Temple Bound

Eva Timothy on Light, Creation, and Covenants

• Will • Season 1 • Episode 89

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What does it mean to grow up in a country where faith is forbidden, where your father could go to jail for painting the Beatles on the kitchen wall, and where your hunger for God has nowhere to go?

For Eva Timothy, that was not a metaphor. That was childhood in communist Bulgaria.

In this episode of Temple Bound, host Will Humphreys sits down with fine art photographer and founder of the Enlighten podcast, Eva Timothy, whose story stretches from the cement rooftops of Sofia to the altars of the Salt Lake Temple. Eva shares how the fall of the Berlin Wall opened Bulgaria to missionaries, how a picture of the Savior on a street board stopped her mid-walk and changed her life forever, and why she believes that every person on earth has been given a creative gift from God.

Eva is known for her award-winning series The Lord Is My Light, a photo-painting collection displayed in institutions including the Smithsonian. Her work uniquely omits the face of the Savior in every piece, a prompting she received when the series began, so that every viewer can place themselves into the moment with Christ.

This conversation covers:

  • The reality of growing up under communism with no religious freedom and no First Amendment
  • How Eva found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through a chance encounter with missionaries in a park
  • Her first prayer ever, offered during sacrament meeting in a rented room above a soccer stadium in Bulgaria
  • Why photography literally means to write with light, and how that shaped her entire artistic vision
  • The concept of chiaroscuro, the Renaissance technique of using darkness to make light more brilliant
  • Her mission president's challenge to create something for Jesus, and the seven years it took for that prompting to become The Lord Is My Light
  • Why she never shows the Savior's face in her art, and what that invites the viewer to do
  • The painting Lord Save Me, depicting Christ pulling Peter from the water, and what it means to be held with both hands
  • The temple as a masterclass on creation, and how going to the house of the Lord empowers our creative gifts
  • Doctrine and Covenants 109:22 and the promises given to those who come forth from the temple armed with God's power
  • How repentance and the Spirit are essential ingredients in the creative process
  • Advice for people who believe they have no creative gifts, and why that belief is a lie from the adversary
  • How to seek your gifts through prayer, patriarchal blessings, and the things that make you lose track of time

If this episode touched something in you, please follow Temple Bound and leave a comment on the platform you are listening on. Every follow and review helps this podcast reach more people who are searching for light. 

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Quick Favor And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_01

Before we start the episode, I have a small favor to ask. If Temple Bound has meant something to you, would you take a moment right now and follow the podcast and leave a comment on the app that you're listening to? When you follow and leave a comment, it helps the podcast show up for more people who are trying to learn, grow, and come closer to the teachings of the temple. It's free and it's simple, but it really makes a big difference. Thank you so much for being here. In Communist

Beatles On The Wall In Bulgaria

SPEAKER_01

Bulgaria, Eva Timothy's father painted the Beatles on their kitchen wall. An act that could have landed him in jail. But to a little girl dancing a twist and shout on a cement rooftop, those four faces meant one thing. There's light out there. Today on Temple Bound, fine art photographer Eva Timothy traces that hunger for light all the way from a land without freedom to the house of the Lord. Eva, what a gift it is to have you on Temple Bound today. Thank you so much for taking the time to be here. Would you mind setting the table a little bit to the audience of who you are and what we'll be talking about today?

SPEAKER_00

Well, I am so grateful to be here, Will. Thank you so much for inviting me. Any chance I have to talk about Jesus, I'm in. So thank you. And I love what you're doing. I love the light you're sharing and the importance of covenants and house of the Lord and how sacred those spaces are, and how Jesus is there, truly, and his spirit. And so I'm I'm very grateful. I grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria, out of all places. And um, I grew up under communism actually. It was really difficult circumstances and um with no light, literally. There was no First Amendment in Bulgaria when I was living. There's no freedom of religion, of expression, of assembly, of the speech, like of the press, none of that. Like it was a taboo. And I've always had the dream to come and live in America. So one day.

SPEAKER_01

So you had that dream growing up in Bulgaria, and I'm guessing when you were growing up without any of those freedoms, you didn't know any better. But I'm guessing later when you had those freedoms, how would you describe that contrast for someone who's never experienced that type of control?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my goodness. It's like night and day, literally. Um, we we were in so much darkness and oppression. There was no freedom, there's no private property, um, there's no way to stand up for who you are, pursue your abilities and gifts. My dad was an incredible oil painter, and he applied four times to university to pursue that as a profession and have a degree in art, and yet every single time they cut him off because he was not a member of the Communist Party. So there was no possibility for his education. He became a taxi driver, and then he painted the Beatles in our kitchen walls. So he instilled that love for freedom in me. I was the only child. So so grateful for that spirit of freedom. He he had, even though he had no freedom, he knew where to look for it. What was it? America was that for.

SPEAKER_01

Did that remind you of like his? I don't know, like what was that like for you to see that every day?

