Sariah and the Rain

Sariah experiences the first rain after a long drought.

Sariah

I've always I have always pictured Sariah as the gardener of the family. Rain is so precious in the Middle East...what would it be like to feel it after a long drought?

Especially as a mother of four boys who are always eating, I'm sure it is a wonderful feeling!

Women in the Scriptures

First, watch this video. I made it for my friends that I met at LDSBA Convention in August, Heather and Felice. It is the beginning of a new series of informational speed paintings! This one talks about the Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter, one of the world's most deadly landscapes. Be sure to watch it in HD!



Now go to this website.   Women in the Scriptures - From the Dust Giveaway

Now read the following:  Special thanks to the women at Women in the Scriptures for putting together such a wonderful article together! If there's one thing I know, it's that women don't get enough credit in the scriptures.

I made the following pieces of artwork for Women in the Scriptures. If you are a follower of theirs (and you should be!) you can use these for your blog buttons on the sidebar.

The challenge is to read the Standard Works focusing on the women in them.

This is a fun badge that Heather had on her website.  It's sized perfect for blog sidebars (200px wide).

If you click on this it will be 2x the size of the others...use it for whatever you want!

Sariah and the Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter, one of the deadliest deserts in the world.

More artwork coming soon!

A Serendipitous Convention

This video tells the story better than I can. It was recorded last Wednesday.

The “Al” mentioned in the video is both my neighbor and my surrogate grandfather. He’s a businessman at heart and helps me stay on top of the business side of things.

I had no idea the conference even existed last Wednesday morning, and by Thursday morning I had a booth with a sweet setup and a new video. Needless to say I didn’t sleep much. At all, really.

The booths typically cost $400. Dot’s husband, George, while musing to me while Dot did some paperwork for me, said, “This doesn’t usually happen. You must have a product that somebody really wants out there.”

From the Dust's booth on Wednesday afternoon.

From the Dust's booth on Thursday morning at the start of the convention.

I had many wonderfully fortuitous experiences at the LDSBA (Latter-day Saint Booksellers Association) Convention, the highlight of which is an appointment to present From the Dust to the leaders of Deseret Book in a few weeks.

I made a ton of other friends, many of whom you will meet in the coming weeks as we partner to help get From the Dust into the hands of Latter-day Saints worldwide.

And here's the intro video I made Wednesday night.





Just go to www.bookofmormoncomic.com to see it in action!

Laman - The Natural Man

Sariah comforts Laman after his first temper-tantrum.

Laman is the birthright son--he leads the family when his father is away, which is often. He teaches his younger siblings to walk in the paths of holiness. He is strong physically and mentally. Everyone looks up to Laman. He has it all. Strength, good-looks, riches, intelligence, creativity. At the start of From the Dust, Laman is doing everything right, at least on the outside. But no one can hide the pride in his heart forever.

In a flashback in Season 3 of From the Dust we visit Laman in his childhood years. Season 3 covers the family's desert journey through Arabia. During this journey, Laman's control on his passion and emotion truly begin to falter. For years he has allowed his heart to entertain destructive emotions like jealousy, hatred, and anger. He feels justified in this. After all, when you are wronged, is it not the just thing to feel angry about it?

But harboring these evil emotions will eventually make you evil and Laman's "true colors" are finally revealed to his father. Lehi realizes his eldest son is not just struggling to be good, like many of us do...he's actively choosing to be evil, a fact that had never yet crossed Lehi's mind.

Laman's story is a tragic one, and it can rightly be said that From the Dust is the story of Laman's fall from grace. We watch him bit by bit, step by step, choose the wrong path. This tragic fall is the heart of From the Dust.

So if you thought Laman was going to be just another shallow, uninteresting, unrealistic stereotype of evil--think again. Laman is perhaps my favorite character in From the Dust and by far the most interesting.

You will get to see first-hand how someone can go from this innocent state as a child and become a powerful instrument in the hands of evil.

Fortunately, you will also get to see many wonderful miracles of goodness as well!