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| Elspeth blocks in Caroline's costuming |
Since early February of this year, Elspeth has been working
on a painting of Mary Elizabeth and Caroline Rollins—two pioneer sisters who
bravely saved what they could from a violent mob who destroyed the early
Church’s printing press July 20, 1833. The painting depicts both teenage girls with the precious galley pages of The Book of
Commandments which they salvaged while they were pursued by armed members of the mob. In desperation they sought refuge in a nearby cornfield--an occurrence Mary movingly described in her published autobiography.
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| Portion of Book of Commandments galley facsimile |
Research for the painting has required months of effort (and
the gracious help of several experts at the Museum
of Church History and Art and the
Church History Library in Salt Lake
City) during the painting’s pre-production
stages. Not only did Elspeth need to
replicate period appropriate costuming for the young women, it was necessary
for her to re-create actual-size facsimiles of the original Book of Commandments galleys (detail pictured above right) using scans from Wilford Woodruff’s personal copy
of the 1833 printing. Elspeth is shown left, blocking-in the costuming of the figure of Caroline Rollins.
Wow! What we can see looks lovely. Is this for a new series of paintings?
ReplyDeleteExcellent question, Cocoa--thanks for asking! Yes--it is for our new series of paintings celebrating the heroic and inspiring in Latter-day Church history.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm excited to see the entire thing! :)
ReplyDelete