SPEAKER_00

Well, number one, he could have gone to jail for doing that because it was very much so against the regime and it was the West, and it was not Russia or Bulgarian communist image. It was it was freedom, it was the Fab Four. And to me, it was always a symbol of there's hope out there, there's light, there's and we would dance the twist and shout. That's like my favorite song. So we'd be on the eighth floor, cement, eight cement floor on top of the block building. That's what we call them. They're just tall cement buildings, and it was just fun. We danced in the middle of craziness and opposition and darkness. We had the Beatles on undercover because you couldn't really listen to them. They were kind of muffled, and he had his all tapes gotten from the black market. So, because you can't just go buy the Beatles from the store. Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Well, so you were listening to the Beatles music, and it was very rebellious in terms of like you could, you could your dad could have gone to jail. Uh, talk about a brave artistic heart that he has. That's really inspiring. So let me ask you then. So, how did how did that progress? Because I obviously, in your story, the communist wall in Berlin falls, and so what led you from that that place of darkness into the gospel of Jesus Christ?

A Teenager Determined To Find God

SPEAKER_00

So I was about like 15 years old, and I remember going to my parents and saying, I need to know more about God. I wanted to know more about who made the sunset, did he make the sunset and the beautiful nature around us? And in 89, when the wall fell in Germany, there was this domino effect of churches coming in, pastors coming in into all these Eastern European countries, and Bulgaria happened to be one of them. And for the first time ever, Bulgaria was flooded. There were preachers from England, from Australia, and prior to that, we were creasers. We went to church on Christmas and on Easter, so I called us Christmas. So, like, and it was always, I never felt that was God's house. That's where God is present because the preacher, the um the Orthodox priest that was in the Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, he was connected with the government. And so for us, like my family, we would never take him seriously. We're like, you tell us one thing and you turn around and do another thing behind our back. You know, there was never trust there. And I wanted to find God, and I I wanted to be committed to a church. I wanted to, I wanted to learn of him. I was so hungry and thirsty for righteousness, like for his word. And so I there were so many different religions, like um, religious and Christian churches that actually flooded Bulgaria. And I went to like a different church every day almost, it felt like it. I went to Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists on Saturday, evangelists. I mean, literally, I was on a crusade to find God. And I am just so grateful after almost a year. I saw and going to different churches, and some of my friends joined those churches, like, oh, you gotta be baptized here. I'm like, well, I'm not ready yet to commit. There's something missing. Good people doing good things, and yet I was not ready to commit. And that's when God found me.

A Park Encounter With Missionaries

SPEAKER_00

I mean, it was incredible. He sent those cute missionaries. They had left their home and country to come in this forgotten land. And um I saw I saw them, so they had a streetboard sign, uh, which is in Europe, they would have a picture of Jesus and some writing and handout cards. So it's like an A-frame streetboard sign.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And uh it just draw my attention, drew my attention because it was the Dale Parson depiction of Jesus, and I the one with the red robe, I've never seen the savior depicted so beautifully. I was used to the iconic, frail image of Jesus. And I was just walking my dog, and I saw them standing, and I knew they're they're God's people, and yet I was uh hesitant, very hesitant to say anything. And yet, inside, like my heart was going boom, boom, boom. I had to say something and speak to them. And so I'm grateful that God gave me the strength to open my mouth and not just keep walking. So it's important to when we feel a prompting to act upon it, it could change our life. Mine, literally. And I just I asked them, is this Jesus? Those are the first words I ever spoke to them. And they were big smiles, they were so excited. I was just walking my dog in the park where they were standing, and the rest is really history. It's it's just so amazing how God works in our lives.

SPEAKER_01

So I have to ask you after that beautiful story, because most people who have conversion stories, we all have conversion stories, but it's rare that someone really has been so suppressed, like you weren't in a position where religion was an option at all. It was government-controlled religion. And then you are then free to kind of explore wherever you want to go. And you and so obviously the picture is what drew you in initially, but was there a moment when you were talking to the missionaries or during that process where it it like settled in clearly as like, yeah, what I guess what I'm asking is when was the moment that you knew, like, yeah, this is this is the Church of Jesus Christ that I'm gonna join?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I'm so glad you asked that. That's such a great question because there was definitely that moment. And I remember speaking with them. We we talked for quite some time when when I was in the street just walking my dog that morning, we had a good conversation, and it was interesting for me because I I've never like prayed in my life. I I never owned a Bible, I never had the word of God in my home. I did not grow up like that. I, you know, I didn't have that knowledge, or I didn't even think that I could be capable of praying to God because I didn't have a degree in theology, I wasn't, I didn't have any robes, I wasn't a teacher or preacher, I was just like nobody, right? And and and yet the missionaries blessed their hearts, those sweet missionaries. They were like, No, when you come to sacrament meeting, we want you to talk to God, we want you to pray to Him. They told me how to pray, and you know, they wrote that we thank Thee, Heavenly Father, we thank Thee, and then we ask Thee, and then, you know, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. And they told me that during the sacrament uh administration of the sacrament, which is a very sacred and special time, I can talk to God and He will fill me with His love. This is what they promised me, this is what they told me. I'm like, wow, they were so inspired because it is such a personal relationship, which I didn't even think that that's even possible for me to have. I would have been fine to just be able to listen to a sermon, right? Like, but there was so much more that my heart wanted. My heart wanted this God that is like your best friend kind of relationship, right? And so they taught me that that's who I am praying to, and that he will answer my prayer if I address him, if I speak to him.

