Cheryl White: A Photo Essay

Cheryl White, an amazing artist who lives in Central Texas, was kind enough to open her home and studio to me (and my three rambunctious boys) for a tour last week. This is what we saw.

This is Sister White in her studio. She’s holding (on the bottom) the mold and (on the top) an example of the sculpture that she designed and executed for a recent stake women’s conference. (Which, incidentally, is how I met her; I spoke at that conference.) She made several hundred of these–one for each woman present at the conference.

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Sister White has published a book of watercolor paper dolls of Joseph and Emma Smith. The original watercolors used for the book are framed and displayed in her home.

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This painting of the tree of life has a slightly Asian feel.

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I loved this sculpture of a girl at prayer.

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My boys’ favorite piece was not the one that conveyed the inspired nature of Church history but, of course, the one about dog vomit. Sister White told us that she enjoys painting comics. She explained the six panels in this one as follows (but these are my words, not hers):

(1) When they first moved to Texas, her dog didn’t know what to make of the cockroaches.
(2) He was a little frightened of them. . .
(3) . . . and would sometimes run away!
(4) One day on a walk he saw a roach . . .
(5) . . . and decided to eat it.
(6) He later vomited on Sister White’s bed.

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This is a photograph of a painting. The original is about seven feet in diameter and is in the Church Museum of History and Art. I’m so sad that none of my close-ups of this one were in focus (darn that digital camera!), as the detail is tremendous. The overall effect is of a kaleidoscope showing the spread of the gospel.

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This is a sculpture of her daugher’s face.

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My favorite pieces of her work are the dolls of Joseph and Emma Smith and Brigham Young and Eliza Snow. Sister White’s research on this project was immense and the historical accuracy is amazing. These dolls are simply stunning–they are so lifelike. Sister White learned not only about the clothing in order to recreate it accurately (including the seashell buttons on Emma’s dress) but also the accessories: she created Joseph’s boots and sword in much the same way the originals were created. The attention to detail is amazing.

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Thank you, Sister White.

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