Meet Your Favorite LDS Artists This Holiday Season

Meet and chat with these talented LDS artists at the City Creek Deseret Book store in Salt Lake City every Friday from 1:00-3:00 pm!

Known for creating uniquely resonant fine art portraits as well as intriguingly conceptual figurative paintings. His artwork has won numerous awards and hangs in national and international collections. It is also featured in various magazines, including International Artist, Family Circle, The Artist's Magazine, New York Magazine, Business Week, and American Art Collector, among others. While Jonathan is known primarily for his portrait and conceptual figurative paintings, he has also illustrated three children’s books, two of which landed on national bestseller lists; The Spyglass - New York Times and The Dance - Publisher’s Weekly.Jonathan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brigham Young University and continued his studies in New York City and Florence, Italy. Jonathan and his wife have four children and live in the Washington D.C. area.

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Linton's Faith, Hope and Charity, pictured above.

Ben was born in 1977. He was raised in the rural town of Pingree, Idaho, where his love for art was nurtured from the time he was a small boy. He studied art at Ricks College graduating with a degree in Illustration. While at college, he found himself dedicating more and more of his time to sculpting. He also gained a great appreciation for traditional art and decided to devote his time to sculpting the human figure. His passion for the beauty of the human figure is exemplified in his art.

Ben’s sculptures have been included in many juried shows throughout the country, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards. Ben competed in The National Competition for Figurative Sculpture where he was awarded the prestigious Charlotte Geffken Prize at Brookgreen Gardens in 2010 and won top prize again at Lyme Academy in 2011. From 2008-2010 he was awarded the Dexter Jones Award for bas relief from the National Sculpture Society. In 2007, he was awarded both First Place in Sculpture and the Purchase Award at The Scottsdale Artists’ School Best and Brightest Juried Show.

Ben is also a talented portrait artist and since 2007 has completed portrait busts for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ben is an elected member of the National Sculpture Society. His works have been featured in many art magazines, including The American Art Collector, Art of the West, Fine Art Connoisseur and Southwest Art. He is represented by galleries in New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah.

David exhibited artistic talent at an early age. At age 11, he studied with legendary artist Jon Gnagy and later received art scholarships for college and university training. David has also studied with artists Daniel Greene and Tom Browning.

From 8x10-inch miniatures to 8x10-foot murals, he works exclusively in oils and has created commissioned works for private collections, colleges, publications, and corporations.

“As long as I remember I have always been fascinated by glass in its many forms and the play of light through this wondrous substance. As a child holding marbles up to the light, looking through the ripples of old antique window panes at the golden wheat fields surrounding my grandparents farm house,glass paper weights, cathedral windows all captivated my imagination. Several years ago my wife, Cindy, decided she wanted to learn how to do stained glass.  I tagged along and learned along with her the art. Needless to say I was hooked as a whole new world of glass in a myriad colors and textures opened up to me.

The majority of pieces I make are framed in oak so that they can moved and displayed in windows or on light panels. I still find myself soaking in the colors of of the glass as sunlight filters through the glass and constantly look to creating different patterns of special places and objects with this beautiful medium.”

Cary Henrie is an artist who works with mixed media and eco-friendly materials. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Henrie was born in 1961 and reared in Utah. He studied at the Pratt Institute in New York City. He and his family lived in New York for ten years after his graduation. They then relocated to Bountiful, Utah. His technique consists of layering his canvas and sanding, varnishing, molding, cracking, and removing layers of acrylic paint and plaster. His finishing glazes are in oil. In this way he achieves a feeling of texture and age. He has also developed eco-panels, which are a composite of recycled materials. He recently added a new semi-framed technique to his work. An exhibition of his work, entitled “Life Vessels’’ opened in Sedona, Arizona, in October 2014. His work features authentically-harvested butterflies from South America and Southeast Asia mounted on Birchwood sculptures. Cary has often illustrated for the Ensign Magazine. He and his wife, Sauni, have four children, the eldest of which is artist Annie Henrie.

Known for her vibrant colors and impressionistic style, masterfully executes pastels, watercolors and oil paintings. She has won many awards including First place; at the ASCA International art show. “I love to record the simple things people do each day and capture the emotion of the moment. I love to paint light as it dances around a subject, especially the human figure. It is my desire to not only paint the physical being, but the personality and sense of soul.”

“Children are my favorite subjects as they portray innocence, purity, and sincere inquisitiveness that is unique to their age. I only pray that as an artist, I may stir the heart of the viewer to a heightened sense of peace and joy.”

The first original oil painting sold by Deseret Book was Julie’s: “King of Love My Shepherd is”.

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Julie Rogers'Safely Enfolded, pictured above.

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Jennifer Polley Thompson received her BA in art from Brigham Young University. After many years and five children, she decided it was time to go back to the studio. Her vivid still life’s and florals are painted directly from the flowers she cultivates in her garden. Though she views herself a little “old fashioned” in her focus on florals, others view her work as fresh and bold! Jennifer now works from her home studio in Orem, Utah. Her originals and giclee prints are finding their way into many fine collections! 

