I Forgot…

Last October, when I shared my image “To Bring Forth Fruit”, I shared the process of how I created this piece but somehow completely forgot to tell you about what inspired me to create the image in the first place! It’s kind of surprising to me, because it’s one of my favorite things to do when I share a new image. So while I wrote about my editing process, I realized recently that a girl standing in the middle of the forest holding a plant doesn’t really scream the idea of Faith, which might have been confusing for you. Because of this, I decided that I would pull “To Bring Forth Fruit” off its now dusty shelf and revisit the piece, this time with a little bit more of an explanation.

 

Back when I first started conceptualizing this series as a whole, my initial ideas for this piece were not at all like the final image. I had envisioned a blindfolded girl, on the cusp of jumping from the edge of a cliff, fearless and ready to fly despite a lack of wings. I mulled it over in my head for several months, hesitating to actually settle on this scene, but not sure why.

 

 

Eventually I realized my hesitation stemmed from the fact that this seemed like the most logical and obvious way to represent faith. It was so incredibly obvious that I felt this huge absence of creativity and artistry in my initial sketches. So, I scrapped my original idea, and did some more research, ultimately finding inspiration in the scripture Alma 32: 41-43:

[eltd_blockquote text=”41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. 42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst. 43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.” title_tag=”p” width=””]

 

Growing up, I had always heard the saying that faith is like a seed. Something that would grow if you took the time to plant it in something else. When I found this verse, it resonated so well with my beliefs of faith, and where it came from, that I took off in an entirely new direction. An image of a girl, standing in a forest of oak trees, painted itself in my mind and I knew that was it. That was the scene I wanted to bring to life.

 

 

Luckily there wasn’t much prep work involved in the image, so once I finalized a few details and found my location, I contacted my model Belle and her mom Lisa and arranged a date to go shoot.  In an oak grove inside Pea Ridge Military Park, we set up the scene. After pouring some soil into Belle’s hands, I placed a small branch (what would be my small “tree”) in the center. As the story fell into place, I backed away from the scene I had created, picked up my camera, and began to shoot. A short half hour later, my story was captured. Waving goodbye to Belle and her mom, we drove our separate ways away from our oak forest, the fourth image in my series ready for me to bring to life.

 

 

Yours,