Sacrament Meeting And A Flood Of Light

SPEAKER_00

And it was that moment during that sacrament meeting. I walked into it, it was on top of a soccer stadium. I love soccer, so I was like, this is so great. I'm totally going to this church. I mean, it was just that it was just like a little room there renting, and uh I was probably the size of like the primary rooms now that we have in our churches, and they had taped up pictures of Jesus, very humble, rented space, and there were maybe two or three members, three sets of missionaries, and me. So very small gathering. And I I remember vividly them telling me, as the sacrament is passed, think of Jesus and and talk to him. And so to this day, I'll never forget that moment where I just I didn't know, I just talked to him, like literally, I just opened my heart. I didn't know if I did it all right by what they wrote down, but I just wanted to, I addressed him, like for the first time in my life. Like I've actually in that sacred moment, I talked to him, and this feeling of immense light and love, like from my head to my toes, like I was filled with his power and light, like he was amazing, and and this feeling of like you belong here. This is my church. You your quest for search is over. This is where you need to be. And it was unforgettable. It was like my pillar of light in my life, and a moment where I could just feel him so personally and so closely that I'll never forget that that he was able to, nobody, 15-year-old girl, to feel that immense love and light in my heart that only could have come from God.

Why Artists Chase Light

SPEAKER_01

And and that's such a beautiful way to describe it because light has be has defined your artistic world, it feels, since that time frame. Like when I when I think of you, I think the word light. You know, everyone has different words I feel like that they're gravitated towards, but like you you've used it repeatedly in your story, and and you know, later on when we talk about the art that you started creating, light is such a fundamental theme for you. Um I I mean I feel like this is an obvious question, but I still just kind of have to ask it. Is is the reason you're so focused on light is because you're so aware of that contrast between the darkness and the light as you experienced it coming from communism to to a free world.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's a great question as well. I it's interesting in art, you have this idea of Kira Skuru. It's this Latin big word from the Renaissance, and the more darkness there was, the brighter the light was. And so I love the pre-Raphaelis, I love that style of painting, and um, as a photographer, I do photo painting, so I I combine both mediums, and I've always been drawn by the light because photography means to write with light.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's so so fun. And so if you think about this combination between darkness and light, that I mean Rembrandt, think of all the great big names, that that that's what they did. They would always combine both, and that's why the light was so bright because of the relationship it had to the darkness, it shone brighter than anything, and it's so interesting because we as we are created by God, and as we look at a painting, our eyes are always drawn to the lightest part of that painting. Like instantly, they just go and and they look for the brightest spot in that piece of art, and it's just so much like what God wants us to do. He Jesus is the light of the world, and seeking him, we get to reflect his light. This is what it's all about. He's giving that light is his that we each have in our own lives, and we get to reflect that and share that light through our gifts because we each have a unique gift given us from God, and it's just incredible to be part of, as ordinary people, part of this extraordinary work.

SPEAKER_01

It isn't amazing. I love your correlation of light from an artistic development sense, especially that defining of the word photography, right? You know, to write with light, is that what you said? Yes. So the idea that like light from an artistic perspective is a medium in which people, artists like you, will operate, and you know that the person observing the art, their eye is going to be drawn towards it. It's so in in creation, it's interesting because you are a creative, and when we go to the temple, we learn about the creation, right? There's this c these parallels between there, and when we in that very beginning of the temple video, we talk about the dividing of the light from the dark, and how we have the light of Christ in our hearts, and I think we forget until we go to the temple at least, that we are beings of light, that we are essentially made up of that light. And so it's so beautiful that one of the many talents that that people have, you being one of those in this area, is photography and and and painting, because we get you get to work in mediums that to speak not just through our eyes, but touch our souls. And so you can communicate those those those uh elements so beautifully. You know, as as you were as a member of the church, you were developing your going back to your story, you were developing your artistic capabilities as you were a new member of the church. And by the way, I looked it up real quick while we were talking. In Bulgaria, like there were like no members of the church. You were one of the very first members, and now there's a whole mission just in Bulgaria, and there's uh thousands of members. And so it's really interesting to see how that's changed in the last little bit. So, in your case, um, I know your artistic work initially it it's been all over the world. It's been in the Smithsonian, it's been in all sorts of famous museums. Your initial work was, of course, using light, but somewhere along the way you pivoted your focal point into religious themes.

