5.29.2008

Amazing Talent

Well, we have been in Utah since late last Friday night...but I thought I would just take a minute to tell you about something cool that happened a couple days ago. (Before I forget!)

When Brad and I got married, we received a gift from my sorority - a framed print of the LA Temple, signed by the artist, Chad Hawkins.

Well, a few years later, my parents bought a house up in Layton, UT and to our surprise, one of their neighbors was Chad Hawkins! So, I hoped that some day we'd be able to meet him in person. Well, they are no longer neighbors, but still friends and my mom said we should email him and maybe we'd be able to meet him at his studio in his house. He wrote back quickly and said that we were welcome to stop by.

So...we did, and it was amazing! We picked out a few things to buy, (some books, temple recommend holders, prints) and he signed all of them for us. His latest book is something like "Faith in the Service" where he went to Afghanistan to interview members of the church who are serving in the military. WOW. I can't wait to read it all! He is incredibly talented, but most of all such a nice guy and I hope to keep in touch with him. I was wishing I had brought my camera -- oh well. I did tell him that I was going to write a blog about him though! That made him laugh...

We learned that this all began as a project for school (he was 17) -- the Salt Lake Temple, and it has been his all time best seller. A-MAZING! He then said that at the time he thought it could be a way to fund his mission (to Frankfurt, Germany) -- little did he know that his future would be filled with art.

Please take a minute to check out his art, if you haven't already!

http://www.chadhawkins.com/index.html

2 comments:

Deb said...

So i just realized that one of my favorite temple drawings is from the artist you met. It is a drawing of the LA tmeple. I still have it up in Az too. It just has so many memories and I love that temple for those memories. I think it will always be my favorite. Although I am Soooo excited to be getting a new temple in Gilbert like 2 minutes from our house. How amazing is that. I love this church!

Kristie K. said...

I loved looking at his work. It is beautiful.
Hey I heard Horton Hears a Who is at the $2 theater on warner and beach. I remember hearing you tell me you hadn't seen it. I may take Garren to see it again.