SKU: 1445251 The Nativity
Description
I’m not sure I wanted to do anything “differently” with my version of the Nativity, I actually wanted the image to feel familiar. Some of my earliest memories revolve around the Christmas season. I remember receiving a toy farm set for Christmas (apparently I was three years old that year). I recall adding my toy farm animals to the little nativity set displayed near the Christmas tree in our home. Even at that young age I somehow felt and understood the magical spirit of Christmas and I was aware that it centered around the story told by that wonderful little nativity set. That’s why I included the Three Wise Men in the painting, although not chronologically accurate, they are part of the familiar and magical imagery we have of that first Christmas night…who wants a nativity set without any Wise Men?
There is one element however which I added this is somewhat unique to the traditional nativity imagery and that is the kneeling woman with the small lamp. I often feel like women are under represented in the scriptures. I’ll leave her possible identity up to the viewer but she could be the innkeeper’s wife, a midwife or a relative. I simply enjoyed the inclusion of another feminine element in this tender maternal scene.
One “behind the scenes” story revolves around two of the models in the painting: the woman with the lantern and the seated shepherd on the far right with his hand on the small boy’s shoulder. These two models are friends of ours and are actually married to each other. They also happen to be the parents of another model in one of my paintings entitled “Lost and Found”. That painting depicts a teenage young man on a park bench seated beside the Savior. That young man is their son, Dan. Dan and our son Nate have been friends since grade school. Some months prior to the creation the Nativity painting, Dan passed away. For me this was a case of life (and death) imitating art. I can very much imagine Dan receiving love, compassion and rest in the Savior’s company. So in a beautifully strange twist of chronology and storyline, Dan’s parents, in the Nativity painting have the chance to offer their love and light to the little Christ child who will one day return it upon their own son!
by Greg Olsen
Born in 1958, Greg Olsen was raised in a farming community in rural Idaho. His parents, artists themselves, recognized and encouraged his early love of drawing. Later, the devoted tutelage of a high school teacher cemented his affinity and enhanced his technical ability. After studying illustration at Utah State University, he was hired as an in-house illustrator in Salt Lake City, working on anything from murals and dioramas to simple paste-up. Two years later, he followed a friend's advice and began painting full time.