A Mission President’s Bold Challenge

SPEAKER_01

What was that transition like for you during that timeframe? Like I don't know where in your life this happened, so could you kind of tell me where that all occurred?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, absolutely, yes, I will. And it's it's so interesting because actually when I do uh spire size right now, I start with this image right here that you see, and I always talk about us being creators and the creation in the temple. I love to ponder that. When I'm in the temple, I love the creation part because we know that Jesus Christ created the earth under the guidance of Heavenly Father, and that there's just so much beauty. So I love that you you talked about that and how important it is for all of us. You don't have to be an artist or a musician to be creative. You can be a lawyer, you can be a uh a mathematician. There's so many, you can um you can make quilts, you can be a sport, like an athlete, there's so many different ways to share that light, like you said, that's in us. And so I love the idea of us being creators, emulating Jesus as we are taught in the temple, um, and giving our all, consecrating ourselves and our efforts for the cause of building up his kingdom on the earth. It's incredible. And so, going back to your great question, I actually was working in the black and white photography world, and my husband and I lived in England for a little while. That's where the project started. And it was so amazing because it gave me a chance to work in a sphere with a lot of people in the fine art world. And gradually and little by little, we published a book with my images, which was called Lost in Learning. And I remember coming home, and this is all like we're having two kids. Our son London was actually born in England. He was born in Oxford, so we didn't name him, but we named him London. But anyway, so in this is all happening while we're having we're we're young parents. I just want everyone to know that because you can be creators at any stage of your life. Don't wait till the end when the kids are all gone and they say, Oh, I'm gonna start now. Just anyway, just a little plug-in about our creativity because it's so important to God to use our gifts. And so I we had published this book, and it was very well accepted in the fine art world, and it was such a great way to talk about light in a secular world, right? Yes, and I remember Adam and I went to my husband's Adam, and I'm Eva, Adam and Eva. So I I brought cute Adam with me to meet to talk to my mission president, and it was such an amazing meeting with them, and he's like, Oh, I love the book, this is so great, I'm so proud of you guys. And then he took the book and he put it down and he said, he looked it like straight into my eyes, and he's like, You need to create something for Jesus, you need to create something for the church, and I was like, Whoa, how I never I didn't even own a religious art in my home. The only religious thing I had was a picture of the temple because President Hinckley told us to have a picture of the temple in every room. So we had that. We had we were married in Salt Lake, so we had a beautiful photograph of the Salt Lake Temple, and I didn't own any Christian art, I had no clue. I'm working in black and white photography, and then I'm my mission president. This was seven years before I started working in the Lord is my light project. We're talking seven years when you and I were talking a little bit about the parable of the talents, and I I remember like hearing that and hiding because I wasn't doing anything about what my mission president told me I should be doing. I felt like I'm not using my time for good because I wasn't doing what he asked me. And yet the Lord knows its timing. Yes, we were homeschooling our children, so it had to be that way, but anyway, he's the one that put that bug in my head in a very powerful way, and then the Lord had to work, it was all on his timing, little by little, and inspiration.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, I love it. I know you I want to double-click on something you said earlier. Thank you for updating me on that pivot, because we'll go into this to what I would consider a possible risk of you changing your direction into these spiritual themes when you're building this career. I mean, I mean, to make it as an artist, my father in law was uh a multi talented artist, and he had he could do pottery, he could paint. I mean, he was so brilliant. And and didn't have the acclaim that you achieved at such a young age. So it's interesting. We'll tell we'll go back to that. But the thing that you said that I really want to double-click on sounds like it's something that you talk about in your fireside, is this idea that, like, hey, develop your creativity now because that's a talent from God. I know there's a lot of people in my world who would tell you, I don't have a creative bone in my body, is what they

You Have More Gifts Than You Think

SPEAKER_01

would say. What do you say to those people who feel like they don't have any creative bones in their body?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's really a matter of taking that prayer to God because He is the giver of all gifts. All good gifts come from above. James taught us that. And they are, and we in Doctrine Covenants, we're told that we have many gifts, not just one, but many. And I think really maybe reading a patriarchal blessing and looking in there as well, and and what is it that maybe it's something you love doing and you lose track of time? Maybe it's something that you're just not aware that's actually your gift. I was speaking in Utah one time and the lady was a judge, and she came back after and she said, My gift is to think as a judge. Like, I'm like, Yes, I don't understand any of the words you say, you know. So, yes, intellectual. I was like, wow. And so it gives you this sense of like I am doing God's work in the way He wants me to do it. And and sometimes we have many hats that we're wearing, especially like if some of the audience, I'm sure, is women. As women, we have many hats. You're a driver, you're a cook, you're a um a singer, maybe, you're teaching kids, you're there's just so many carpools going to sports. And again, there are many ways you can share your gifts and abilities. You can be a really, really good friend, a really, really good listener, and it's one purpose. It's all the purpose, the main purpose is to bring everyone to Christ and and to act as his mini Christ. Christian means a mini Christ, right? So we are that. We're meany, we're striving to be mini Christs, and so that is our purpose, to bring the good news on the earth. And I just, in whatever way we can do that, the Lord really cares of how we spend our time. Our prophet has taught us that, President Nelson. And and using our gifts, they as you seek the Lord and ask him for revelation and inspiration, sincerely, with real intent, we know from Moran I 10 that admonition, he will reveal that truth to us of how he can use us to do his work on the earth.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and I want to add that that was such a beautiful description, Eva, that there's an if when we go to the temple, I want us to think about the temple as a master class on creating, on creating. There's all this, listen, the focus is Jesus, but what does Jesus do? He creates love. And so how do we and he how what is what's his medium? His medium is light, and light is is literal, and there's so many different variations of it. But I just want to like to put to to really help people see that one of the things that we learn is that there's there's chaos. You know, when we think about like creation, it's organizing chaos, and there's a father of chaos named the adversary who wants things to remain unorganized, and his whole purpose is to make you think that you don't have any gifts. So when you see someone like an Eva who can paint and photography and make a combination of the two, he's gonna make you compare yourself and go, well, see, you're not a creative person. There, there's so many ways that we can create. I love the example of the judge who can use their language because that is such a powerful example of a creative gift that you wouldn't normally think of. But for someone to be able to have the gift of discernment and to create balance through your vision is an incredible gift. And for some people, the gifts can be appreciating the art and then feeling uplifted and then loving others. For but I I just know every single one of us are sons and daughters of a of a of the ultimate creator. And so in our spiritual DN DNA exists the potential to create infinitely. So I love that you said the the this thing about we have not just one gift, but many gifts. So the advice that I'm gonna just double down on to the audience is that we get on our knees and ask, what other gifts do I have or could have, and have the faith and believing that you have something? Because for you, I'm guessing, of course, you everyone knows what that gift is to the world when you create art, Eva. But what does it mean to you? Like, what is that like for you when you create another masterpiece? Like, what is that what's that experience like for you? Why do you love it? And if so, why, and all of that.

