With the Art of Living, I still get ideas, but instead of manipulating people into how I want the painting to look, I just take them as they are.

      So for example with the Backyard Mechanic painting, I knew I wanted to do a painting of Richard, also doing what he does in his spare time. Richard really is a backyard mechanic and he really does have a full mechanic’s shop worth of tools in his garage. So I asked him if I could just come over and take pictures of him as he worked on various cars. He agreed, so I setup a time to come over. I brought my camera and while he worked I just took many pictures. Then when I thought I had enough, I went home. I looked through the pictures and from these I put together the painting. Up to this point I had no idea what the painting was going to look like.

It is a much rawer and real process, an intimate process of doing paintings of a person’s personal history and story. This is what I want as an artist, to tell your story through art.

      When it comes to putting together and a painting there is a lot involved. Especially when painting people. In order to help you better understand how unique and different the Art of Living paintings are, especially the Youth paintings. I thing a little background into paintings in general will help.

     Let’s start first where it all starts, with the idea. Ideas are extremely rarely fully formed paintings. Ideas are only seeds that must be developed and shaped into a painting. Most often it takes time and work to develop these ideas. Some get developed quickly in a matter of hours, some take years or even decades, and some never quite make it. My development process is like what a friend of mine Dan Willis, who is a successful novelist, describes as making a stew. When you make a stew, as I have done many times because I love to cook, you put in many various types of ingredients. Meats, vegetables, broths, water, herbs and spices and so forth. Once combined you turn up the heat, put the lid on and let it all slowly cook together into a warm delicious meal that several bowls can be taken from.

Well developing an idea can be very similar for me too. I take the idea, let’s say a cowboy riding his horse.

      Now I start asking questions. What kind of horse? Riding where? What time of year? What’s the weather like? What is he doing? What is he wearing? And so on. These questions develop answers which lead to more questions and more answers.  A Quarter horse, Bryce Canyon, winter, just snowed, riding along the canyon edge, Cowboy hat and heavy leather duster. Also at this time I will start doing what is called photo bashing. This is the process of going through either photos that I already have or finding new ones all over the place, from magazines to books to the internet. All related somewhat related to the slowly developing idea. So like the stew, all of these images are the various parts of the stew, just a mental one instead. Once I feel I have gathered enough images and answers to my various questions, then I put the lid on and let the whole idea stew for a bit.

      Sometimes I go off and work on other things, sometimes I go put on some music and lay down and meditate on it, trying not to fall asleep. I just let my mind wander. I continue to ask questions about the idea though. In time a painting will start to grow out of this process. But just know I’ve got several idea stews going on all the time in various stages of activity.

      Once I get the painting idea developed enough, then the fun really starts. Now I start gathering final photo reference material for the painting. So in the case of our example I find a real cowboy, through talking to various people asking who they know, or work with someone who I have worked with in the past. I setup a photo shoot, a time and a place; tell them how I want them to dress.  I go to the photo shoot with preconceived ideas of how I want them to pose and act. I setup cameras and tripods and lights, or certain times of the day for various types of lighting. Everything at the photo shoot is manipulated for the painting idea. I may go to a location and do small study paintings of that location to get the colors and tones just right. Everything is put together for the painting idea. Then once I’ve gathered enough reference materials, I start sketching the rough painting out and all its various parts.

      Once I feel I have everything I need, I draw out, usually on my iPad these days, because it is much easier to adjust and move things around, the final painting drawing. Then I load up my image file onto a flash drive and plug that into my projector. I project the painting drawing onto my painting surface, trace it with a pencil and off I go, painting.

That is how a usual painting is started.

Why a blog?

      Well, first a story to help illustrate why. When my wife was a little girl she would go on road trips with her family of ten kids. For her the most coveted spot in the car was second row seats on the hump, right between the two front seats. The reason being she could sit forward with her hands on the back of each of the front seats, sticking her head forward between her parents sitting on the front driver and passenger seats thus making it possible for her to sit and listen to them talk, sing and tell stories.

      That is what I want for you with this blog. I want you to be able to sit with my wife and me as we go through these interesting and unique experiences of putting together and painting the Art of Living paintings, especially the youth paintings.

Just a warning about this blog, this is going to be very rough and messy. When I post Newsletters they are written out roughly by me. Then Liz, my wife comes along behind and heavily edits them. Liz has the amazing ability to say exactly what I want to say, just much better. Unfortunately she doesn’t have the time to edit these blog posts. So it will just be me and my haphazard writing and grammar skills.

