You have to listen carefully, but if you do, you can hear his Father's influence eeking through!
Rock of Ages
Rock of ages
Call it rock steady. The solitary and statuesque black monolith looming over the Great Salt Lake shore near Interstate-80 stood for decades as a traditional test of a Utah painter’s skills.
Utah painters of the late 1890s and early 1900s flocked to the ancient volcanic remnant. Alfred Lambourne tackled it. JT Harwood, John Hafen, Richard Tallant assayed it as well. So did Paul Fjellboe, a painter so eccentric he loaned his numerous works to Salt Lake City medical and dental offices for a nominal deposit, then seldom reclaimed them.
Back in time when nearby Saltair Resort was the ideal spot for a family outing or first date, Salt Lake City denizens knew its silent stare from the waters of what was then called Black Rock Beach. Stories were passed from generation to generation about diving from the rock’s top-most point, or even selling hot dogs near the monument.
Thomas Alder, managing partner at Williams Fine Art, noticed that images of the rock turned up repeatedly during research for a forthcoming book on northern Utah he will co-author.
“I never figured out why,” he said. “But that beach was certainly an area lots of people flocked to.”
Today the remains of a volcanic “plug” formed when the flume stopped spewing lava sits still mostly for the odd graffiti artist. All the more reason, Alder thought, to bring an old tradition into the present time. The gallery sent an e-mail invitation in May asking current Utah painters to tackle the formation, and for a new exhibit of Black Rock paintings.
“Several of them didn’t even know what I was talking about,” Alder said. “One wrote back, ‘Oh yeah, that thing I see out the car window with graffiti and brine flies?’ But then they got out there to paint it themselves, and really had an experience.”
The resulting new paintings run the gamut, Alder said, ranging from stark depictions of the rock’s harsh beauty to the whimsy of childhood memories the site evokes.
David Meikle, a Utah landscape painter who recently saw his mammoth painting of Mount Olympus unveiled at the new City Creek Center downtown, was one of the chosen. The 40-year-old artist had no idea what to expect driving out to the shoreline to set up his easel.
“The old paintings of Black Rock strike you as very romanticized,” Meikle said. “When I went out there I was struck by the location’s vast openness, and swarms of brine and dragon flies. It was a bit hostile, really.”
But it made for a fascinating encounter with intense contrasts in light, he said. And the challenge of painting an unfamiliar object was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.
Dennis Smith, another painter in the exhibit, remembers Black Rock with more clarity. Now 68 years old, Smith was a child in the 1940s and ’50s, during the Saltair Resort’s last hurrah before a fire shut it down and ended the shoreline’s festive era.
Smith launched into the Williams Gallery’s assignment with relish, painting four works spanning various times. One shows him as a younger man, floating in the salty water near the geological formation. Another finds the rock draped in the glow of a sunset. A third depicts the rock, and Kennecott’s smokestack, in the distance with a Saltair roller coaster in the foreground. Smith’s most intriguing rendering, however, finds members of the fated Donner Party passing the Black Rock on their way into winter in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.
Smith said the giant rock is for him both a location on Utah’s map and a point in historical consciousness.
“It’s a pivot point — a marker that tells you where you were in relation to home,” Smith said. “Black Rock is a landmark in time and awareness, and all that time somehow melds together when you have a physical marker such as the one we have at the Great Salt Lake.”
Pirate Party
Daniel chose a pirate themed swim party for his birthday this year. I think this was theme #5 or #6, but we finally ran with it and had a blast! Except for Mia's minor head bash on the floor (don't run).
Mia and Mom
I love my Princess Pink she is the best little daughter I could have asked for. She is a great sister and a fabulous helper. She loves to read and sing and dance. I love being your mom Mia!
Good Looking?
Sam asked me if he was Good Lookin or just Lookin the other day. I thought I would just let his public decide. What do you think?
Maverick
We finally decided to get a cat even though Dave is allergic and our lives are already crazy enough. We found him at the super pet adoption and he really is the perfect cat (for us that is). We think he is around 4 or 5 he is so friendly and social and besides sneaking into the neighbors house and causing trouble with other cats he is a good cute boy. Dave is not even bothered by him and he stays well away from the oil paint (smart kitty). Come by sometime and check him out we love him!
The Billboards are UP!