Creating With God Through Real Life

SPEAKER_00

I I love so much that um you you talked about a temple as being the masterclass, and I think that's that is such a good point there because we need all the light, all the power we can get, all the inspiration, and by going to the house of the Lord, he promises us that we will have more clarity, that we will have angels round about it, that his glory will be upon us and help us in life through trials, through seeking our gifts, through inspiration for our children or grandchildren, whatever our situations might be. It is a place where it empowers us because of that um idea of wanting to do it, right? Wanting to find the time. I've had I've had days that was like almost impossible to find the time during the day. So I would stay late into the night creating. I had tucked in my kids in bed, and finally I had my time. I know it's probably not the best because I'd love to have my eight hours of sleep, but that that stage in my life, staying up or getting up super early before the kids, was my time where I could squeeze my creativity in. And I love it so much for many reasons. Um, Elder Ukdorf has a great quote about creativity, and he says that there's joy when we create something of truth and beauty, it is uniquely ours, and it brings joy to our hearts. I'm paraphrasing. And it's so true. It brings joy and satisfaction. And I know what I'm creating, I can do the dishes. I like singing in the kitchen. I'm just so much more, I feel more fulfilled because I'm doing it. And the mundane jobs, they they they're they're not mundane anymore because you're being able to use your creative side, and it feels it's the right way to use your time because it's what God thinks about you, not what other people think about you. And I think that, like you mentioned, is such an important thing to ponder because oftentimes we we're like, wait, again, the adversary speaking lies. This is not from God. You don't even have to bother creating anything. Look how many famous people are out there. They have more likes than you, they have more followers than it's already been done. What if what if Da Vinci thought that way? It's already been done before him, right? We can't think this way. We're living in a modern-day renaissance. There's so much more to be done for the cause of using our gifts. And so I love that when I create, I feel God. And it's, I have to tell you, I had we have a little attic. Our home is 200 years old. It's an old colonial, lots of charm and always something to fix. But it's I have my little space up in the attic, and it's it's just so incredible to me to feel God's guidance to the little moments of like where the light should come from. Like I talk to him, I turn on Nathan Pacheco or some beautiful Christian music, and many times I'm just crying because I'm feeling I'm just feeling God and how invested he is in our lives and how much he wants us to be able to make that sacrifice, to make time for those gifts, because it's like making time for him in our lives. Because our gifts are so we can glorify him and bless others. We don't create so we are famous, so we have many likes and followers. That is not what should be our drive, and if it is, it's the long, the wrong drive that we have. And so it's it's because we look up to God, because he is giving us those gifts, and because we need him. And I hope it's not too long, but I have one other thought I had on this.

SPEAKER_01

This is great.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, just the thought that I know that sometimes I need to repent, and I love that we can repent daily. And when those moments that I mean, every day we have to repent, but especially when I'm creating, I if I have like, I don't know, said some things I shouldn't have said or drove off like a maniac somewhere on the freeway, I don't know, but it is so amazing that we can repent and we can say we're sorry, because I cannot create unless I have the spirit with me, because it's really we don't create on our own, we create with God. So that is something we we can also ponder as creators. It's not us, it's him and us.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and I think that's a different mindset because the the the adversary would tell the lie that some people have a talent and other people don't, and what we have to hear the truth is is what you just said is that we none of us create without God. We are creating with him, we create to feel him, we create. I hope as people are listening to this, they're feeling inspired to want to explore new ways to create, and whether it's singing songs while we're doing housework, or whether it's deciding to go take a class, a cooking class somewhere, or whether it's like whatever speaks to us and really just feels interesting. I want everyone to hear this. Like God is going to communicate to us through energy. So when we are thinking about something that is a potential talent that He wants to give us because He wants us to feel it, and again, not for the likes, but for the impact it makes in our hearts mostly because it draws us to Him. Yes, the energy is like you know what would be exciting to do blank? And it doesn't mean like you go jump up and do stand-up comedy the first night. Maybe it's it's to start thinking about what are those talents that I would like to develop or I wish I could have one day. If you've ever looked at someone who paints and go, Man, I wish I could do that, God wants you to do it. And here's here's just one thing I want to really highlight your point is that my father-in-law, who never made it big at all, his talent was so powerful that when he passed away at a young age from a brain tumor, there's a vase that we have. And it's that thing that he created with his hands, with God's help, that he probably felt connected to God and felt that moment of joy when he made it produces light beyond the veil in my home every single day. Do not discount the power. Anyone who's listening, do not discount the power you have because you're discounting God. That selfishness is to think that I couldn't do it. It's it's faith to think that I can do anything with Christ. And and creation, I love that you're describing it as this beautiful part of existing because we've all been in that place of creation in some way, shape, or form. For some people, it's Excel spreadsheets. They're creating Excel spreadsheets and they're loving it, and they're they're crunching numbers and they're doing things, or maybe it's leveraging AI, or maybe it's cutting hair, or maybe it's appreciating. Like my wife is one of the most creative people I know, but you you just wouldn't know it because she doesn't have a big following, but she's very artistic in how she dresses and all these things, and just everybody has different talents. And it's in that creation and that that we find beauty, and it's the heart of beauty is Christ. I love how you're inspiring that.