      A little bit of a review so you can get the full picture of my current painting project. 

      I am an artist working on a project called the “Art of Living”. I am writing to you because I am looking for young people who might be willing to assist me with this project.

What is the Art of Living project?

      The Art of Living is a series of paintings that portray faith in everyday activities. After reading a quote by Gordon B. Hinckley “…our lives should be the reflection of our faith, the symbol of our worship”, I thought a lot about what every day faith looks like and embarked on a journey of exploration.

      As I looked pondered about this idea of our lives reflecting our faith, I began to focus on the idea that we are children of God all the time, not just on Sundays or in our callings. Everything that we do, from feeding the kids to repairing an engine to reading a book or playing sports, reflects the faith we hold inside. 

      After making a good start in the Art of Living series, I felt inspired to start a sub-series that focuses on the youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The youth need to know that they matter. I decided to paint a triptych, or a single painting spread over three canvases, for each group, starting with ordained Deacons (ages 11-13) followed by the young women of the same age. This pattern then follows the older groups of ordained Teachers and Priests with the young women of the respective age groups. I am currently working on the second of the canvases portraying Deacons. This project will encompass 156 total youth spread across 18 canvases. Because children of God are found all over the world, we would like to represent youth of all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, etc. 

How does it work?

      Because I need so many participants, I am unable to pull all of the youth from my own circle of acquaintances. I typically reach out to people I know, or to people who have expressed interest and ask them if they know of any youth who might be interested and whose parents would be supportive. Parents are important and I will always work through them for any scheduling, permissions, or photographs.

      Once a parent shows interest in having their child be a part of these paintings, the first step is to set up a meeting with the youth and his/her parent(s). The purpose of this interview is to meet the youth, explain the project, and answer any questions. This initial visit helps me get to know the youth and his or her interests, which will help me know how to best portray them. Depending on how the interview goes, I might be able to do a quick photo shoot right then and be done or if the time isn’t right, I will set up an appointment to do the photo shoot on another day and time that works better for both the parents and the youth. 

How can you help?

      As I mentioned, I am looking for a total of 156 youth spanning across all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, etc. If you would be willing to let your ward members know about the Art of Living project or know of any youth who could benefit from being a part of this project, please encourage their parents to reach out, or with permission, pass along the parents’ contact information for me to contact them.

My Story

Sunday March 31, 2019, I suffered a bilateral pulmonary embolism on my walk to church. While lying in the road, I was given a choice. I could remain lying down and die or I could sit up and live. While contemplating my options, I felt impressed by the question, If I were to die, would I have any regrets?

The first regret that came to mind was that I had just started a painting, then there was the important message I needed to pass on to the Elder’s Quorum president, and what about my wife? She may have been third on my list, but first in my heart. The next question for me was, If I could paint anything, what would I most want to paint? Although I have painted many things over the years, I have always wanted to paint people and their stories, but what I didn’t know was which people and which stories.

An Answer

One day I read a quote from Gordon B. Hinckley: “The lives of our people must become the most meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.”  This statement caused me to rethink the way I choose what to paint. Instead of focusing on those who were well known, such as prophets or prominent leaders, I wanted to focus on the normal people, those who are often overlooked because they seem so ordinary.

Hinckley’s statement also gave me guidance regarding which stories to focus on, namely, those everyday events that make up the “lives of our people” which “become the most meaningful expression of our faith”. I wanted to help people see that they are already demonstrating their faith in every aspect of their lives, and that they need neither titles nor prestige to be important to God. Some people may already know their own worth in God’s eyes. Other people struggle silently to know that they belong. It is my hope that by viewing other people like them, those silent strugglers will know they do belong, and they are loved. The “Art of Living” project was born.

The Project

The “Art of Living” project is an open-ended series of paintings that portray normal people going about their daily activities as “an expression of their faith and … a symbol of their worship”. At first, I started by portraying people in their daily work, but when a young man in my neighborhood was struggling with severe depression, I knew that this project was more than just the work we do, the “Art of Living” project grew into who we are. I wanted to focus on the faith people demonstrate in every aspect of their daily lives, from feeding families to making repairs, composing music to going on a date with someone special.

As I lay in the street reflecting on my own life, I could have easily given up and died. Because I chose to live, this “Art of Living” project came to be. Just as these paintings reflect the expressions of the faith of those portrayed in them, painting these stories is the expression of my faith, the symbol of my worship. This series shows what it means to live according to our faith; it is the art of living.

Jeff Brimley, Artist