Jennie M. Doezie and Professor James C . Christensen, Visual Arts

The intent and purpose for which this grant was awarded was to assist me in my goal of producing a well-illustrated children’s book. My greatest artistic interest lies in depicting other cultures, and my desire is to educate children of these cultures through my paintings. The original basis for completion of my project entailed accompanying the BYU “Art in Europe” Study Abroad program to Spain and Italy in the spring of 1997. There I was to experience, visually research, and document those countries for seven weeks, under the instruction of my faculty mentor, James C. Christensen. There from I would have the personal visual experience needed to begin work on a children’s book about one or both of those countries.

These original plans had to be modified, however, when it was announced in mid-January that the trip was postponed until spring of 1998. I determined that completion of the project was still possible, but the matter of travel would have to be of my own initiative. James Christensen agreed with my new goals, committed himself to helping me in every way possible, and the Office of Research and Creative Activities approved the changes. Thus began the mighty task of planning and executing the appropriate trip.

I first concluded to change the countries of my attention to Austria and Italy. Having served an LDS mission to Austria and touring Italy previous to that, as well as it becoming necessary to shorten the duration of my travel to four weeks, I felt it would be wiser to go where I had already been. I already knew something of these countries and felt comfortable in them, and had many contacts in Austria with whom I could reside. I spent considerable time in the months preceding my departure planning the many details of the trip. I wanted to ensure that my time in each place was well apportioned; my desire was to visit as many cities and places of interest as possible without shortchanging any of them.

James Christensen gave me considerable help with this, he himself having traveled Europe many times. I took an extra painting class from him in the Winter Semester of 1997, so as to best receive the artistic instruction that I would have gained from him on the Study Abroad program. During in-class time and private consultations, we discussed my painting techniques and the aspects involved in the type of trip I was undertaking. He advised me on what materials to take, what type of film and how much of it, certain tips on photography and what to photograph, when to sketch, etc. When at the end of April I departed for Austria, I felt very much prepared.

Once in Europe, I found ample time to do the observation that I desired. My days were spent in various big cities and little towns, with scheduled plans of viewing or simple wanderings of exploration. I carried my camera with me continually, always prepared to capture those things beautiful or unusual on film. This was my main resource of documentation; for, while I also spent a lot of time writing notes in my sketchbook/journal, photography was the quickest and most reliable method for catching the instantaneous moments. It was also for this reason that I did more photography than on-site painting. I found that I would rather explore an entire village or much of a city, than to sit down in one spot for hours and thus limit my research to that one scene. In doing my own photography, I would have numerous resources for later paintings and illustrations. This is not to infer that I did not spend time sketching as well, though, for on-site sketching is invaluable to injecting one’s personal observations into a scene. A photograph documents the scene precisely, but the hand-drawn sketch evokes a feeling into its interpretation.

It was interesting for me to observe the reactions of the people as I recorded everything around me on film. They were somewhat surprised that I would place enough value on something, inasmuch as I would photograph or sketch it, which they perhaps considered commonplace, dull, or even ugly. For example, I became intrigued with the doors and windows of the Austrian architecture, as such as is rarely found in America, but is basic scenery for the Austrians. In Italy, amongst the hundred or so islands that make up Venice, the basic form of transportation for the residents is boats. Taxis are boats, ambulances are boats, and even garbage “trucks” are boats. Such observations as these were captivating to me, and were the purpose of my explorations. I readily recognized that I was viewing my surroundings with “new” eyes, so as to discover those things which made the culture unique, and would make my resulting paintings and illustrations interesting to the American eye.

While the European architecture and countryside are of great beauty to me, I found myself most fascinated with the people. They were what I watched intently, and did my best to photograph inconspicuously. For, while the background and history of a culture is often laid out in its architecture, the current residents are those who animatedly carry out the present-day society. I did my best to learn as much as I could about daily life in the short amount of time that I had.

It is herein that my greatest troubles arose in relationship to my project. I found that four weeks was entirely too little time to profess authority of knowledge on a culture. To my credit, I had previously resided for fifteen months in Austria, and that helped my background experience as well as alerted me to what I should document this time around. However, I knew that I was still unqualified as of yet to subsequently complete the project which I had planned, that of teaching others about a culture through my illustrations. It was about halfway through my trip when I came to this realization, and it disturbed me greatly for a period. Nevertheless, I continued in my set course of documentation, and soon realized what was valid for me to do: to merely present that which I had seen.

I discovered that I do not need to profess to be an authority on the subject of either Austria or Italy, but I can show the beauty of the country and its people. Just as I spent generally one or two days in each place, my book will revolve around that element. It will be based on the concept of “if you were to spend a day in (Vienna), you would see…” and so forth. Not only is this the most practical application of my time in Europe, but will provide a blueprint for future projects as I visit other areas across the globe. I believe more than ever in the necessity of educating children of other cultures, and am excited to have discovered an obtainable method of doing so visually. I am eager to now embark on the actual production of my book and present what I experienced.