Choosing Religious Art Without Fear

SPEAKER_01

Um, so Eva, I have to ask, when when you made that decision to pivot your artwork that was getting national global acclaim into being more spiritual themed, did that feel like a risk to you?

SPEAKER_00

No.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Not one bad. I I've every time I had to speak in a museum setting, I wish I could just tell them all about Jesus. So I mean, I start my mission in New York City. In fact, is that the flat front building behind you? Looks like New York.

SPEAKER_01

I do this really intentionally. There's a whole reason why that flat iron's behind me, but yes, that's the flat iron.

SPEAKER_00

I love it. All right, I've walked by it so many times, and I literally was like trying to be a missionary in a roundabout way, and now I could just say it. Like I I am not I'm not afraid. And and our mission motto was fearless. And so I think it's it's I am just so grateful I can just openly speak about Jesus. I mean, there was a transition, of course, right? That there was a transition um in terms of people, I mean, religious art. I'm mostly what I'm doing right now is religious art, and which is so interesting because back in the Renaissance, the project I worked on back then, 99% of the art was religious. And now, in our day and age, guess what percentage it is now, the religious art?

SPEAKER_01

How much?

SPEAKER_00

One one percent one percent is religious art, and our church, we're doing so, we're like in the top of that one percent because we have so many talented artists in the church. It's amazing, but in general, religious art is only one percent, and it's yeah, it is um it is just uh a privilege and an honor and a joy and a privilege like to be able to talk about God and Jesus. And I think the whole reason our gifts are so we can talk about him. That it's so connected, are what he has blessed us with, and and we're giving right back to him and giving him the glory. I my son is a little soccer player and he was just watching Arsenal. Oh, yeah, and it's not his team, but but he loved them because they just took their shirts off on their knee. They had I belong to Jesus shirt. So they're really they're the champions now. So a few of those boys, they're the Bible boys, that's what they call them. And they've prayed before games, and now on the national stage, they're actually showing how much they care about the savior and how he's everything to them. And it's it's great. You have all eyes on you, but I love that God, you can shine in private and you can shine in public, and it doesn't matter to him. Like, literally, all that matters that you're touching souls, that you're touching hearts, whether that's your immediate family. My dad was like your father-in-law. Yeah, um, he never like he couldn't really be, but he touched my family, he touched me, he touched my kids, and so we cannot underestimate that power that we have for if we've touched one soul, how great is the joy of God, right? Yes, and so I I love that to God, though to us, their numbers and different stages to him are are you using your gift, right?

SPEAKER_01

Are you becoming more like me because he he's the ultimate creator? Um, you know, going back to going back to your dad, I think about that's one of the coolest, inspiring most, it's like it's gonna choke me up if I keep thinking about it too much. But the way that your dad was willing to go to jail to take a stand for what the Beatles stood for in that day, and like what that meant in the face of communism, in the face of like control, and and how light cannot be contained. And so, you know, it's interesting because we just can't ever, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many people experience it because there's enough value just between us as the creators at whatever level, but we should be that light on a hill, which by the way, is tied for my uh favorite paintings of yours.

The Story Behind Lord Save Me

SPEAKER_01

So, two of your paintings that I wanted to discuss, one one of your paintings is called Lord Save Me, where it shows Jesus pulling Peter up. That painting is so beautiful. You have in the beginning was the word behind you. For those of you who are lucky enough to watch this podcast, you're seeing behind her. Oh, thank you. Oh, yes, you have that one. And and so the Lord Save Me one, it brought me to tears because I have recently felt the sense of drowning in the savior's love. And when I see your that picture of it, it's a physical representation of something spiritual that is real to me. Thank you for holding that picture up. Um and it's it shows the personal nature of our savior and how he won't let us drown and how we can be connected. And there's I'm using words now because it's I I have to, but I felt these experiences, and by looking at that that piece of art, that's what really um struck me. And then the second piece I wanted to go over with you.

SPEAKER_00

Um He has us with both hands. I wanted to show it with both hands.

