I believe in inspiration...

Have you ever felt like you were meant to do something? Like the pieces of the puzzle just fit together at the right time? I have and I believe that it is inspired from above. I met Al Rounds this weekend and had the rare opportunity to hear his story about how he was inspired to paint. Meeting him reaffirmed my belief that God inspires and guides us. I believe that Al Rounds was meant to paint to inspire others through his paintings.

Before we even knew who Al Rounds was, Tom and I were mesmerized by the beauty, truth, and spirit of his paintings. Because Al uses watercolors, nothing can be hidden. "It's a nightmare to paint with watercolors," says Al. Few have mastered watercolor as well as Al Rounds. This is how Al Rounds started using watercolors:

"After graduating from the University of Utah in 1977, Rounds decided to pursue a full-time career as a painter immediately, despite all the warnings he had received from various acquaintances that he would never be able to earn a decent living. His wife calculated that her husband would have to sell three or four paintings a day to make it financially. At the time, he was selling his paintings for $25, including the frame, which amounted to a $15 profit. Rounds, who was trained primarily as an oil painter, decided "I couldn't do three paintings a day in oil (they don't dry fast enough, for one thing). I tried. I started doing watercolors just because I could sit on location and do two or three day. At night I'd go home and work on oils. I did watercolors so I could make a living. But the more I did, the better I got, and I started enjoying it. I started doing things with watercolors that hadn't been done before. I experimented with washes and papers. I knew the techniques before I knew the words for them."

When we met Al Rounds this weekend, Tom asked him, "How did you decide to start painting church history?" This was his response:

Inspired by a dream, The Kirtland Temple was the first church history painting Al did. This is also the first of his paintings that appeared on the cover of the Ensign. Tom and I were married at the Kirtland temple. We were drawn to this painting and it hangs over our fireplace.

When Al was in the second grade, one of the girls in the class pointed to Al during Back-to-School night and said to her mom, "That's the artist in the class." That's when Al began to define himself as an artist. This is Al talking about how he became an artist:

Al is so humble and kind. I see him as a famous painter, as a celebrity, and yet, after meeting him this weekend, I feel like I am one of his close friends. I'm proud to say I know Al Rounds. If I ever see him again, I'm sure he will make me feel like we are close friends crossing paths again.

In 2002, Al Rounds was commissioned to paint a commemorative plate that was given to various dignitaries during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City such as the Queen of England and the President of Spain. This is the plate.

If you want to read a great article on Al Rounds, go to:
http://deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C340008040%2C00.html