Q: What is the design flanking the image?

A: It’s a rendering of Alma’s declaration: “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart.” The rendering on the right side of the image is a mirror reflection of the rendering on the left. Consequently, the right hand image is reversed.

Q: So it’s actually readable?

A: When I worked on The Title Of Liberty, I had to come up with text for the flag. Since the Anthon manuscript provides a rendering of characters from the plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, I decided to use the manuscript as a point of embarkation for creating a set of characters that could be used not only for the flag, but for other artworks in this project.

In going through the manuscript, I identified quite a few different characters, and began playing with them simply as visual objects. I spent a lot of time with pen and ink and paper simply writing them, sometimes with a fine-point nib and sometimes with a flat nib. My objective was simply to see what might be done with such characters by a scribe. After more than a year, I’ve developed several character sets—what I think of as different “hands&rddquo; or styles of the characters—that can be used to represent different eras and personalities.

Since I needed to put a particular text on the Title of Liberty, I decided to arbitrarily assign some of the characters to what might be called phonemes. The result was a phonetic alphabet that can be used to render English speech. Then, having created this image of one of the greatest writers of the Book of Mormon, it seemed appropriate to develop yet another style of these characters, by which to render the poetic yearning of Alma’s heart.

Q: What else did you create for this illustration?

A: The cloak Alma is wearing was created for The Road To Melek, as well as for these illustrations.

Q: How involved are you in creating costume elements?

A: In this case I designed it while sewing it.

I think I’ve come to realize, over the years, that it isn’t enough for me to express myself in two dimensions. I have to work in three in order to be fully satisfied. I get as excited about making the costume and props as I do about creating the paintings and prints.

Q: Do you work from patterns?

A: Not really. I search through books and other sources of costume history, sketch out some rough ideas, and then jump in. I’m not trying to re-create anything. Instead, I’m working from my own fabrication of a material culture for the project.

Q: Did you make everything that appears in the print?

A: Ashton and I built the bookshelves and window casement, though not specifically for this illustration. I simply used them as the setting. I also built the Liahona and the stand on which it rests. The rest was assembled from the paraphernalia of everyday.

Q: What did you hope to communicate about Alma through this illustration?

A: Everyone needs an open window onto the light that flows into our lives through the Word of God. Otherwise, we live and work in darkness. The Word was the light of Alma’s life. It is the light of our lives, too—the light and the life and the truth of the world. To love the word as Alma did is to have Eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God.