SPEAKER_01

Before I move on, because I'm all excited and I'm trying to go, I'm starting to go too fast. What can you what what was it that inspired Lord Save Me for you?

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't show the savior's face on any of my art. This was a very strong prompting in the very beginning when I started.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I was gonna ask you about that because almost in no in almost none of the paintings, you don't see the savior's face. None.

SPEAKER_00

None of that, because we don't really know what he looks like, and I felt like it's more important what he does in these intimate moments that we can put ourselves in the story. We can be Peter in this moment, and we can be the woman with the issue of blood, you know, we can be right there, him creating the universe. And so this idea, which was so almost impossible. This was like a big mountain when I first started. I'm like, how am I gonna do that? That's like, no way, I have no clue how to actually do that. So I really, it's so amazing how God, little by little, He it's line upon line. I love that the revelation just comes and and helps us step by step, grace for grace, little by little. And I really wanted Jesus to be standing. See, he's not, he hasn't even moved, he's so steadfast, yes, and so strong. And um I love in the scriptures when it actually says, and immediately Jesus reached out and pulled him out of the water. And I just I love, like you said, this the figure of Christ is so strong and holding us with bull hands, he will never let us go. And as people that strive to keep our covenants, as we go to the temple and worship our God there and learn about his love for us, that Hesed, that covenantal love.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And Elder Kieran taught us he's in a relentless pursuit of us, and and this is this was just a little example of how he would never let go, he would never let us drown, he would never leave us alone as we look for him and ask for him and reach for him.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, this is this is a very tender discussion point for me because what I love about the story and that you've captured so beautifully is that Peter is trying to become like him. Christ is standing on the water, and Peter doesn't just want to um be like him and and walk on the water because of his faith. He I'm sure there was a part of him that wanted to show Jesus, hey, listen, I believe enough to do what you're doing if you'll just bid me on the water. But it's the fact that despite his best effort, he fails. And that's the part that I relate to. And as the Savior sees him failing, he doesn't let him fall. And he and he loves him for trying. And he holds him with both hands. And if you look at that painting, it looks like he's standing on dry ground. And so I appreciate that you don't have their the faces involved because the action is what captures the for me the spiritual emotion of that of those moments in my life.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, I love, I love what you said. That is so so beautiful, that interpretation, what it meant to you. That's my favorite when I get to hear.

SPEAKER_01

Well, because I I'm creating my connection, right? Like your creative artwork inspires for me a creation on my own. Creation is infinite. We are constantly creating. So your artwork is going to mean something different than to me than it is someone else who watches this. And and you know, circling this round to uh another there's a very special painting that you've done called City on a Hill. Um referring to spots. Yes, and the City on a Hill is so powerful. Um, this was another one when I saw this initially, I got emotional. I have a charity called A Light on a Hill, and it's it's a charity that we're using to help support trips to Africa. We go every year, which we did on Temple Band back in November. And and the Light on a Hill is is is twofold. It's about us standing up in our busy lives to be a light for others, but I always leveraged it from a creation perspective of like, we've got to share our talents with the world, whatever those are. And it makes me think of your podcast because you're Your podcast has a distinct, I believe that's what Enlighten is about, right? Is and the podcast Enlighten is all about helping us partner with God to use those gifts. Can you tell me a little bit about what inspired that podcast and and what are some of the things that you cover on that?

Why She Started The Enlighten Podcast

SPEAKER_00

Well, I was sitting in general conference and uh the kids were all home. This was not when they're in college now, but this was when they were all home. And I remember feeling this inspiration that I should just have an Instagram live where I can talk about sharing the symbols of the art with scriptures and talk about the importance of consecrating our lives in through Christ and our gifts for Him. And having a chance to bring people on that maybe would not have a chance to be publicly speaking out loud like that to share what's in their heart about the Savior. So I I kept thinking, no way I can do this right now. There was just way too much going on. But it does not keep coming.

SPEAKER_01

I know how you feel, by the way, but keep going.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, you you would have you yourself. We did an episode with when someone can interview you so we can hear your story. Because having your podcast, I would love to know how it all started and how how you started doing everything. That is so incredible. And that's one of your gifts.

SPEAKER_01

That is, I'm reasonable because it feels like the Lord calls us forward to do these things when they're in there's no convenient time to just to express a gift. So when you're describing enlightenment, I that's how I felt about Temple Band, was just like, I went when? When am I gonna start doing these things? It never and I say that so that people who are hearing this are probably getting impressions of things they should do. And it might be they might judge it as small because look, what you do in the podcast, those are very outward-facing, but sometimes the most powerful things that we do aren't necessarily like that. But we we don't want the adversary dim the light on the hill, so to speak, right? The city on a hill that you describe. So going back to your story, you're in general conference, you're being told to go to Instagram live. When was this that that started?