After two years and much anticipation ALL of the Utah state line billboards are officially up and ready to be viewed. So enjoy your travels this summer and keep your eyes open for Dave's billboards as you cross the state line!
Mud Bath
I think it time to get some more sand for the sand box. My children have now discovered how to make mud and take mud baths. Just for the record this took 45 minutes and 3 baths each to clean them up. At least they had fun. I am still finding muddy handprints all over the garage, garbage cans, garden tools, windows, cars, toys, etc. Crazy kids!
Poor William
The whole family has been down with a crazy cough, cold, snot infested bug the past week and a half. But our cute little bug William has suffered the worst. We spent a good part of the past two days at the doctor and up at Primary Children's with the poor boy. He has the metapneumovirus which sounds so crazy I can barely say it. (I am also very sleep deprived so
that may also be the reason I cannot pronounce the dang word.)
He has a few rough days (and nights) ahead, but should be back to his normal self in a week or so.
I am hoping all will be well for his birthday in a week.
I cannot believe how fast he is growing up!
Dave's Show at Pioneer Theater
It runs for the next three weeks and you can check it out for free during the day.
Crawler
Yup William is crawling! Actually he has been since before Christmas, I have just been late in posting (Mom guilt!) it is crazy hard to keep the house baby proof and all doors locked/closed with three other older siblings around. EVERYTHING is a choking hazard and I have to say keeping #4 alive is much harder than #'s 1,2,3.
Today's Church News!
Church News
City Creek: development is at 20-mile mark in construction marathon
By Greg HillChurch News staff writer
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010
SALT LAKE CITY
Focusing on the first retail portion to open in downtown Salt Lake City's City Creek development, a press conference was held in its food court Tuesday morning, Feb. 9.
Keith Johnson, Deseret News
A view looking south from the roof of the Key Bank building of the new City Creek development in downtown Salt Lake City February 9, 2010.
The food court has actually been open for several months, but it is steadily expanding in a bit of obscurity. With the ongoing construction of the massive City Creek multi-use development dominating two downtown blocks, the food court, currently with five vendors, is accessible only through an entrance on State Street between South Temple and 100 South and from the Eagle Gate and Key Bank office buildings on each side of it. Four more vendors are scheduled to open during the spring.
City Creek has been "a real marathon, and today … we are now passing the 20-mile mark of this marathon," said Mark B. Gibbons, president of City Creek Reserve, Inc., the Church's arm that oversees the development. "We've received our second wind. The end is in sight and we're excited about the things that are coming."
Along with the food court, the remodeled lobby of the KeyBank Tower and parking underneath have been opened. The rest of the project is on schedule, he said.
Keith Johnson, Deseret News
Bill Coker with A Taste of Red Iguana, one of the restaurants in the new City Creek food court in the Key Bank building in downtown Salt Lake City, looks at renderings of the completed City Creek development February 9, 2010.
The major components of City Creek are being built on the block, previously the site of Crossroads Mall, immediately south of Temple Square, and the block, previously the site of the ZCMI Center, immediately south of the Church Administration Building. The Church is developing the property it owns to revitalize and improve the appearance of Salt Lake City's downtown.
Keith Johnson, Deseret News
Utah artist David Meikle unveils his painting of Mount Olympus that's hanging in at the new City Creek food court in the Key Bank building in downtown Salt Lake City February 9, 2010. The food court is now open with 7 different restaurants and will continue to add others as the development progresses.
City Creek is billed as a "walkable, sustainably-designed urban community of residences, offices and retail stores," according to press materials. Brother Gibbons said the first of the residential components — Richard's Court, directly across the street from Temple Square — will open within the next six weeks. The rest of the project is on schedule to be completed with the opening of the retail component in early 2012.
Keith Johnson, Deseret News
A view looking west from the roof of the Key Bank building of the new City Creek development in downtown Salt Lake City February 9, 2010.
The unveiling of a mural at the State Street entrance to the food court was also part of the press conference. The mural by local artist David Meikle titled "Wasatch Grandeur" depicts a spectacular late afternoon view of the mountains southeast of downtown following a spring rainstorm.
Brother Meikle of the Foothill 3rd Ward, Salt Lake Foothill Stake, commissioned to do the large painting, completed it in two and a half months. He said that it was a major construction project of about 80-90 man-hours to put it in place.
© 2010 Deseret News Publishing Company
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