and hilly, and in one beautiful moment every hill began to rise-transporting men to the place they desired. this event remained with me and i could not get it out of my mind for the life of me! while at grandpas i asked him if i could borrow his camera, i not owning one, so i could take pictures of the hills at sunset. he consented, i took the pictures, and a few days later he developed them for me. I sketched out the idea how i saw it in my mind and set out to draw the actual piece. i became discouraged because my depiction of this strange world did not seem to be developing accurately. I felt defeated and left it behind other-more prized pieces of mine on the easel in my high school art room.
winter break came and left, and the weeks passed. while sorting through my art i noticed the long lost piece. within the paper whereon it was drawn, and behind months of collected dust, the world it would be seemed to beg me to create it. I felt it, so i created it. it was successful, and a favorite among many friends of mine.
My interpretation of this piece arises directly from its manner of creation-or the process by which it came into being. The very fact that this piece came alive reminds me that there are an infinite amount of possible histories in our existence. i could have never went to grandpas that day. or the light could have been green disallowing a persisted observance, or even the noticing of the abnormally tall hill. or i could have driven by those hills flat minded and uninspired, never seeing the world of The Grass Bubbles. Or i could have never ventured to draw it, just too busy maybe. Or i could have never decided to look back at the drawing and listen to it telling me to finish. Heck i could have died and that world would have left with me. But no, no all of these facts remained, and so did i, therefore the way was paved for me to create this world i so dreamed, or even to choose not to. But, as my history goes, i chose to-and now it exists, now it lives. with every possible history waiting to happen, that would (because they could) take us into every possible direction, why then would we not choose the one we want-the world WE see? Many of them (possible histories) are laid at our feet, many just happen because history has to happen one way or the other, but to those we have control over let us choose wisely, let us choose how we really want to, for that is how this world, and all of us in it came into being. Continue Reading »

Pure Thoughts

i drew this years ago for Katie, a friend of mine. Her name means "Pure." it was a symbolic rendering of my Thoughts of Katie (or "Pure").

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Stott-Art on a Clock

This is a piece of art i did for our living room clock...

Often times I feel art is so under appreciated and the things of this world seem to crowd out our minds. time, money, trivial pursuits. I'm often asked "How much you get for that piece", rather than "Wow, how beautiful. What does it mean to you?" I think, also, that people in a given room are more concerned about what time it is than the art on the walls in that room. this is a way that will remind us all that rather than always being distracted, and on the run we should take out the the time necessary for appreciating the beauty of life and how others express it. This is my statement to you all, and a reminder to take the TIME to appreciate the goodness of life.

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The Incomplete

In the sermon on the mount Jesus Christ refered to candles, and the flames therefrom, as a symbol of the truth of God. The number 7 is a (Hebrew) symbol of completion or godliness. This man has been given the truth of God but his head remains bowed and he resides in darkness. See the 6 lit candles that have been placed upon him, and have begun to melt over him. Notice that the one candle which is in his hand (or that which he has control over) and how is not lit. Though Christ has given him light and full access to completion he will never be complete without lighting that which is in his hands, or doing that which he has control over (the seventh candle). Continue Reading »

Cabbage Thieves

this is what some old men do when no one is looking- they steal our cabbages...and fly away with them...

This is a portrait of one of my good friends Bill. He was a neighbor of ours for about 13 years and for as long as I've known him he would walk around his yard in the middle of the night (and day), shirtless, and with a gun in his hands shooting pests-this is my most early memory of him. he would crouch around the yard, as though he were hunting in the forest, and give justice to the bats and birds that were apparently trespassing. OK really, for those who care what the artist has to say about this piece- read on...

(Note: "Cabbage Thieves" is a mask-title to preserve the telling of this story only to those who really want to know. His story deserves such an audience) ...I would recognize over time his untiring work ethic and sense of responsibility to take command of his own post and be the man who fixed up the place-the trees, the bushes, the lawn and home repairs. even into his eighties he'd just be mowing, clipping, fixing and, yes hunting away through their spacious acre farm lot until the task was complete. eventually he developed prostate cancer which didn't stop him from finishing his daily chores. in the midst of such a debilitating sickness, he fell, probably doing work around the yard, and the poor guy broke his hip.

His manliness and strength of character especially showed through to me when one day, as i drove by his house i noticed that he, with his old age, prostate cancer and broken hip was wheeling his way around a tree holding to a walker with one hand and trimming away (with a saw on a stick) the uneven dangling branches of a tree with the other hand. "Wow! this man is CRAZY!" i thought. "with such old-man-pride he is gonna work himself to death, digging his own grave on his way down perhaps." I just had to pull over and talk some sense in him. sensitive to his assumed pride i began lightly with flattering tones, "Hey Bill, man you LOVE to work..." to that, and whatever else i said after, he responded something like this, I'm sure while scratching his bare belly, "Yep I do that's what life's all about. Some people just pay for other people to do it for them but i never saw much sense in that..." Then through these next words of wisdom i learned a great life lesson which i shall never forget, he continued, "And if there's no work in heaven-I'M NOT INTERESTED!" in an instant my voice against such hard and resolute work lost all posture and i remained speechless, well, "I like that," escaped my lips a few times, but other than that I had nothing to fight with. And that was it, i would forever be a fan of my friend and neighbor Bill. He has since passed on as the cancer took over, but that man lived and died with at least one great virtue-one he appeared to master, and that is the virtue of work ethic and industry. I am sure that he is flying somewhere up in the farmlands of heaven working, tending to the crops in her fields alongside all the other old men who felt as he did about work and it's important role in life, and the life after.

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Rise of the Tree-Men

This one's different, usually I have at least part of the sky in my composition, but nope not here. It's facing strait down toward the ground as though the viewer is lodged in the trees- that's exactly the effect I wanted...

We are stepping back in time here to when I was 17 years old. I had a variety of ideas flowing into me, cramming their way around other ideas, and I could not help to express. image after image would present itself to me in all its peculiar glory and I found it self-betrayal to not let it live on, only to die with the fading of memory as it would have a lack of form. Most often I would have no idea what these surreal images meant to me, but given thought and time I would come to understand, as does any viewer of my art, what many of them meant. subconsciously our mind provides us with symbols for the thoughts and feelings we have and, like dreams, we can learn their significance. we just have to let them speak, giving them a voice to tell their strange, or perhaps familiar, story.

OK I got carried away... here's what this particular piece means to me:
Trees naturally reach upward toward the sun to receive of its light. But an interesting fact remains- they are also woven into the earth as thousands of roots dig their way around rocks and soil soaking up water making the trees heavier and more grounded. "Up or down?" they may question, or rather "Should I be content with the earth and all the life I gain through it, or should I stretch upward and receive of the sky and all its goodness?" Given time the weather changes, and each appendage grows cold and tired. Their leaves fall one by one, and then by the dozens as the chilled winds carry them away, also stretching and bending the trees spines in a most uncomfortable way. "Time is running out," they reason, "I am weak and dying and have not been content in either direction!" But as the seasons change again and again they understand that each time they loose leaves they eventually gain even more back. they realize, "I am not dying when the winter comes- I'm living!" and as they reach in every direction, becoming taller, stronger and deeper there comes a day that they realize, "because of my roots I am full, because of the wind i am strong and because of the sun I am young and green again and again and again -Now I am content reaching in every good direction" This process continues all our lives. May we begin to learn of its lessons early on. (the discomfort on their faces demonstraits the time in their lives before they realized these truths)

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The Grand Design - Detail

This is the detail of a very significant portion of the piece. The final judgement of the Father with the Christ as the mediator. Notice the flash of light in front of the face of the individual about to be judged (middle-left)...

He is about to pass through this light, which stands as a symbol of a veil which, when on one side of, blocks the heavenly realms from our view, and our memory of our life with God before we came to earth. As he passes through he will be able to see God sitting on his throne. Such a view will now be familiar to his mind, as his memory will be quickened, and he will recollect the complete history of all his triumph and all his guilt and as the archives of his personal dealings with both God and man, angels and demons, are opened he will understand his personal judgement with The Godhead in the fullness of its justice, mercy and love, and he will understand it to be a perfect judgement. All men pass through this same veil when entering this world in order to forget: 1.)their history with the family of God in the heavens, and 2.) The TRUTH which we must find and live (through our faith-without sight or memory of) while on earth.

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The Grand Design (The Plan of Salvation)

I find it appropriate that my first drawing introduced should give credit to where all credit is deserved. The Grand Design is about God, and the plan he has laid out for us, his children, to become like him. It is the truth of human progression and Mans ultimate potential . Through a series of symbols (sun, moon, stars, stairway), some being found in the scriptures, and by literal description (spheres of existence, traveling of spirits, light of God and Christ) also found in the scriptures, I set out to portray simply this plan...

Though the process depicted covers millions of years, I found it convenient, for the sake of understanding, to lay each step out before us simultaneously that we may better comprehend what we are all in the middle of. It answers where we came from, why we are here, and where we are to reside eternally- given our reception to the truth and the practiced love and faith in our hearts.

Just a note:

Though this site will not be devoted to doctorine of the LDS church, I wanted to express my faith along with all other thoughts and philosophies which, for me, would be ultimately unsatisfyingly hollow without my faith. I drew this piece in California while on my mission, for my good friend Jacob Schwartz.

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