SPEAKER_00

Almost three years ago. I I was actually part of Inklings of Emily Bell Freeman. I did inklings with her. She invited me to share my art on inklings, and then she started a different study with different people, and I just wasn't there like every month, like she had me before. Like, oh, I really like that. I really I really want to talk about Jesus. And and then and then that prompting came during general conference three times. I it was like kind of a Samuel moment for me, because like three it just kept coming and kept coming, and like, okay, I'm here, Lord, I'm gonna do it. And um, it was just so fun, so fun. And again, it's the it's for him. It we show up for him and we do all this for the Lord, and and we draw closer to him as we build up that relationship with him as we are creating. So it was um it's been a joy, and like someone would comment something, and it's the most beautiful things that they say. So there's a lot of us that and we need each other, we need those interactions, we need to gather in his name. I mean, right now, two of us are gathered in his name, and and the spirit is comes. I mean, it we get to talk about good things, about light and Jesus and things that matter for God, and it's just so beautiful to immerse ourselves in that.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, I this conversation has been so inspiring in many ways for me. I um, you before we hit record, there was a scripture that you wanted to share. I think that's a perfect opportunity for us to go there. Would you mind sharing that scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants that you had thought about and share why you love the scripture so much?

Temple Promises From Doctrine And Covenants 109

SPEAKER_00

Yes. I love to go to the temple so very much. Friday is our date night. So my husband and I go, we serve on Fridays in the temple, but then on the days we don't serve, those Fridays, we go as patrons. And it goes, it's my first thing I put on our calendar, date night, house of the Lord. Sometimes I put it Sanctuary of Strength, like Daniel would call the temple. Sometimes I would just put temple, but the whole idea is like we make time for the Lord, and I've learned that. I this was not always our um schedule in our lives, and I I've learned about the importance of it. In fact, President Nelson has taught me so much about the temple, totally, and I'm just so grateful and about the priesthood power, and I just opened my eyes in such a beautiful way that I'm craving the temple. Like I am so excited to go, which has not always been, to be honest, my um I get like idea of going to the temple was not always exciting, and I not always made the time for it. And I wish I did, I wish I knew better, but I'm I'm learning, and so the temple is the most important time we can spend there with the Lord. Obviously, I mean you have the temple of the Lord, you have our homes as a temple and our own bodies. They're all places where God's spirit dwells, so they're all sacred and beautiful and wonderful. So as we serve, this is the we were in the Baptistry for three years, and this is what I would always share before the presidency would come and share their thoughts. I would quickly pull out my scriptures, and this is one of the scriptures I really like to share with the youth. Okay, and I felt to share it with you. Okay, so we're in Dauphin Covenants 109, and it's actually the section that our prophet President Nelson asked us to ponder and study. And there's so much beauty about the Constitution and about America here that I love so much. It's on the next page. But verse 22 is the one I wanted to share. It says, and we ask thee, this is when the prayer was given for the Kirtland Temple, which I'm sure you know, you probably know the section inside and out. You could probably quote it. But I'm gonna I'm gonna try to read it. And it says, as we and we ask thee, holy father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power. I just love these are all the promises that no matter what we do in the temple, we don't even just maybe have time to just do confirmations. Maybe it's just such a busy day and it's crazy, and we're just gonna have time to do little confirmations. Let's say that's the least we can do, right? Doesn't matter. We're going this same promise is for if you can only have the time to do confirmations, go. And I just love that these are the promises as we leave the temple. This is what we're gonna have. You're gonna be armed with thy power that they that thy name may be upon them. I love this. We get to carry his name, our savior's name, upon us, that thy glory be round about them. I mean, these are each one we can spend an hour pondering, and thine angels have charge over them. Powerful, powerful promises of the house of the Lord. And this is just one little bit of how great our God is and testifying of his power in our lives after we leave the temple.

SPEAKER_01

I love that scripture. You know, there's so much power we get in the temple, and I think for your journey is very much like mine. I was Eva, I was not I wasn't like this guy that got super excited about the camp temple. It wasn't until I needed something and I had this miracle need, and it led me to the understanding by experience, like the way you experience art when you experience creation. You know, for example, there's paintings when I was a kid I didn't care about. I didn't care about Monet, I didn't care about Rembrandt, I didn't care about Chopin on the piano, I didn't care about classical music, for example, at all. And then I was one of my children was born with with classical, like he's a piano savant. And so now I get to hear it, and so he's so talented that like I can't hear a piece from Chopin now without getting emotional because because of the relationship it's connected to, and that's the same with with power and art, is that when we go to the temple or we experience art, it's when we have an internal connection to the relationship of either the the medium or the person or the subject matter that it starts to inspire us. And so I think it's powerful to think about when we go to the temple, how we are literally being we are being instructed, but we are also being empowered with angels and knowledge and and capabilities. And I think some of those capabilities are artistic capabilities that we never would have thought of that if we hadn't gone there in the first place for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so let's let's do some rapid fire.

Favorite Temple And A Final Charge

SPEAKER_01

We're getting close to the end here. This has been such a wonderful um conversation. And um, is there anything that we haven't covered that you were wanting to talk about?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I don't think so. I mean, you know, I can talk forever, so yeah, I think we're good. We'll have to do another episode down the road.

SPEAKER_01

This was so inspiring. Yes. So far, I think this is the most important question. Uh there's two questions I think that are super important. The first, I will put the show notes in, I'll put your podcast in my show notes, but please tell everyone about your podcast, even though I brought it up. