Chronicles of Schofield

This past Christmas my dear friend Audry, introduced me to another way cool girl, Audrey. Audrey has three super kids with adorable personalities and names to match; Storie, Stockton, and Saylor. With some friends we decorated a little tree for the "festival of trees" in honor of her daughter Saylor who has spina bifida. All the procedes from the sale of the tree go to Primary Childrens Hospital. Saylor has spent more of her life than any little girl should in and out of hospitals. It was a very humbling experience meeting her and her family and learning about the challenges that they have encountered, and also the strength and blessings that have come from these life experiences. It's people like this that remind you not to take things for granted, and to recognize the gifts of simple every day life.

Audrey "joy tagged" me, and something that has brought joy to my life is inspirational art. Before I share about a piece that has brought me joy, I wanted to share one that she referred me to. Artist Andrew Wyeth is an amazing artist who's painting "Christina's World" had signifigance to her families situation.

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth

The woman crawling through the tawny grass was the artist's neighbor in Maine, who, crippled by polio, "was limited physically but by no means spiritually." Wyeth further explained, "The challenge to me was to do justice to her extraordinary conquest of a life which most people would consider hopeless." He recorded the arid landscape, rural house, and shacks with great detail, painting minute blades of grass, individual strands of hair, and nuances of light and shadow. In this style of painting, known as magic realism, everyday scenes are imbued with poetic mystery. (Gallery label text via moma.org)

Andrew was the youngest of the five children of N. C. and Carolyn Bockius Wyeth. He was home-tutored because of his frail health, and learned art from his father during long periods together. Both shared the same love for rural landscape, a sense of romance, and a strongly held feeling for Wyeth family history dating back to 1645 in America. Andrew started drawing at a very young age, and with his father’s patient and skillful guidance, he mastered figure study and early took to watercolor, and later learned egg tempera from brother-in-law Peter Hurd. He studied art history on his own, admiring many masters of Renaissance and American painting, especially Winslow Homer. Like his father, he read and appreciated the poetry of Frost and Thoreau and studied their relationship with nature. Music and movies also heightened his artistic sensitivity. Wyeth was often referenced by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (a longtime admirer) in the comic strip Peanuts. In one strip the character Snoopy was presented with a bill for "psychiatic help" 20 cents and states "I refuse to sell my Andrew Wyeth". In another strip, Snoopy's prized Van Gogh painting is burned in a fire, and he replaces it with an Andrew Wyeth. Tom Duffield, the production designer for the American remake of The Ring, drew inspiration from Wyeth's paintings for the look of the film. M. Night Shyamalan based his movie The Village on paintings by Andrew Wyeth. The Village was filmed in Chadds Ford not far from Wyeth's studio. Director Philip Ridley has stated that his 1990 film The Reflecting Skin is heavily inspired by the paintings of Andrew Wyeth in its visual style. (taken from Wikipedia)

To read more about Audrey's family visit her blog in "my peeps" section. She is also a very talented designer and florist. Her business Studio Stems brings joy to many brides and the like. Thank you Audrey for sharing your life with us and inspiring others to find joy!

(Her sweet family photo courtesy of Rebekah Westover Photography)

Now for my piece of "joy art"- It's no secret that I'm a big fan of artist Cassandra Christensen Barney. I first met her at a wedding shower for my sister in law, Devon. I saw some of her work and became a fast fan of all her emotive portraits of women. I love her style and whimsical use of color and texture. Greenwich Workshop read's, "Christensen Barney's images capture the souls of heroines, everyday women who have found strength and personal victory in their diverse experiences. Her portraits carry a range of emotion reflective of the events that have shaped their character. Ambiguous and poignant, Cassandra’s women find strength in their femininity. “They are beautiful and strong, because of the complexity of their feminine nature”

So a couple Christmas' ago our family was visiting my parents in Idaho Falls. The night of my birthday just a few days after Christmas, my youngest at the time, Oliver, became very sick and was throwing up every hour. He became so dehydrated that he needed an i.v. at the the local hospital. The frightening part was that he was so far gone that he didn't even wince or blink when they inserted the needle into his arm. At this trying moment, I too became sick and was exhausted from staying up with him. My husband called me downstairs that night to give me a present. To be honest, I could have cared less about receiving anything at that time, because frankly, I felt like crap. He was so insistent about giving me this gift, so I came down briefly and he handed me a big flat box. My breath was taken away and tears ran down my face when I pulled out the Cassandra Barney painting that I had been admiring on Coda Galleries website for months entitled "Sarra". I never dreamed I would be the proud owner of one of her paintings let alone the one I loved the most, but my family had all pitched in to get it for me. This painting is a reminder of my husbands love for me, my families love for me, and it truly was a ray of sunshine on a very dark day. Now when I look at it hanging in our home I feel great joy, and when I get discouraged it brings me hope that "this too shall pass".

(I just added the bird for artistic flair) Go check out Cassandra Barneys art, you are guaranteed to fall in love with it. Also, she is having an open house at the Coda Gallery Jan. 11th from 6-9pm if you can make it to Park CIty this Friday.

I'm tagging "my peeps" to share what brings them joy. Peace out homies!