Art: Railroad Crossing and Relief Society!

So, what happens when you procrastinate until a week before a deadline given to you a month ago and you get a call for a last minute mural commission with an even more immediate deadline? An art update from Manders, that’s what!

I had a busy week! Sister Cooper asked me to help her with something for Relief Society several weeks ago and right when I decided this would be the week that I would work on it, I get a text from Sister Westbrook about a commission she’s been meaning to have me do. Of course! Thankfully, neither of these things were all that challenging, so, I was able to get them done fairly quickly.

Sister Westbrook’s was a railroad crossing sign and traffic light for her son’s room. Easy peesy! I thought it might possibly take me two days to do it, so, I spent the night Wednesday-Saturday at Aunt Wendy’s. Turns out it was not that big of a deal and I was able to finish both the sign, light, and pole, in 5 hours. They were really sweet people too, very accommodating with cute kids and kitty cats. And I am constantly surprised how, after not doing art for a while, I will suddenly sit down to do some and it will come effortlessly pouring out of me. Like, I didn’t really have to try.

Next was the thing for Sister Cooper. She asked me early March to make placemats for the Relief Society birthday dinner. Susquehanna had theirs back in March but Montrose was scheduled to have theirs this month. It seemed fairly easy, so, I agreed. Ever since she told me the theme, “Scatter Sunshine Around the World”, I had this image in my head like rays of sunlight shooting over the globe of the earth. I didn’t know at first what to put at the top for what they were shining from. I originally thought to have little stick figures with dresses(women) holding hands but it seemed kind of juvenile and I wanted to elevate it and keep it looking classy. So, instead I put the temple since it seemed elegant enough and symbolically sound with the theme.

My first attempt, I wasn’t sure what I was really doing for the writing and where to position it. Then coloring it was an issue because I wasn’t sure where to put the markers and where to put the crayons. In the end, this first attempt had many problems, all of them combining to make it look very sloppy, rushed, and unprofessional.

To be fair, I’m not that good at graphic arts and this would have been way easier if I’d done it on the computer. My second attempt went a bit smoother, since the first gave me an idea of what I didn’t want. Thus, I was able to make changes that would bring a brighter, more polished look to the piece. I’m very glad I got the chance to serve in this way and help out!