You are here: Home > Art > Artists > Liz Lemon Swindle Art Liz Lemon Swindle has a deep, abiding faith that she feels blessed to share through her art. A lifelong Utah resident, she studied fine arts at Utah State University. She worked for several years as a set designer and painter for the Osmond Studios television production company. As her family grew (she and her husband Jon Swindle today have five children), she saw the need for a more flexible career and decided to focus on oil painting. In the early 1980s she tutored under renowned wildlife artist Nancy Glazier and soon after established her own impressive reputation as a wildlife painter, participating in shows at major galleries in the central and western United States. However, Lemon Swindle became increasingly discontent, feeling artistically and spiritually unfulfilled. In October 1988 she reached a turning point when she submitted a portrait of children to the National Arts for the Parks competition and received the coveted Founders' Favorite award. She realized then that there was an audience for her portrait painting and by the early 1990s she had devoted herself to the topic closest to her heart: her faith. This new direction can be seen in her project, Joseph Smith, Impressions of a Prophet. Liz's interest in painting Joseph Smith was aroused by listening to a recording by composer Kenneth Cope, entitled "Brother." Touched by the love between Joseph and his brother Hyrum, Liz wanted to portray their relationship. She began studying for the project in October, 1994. The result is her moving painting of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, Oh, My Poor Dear Brother Hyrum. She had not planned additional paintings, but in researching the martyrdom she found herself seeing Joseph not only as the prophet she revered, but in his other roles as well -- son, brother, husband, father, and friend. "For me, Joseph left the pages of the history books and became a living person, one whose story I wanted to tell," says Liz. A one-woman show of her Christian art traveled to cities nationwide in the summer of 1997 and a book of her paintings, "She Shall Bring Forth a Son" was published in 1998.

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