Pigments & Ponderings

Art Credit: James Coates.  His beautiful artwork can be found here: https://i.etsystatic.com/9350268/r/il/d8997a/1734994664/il_794xN.1734994664_ilni.jpg Seeking A Witness (&   why it’s important)  In the very first chapters of the Book of Mormon, Lehi’s family goes through a major upheaval when everything about their life changed overnight. This, as we know, didn’t go over very well with Laman and Lemuel.  The difference in attitude between Nephi and these brothers is explained in the following verse.     1 Ne. 2:16 " …wherefore,  I did cry unto the Lord ; and behold he did visit me, and  did soften my heart  that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father;  wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." I had always assumed Nephi was 100% on board with his father from the beginning.  But through this last, careful reading, I noticed an important statement I hadn’t be...

                                        Left: Ocean Jasper in natural light.   Right: Ocean Jasper under cross polarized light. Photo credits see footnote 1.                Lessons from a Common Gemstone (& why I'd rather be a Jasper than a Diamond)        Did you know that some of the most precious gemstones (diamonds, rubies, garnets) LOSE their brilliance under “pure light” and the more common, less precious ones become vibrant, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow, under that same light? I learned this amazing truth after the following scripture kind of baffled my mind.   Revelation 21, 10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11  Having the  a glory ...

Dealing With Darkness The rising sun dispels all darkness. Watercolor by Nikki One day after working with a client who was suffering from severe anxiety, I was pondering depression and anxiety and how it is such a plague of our day.  The very next morning during my scripture study, I came across a story in Helaman chapter 5 of the Book of Mormon; one which I had read a hundred times but until then, had never seen anything but a story. This time reading, the Lord opened a new level of understanding to me. Nephi the son of Helaman and his brother Lehi left their professions to go teach the gospel and actually had incredible success is some areas, even among the Lamanites. At one point, when among a more hardened group, they were imprisoned for several days without food.  When these Lamanites and defectors came to slay them, Nephi and Lehi were “encircled about as if by fire, even so much that the Lamanites could not hurt them”. The Lamanites were overshadowed by a cloud of darkn...

"The One You Feed" (& why fear is a sin) I call this watercolor "The One You Feed".    There is an old legend about a wise, old Cherokee Indian:   One evening the Old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside of people.   “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.   One is evil: it is envy, fear, greed, hatred, resentment, anger, self-pity, regret, inferiority, superiority and ego.   The other is good: it is joy, peace, love, hope, forgiveness, mercy, faith, generosity and Truth.”   The grandson contemplated that for a moment then asked, “which one wins?”   The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed”.       A while ago, I came across the following scripture which has given me much cause for introspection as you will see. Revelations 21:8 B ut the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have thei...