Howard is an artist that was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona. He met his future wife at the age of 15 and since then they have best of friends and business partners. They have 3 kids, a dog and various other critters that come and go in the home. Howard began his career studying illustration at Brigham Young University working with artists such as Robert Barrett, Don Seegmiller, James Christensen and Greg Olsen. Over the past 20 years he has worked in the video game industry as an Art Director, concept artist and freelance illustrator. For much of his career he has painted dragons and trolls or scenes from science fiction. His work can be found in products from Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft/Hearthstone, Magic the Gathering and Star Wars. He has studied art in Italy, France and most recently at the Grand Central Academy in New York. He has recently combined these experiences to switch gears and expand his subject matter to create inspirational pieces in the style of some of his favorite old masters: William Bouguereau, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and John William Waterhouse.  

Liz Lemon Swindle began her painting career in first grade. Her first exhibitions were on the refrigerator, encouraged by her father. In the early 1980s she tutored under renowned wildlife artist, Nancy Glazier. In 1992, Liz began painting a subject matter she had long desired to approach: her faith. Her paintings are now held in corporate and private collections around the world and have been published in countless magazines and books. Liz and her husband Jon have five children and thirteen grandchildren.

Scott, born in Denver, CO, has lived in Utah for the majority of his life. Scott and his wife have six children and currently reside in Weber County, Utah.

Scott has a background in art and illustration. He has been a professional photographer, for the past nine years with clients all over the United States. Scott has been a guest artist at BYU Education week in Provo, Utah and had a piece of his work exhibited in the Seventh International Art Competition. He has received several awards for his work depicting the Savior, Jesus Christ, from the Intermountain Professional Photographers Association of Utah (IPPA). He is a founding board member of the Inspirational Art Association and currently serves as President of their Board of Directors. Scott has several stunning photos in the newly released Jeffry R. Holland quote book: “Created for Greater Things” . Deseret Book carries many of his photographic images including “Lord of Hosts” that was featured in the latest catalogue.

For eight years Robert A. Boyd has been creating images of temples around the world in a unique fine-art style. A professional photographer for nearly seventeen years, Robert traveled the world photographing for clients, when one day his mother-in-law expressed her longing for a beautiful picture of the temple, and suggested that he should use his talents to photograph the temple in his artistic style. As soon as he began to try this it seemed as if new, beautiful scenes were now waiting for him every time he went to photograph. Robert hopes to share his feelings of the beauty of the temple as he strives to illuminate his photographs with peace, light and balance. He lives in Utah with his wife, Eleah, and their five children.

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Robert Boyd'sThe Sacred Grove, pictured above.

Sandra was born in 1955, in Salt Lake City, Utah. A preeminent realist painter, Sandy – as does all great masters – carries on the traditions and canons of classical art ideology practiced from the Renaissance down through 19th century. Her paintings and drawings demonstrate her virtuosity, a manifestation of unparalleled technical excellence, which result in great works of lasting beauty. Sandy’s unsurpassed knowledge of anatomy, color theory and design, facilitate her portrayal of the human condition – in all its complexities – with breathtaking elegance. Adept at all genres, her still life paintings excel at depicting her deep love of objects and how they are affected by light and shadow; they are metaphoric landscapes of symmetry and solemnity. Sandy’s husband is writer, Dave Gagon. They have three children.

Jay grew up with a love for drawing and a very supportive family who encouraged his artistic pursuits. Jay’s illustration work gained him an Honored Student Award for his entrepreneurial efforts and three national art awards for his paintings and illustrations all before leaving High School!  Ward attended Ricks College and Brigham Young University graduating with a BFA emphasis in illustration. There, He studied under artists/painters L. Parson, R. Barrett, R. Hull, and Don Seegmiller. Ward has also been fortunate to receive instruction from the world-renowned painter, Richard Schmid. “This was a heightening experience for me,” Ward claims, “as my years of study converged, I developed a clearer understanding of the artistic principles underlying great art, …and I discovered there, a way to bring my art to light.”

J. Kirk Richards is a favorite among admirers of contemporary spiritual artwork. His love of the textural, the poetic, and the mysterious has translated into a unique take on traditional Judeo-Christian themes.

Richards attributes much of his love for the arts to an early emphasis on musical training in his parents’ home. Turning then from music to visual arts, Kirk studied with painters Clayton Williams, Bruce Hixson Smith, Patrick Devonas, Hagen Haltern, Gary and Jennifer Barton, James Christensen, Wulf Barsch, Joe Ostraff, and others.

Two years in Rome influenced Richards’ palette, which often consists of subdued browns and rusts. Kirk is best known for his contributions to the BYU Museum of Art exhibit Beholding Salvation: The Life of Christ in Word and Image; for his contributions to Helen Whitney's PBS Frontline Documentary entitled The Mormons: An American Experience; for the cover image of Jeffrey R. Holland’s book, Broken Things to Mend; and for his imagery on the cover of BYU Studies Magazine and in the Ensign, Liahona and Upper Room publications. Kirk and his wife, Amy Tolk Richards, have four creative children. They split their time between their home in Woodland Hills and their country studio in the small town of Redmond, Utah.

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J. Kirk Richard'sThe Carriers, pictured above.

Taylor first developed a love of the temples at thirteen years old. He felt drawn to photograph the House of the Lord and has spent the last five years traveling the world capturing the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Taylor’s unique blend of stunning photography and fine art imaging produces timeless images that remind and inspire saints around the world. Taylor’s images are featured in LDS publications and retail stores and held in numerous personal and private collections across the world.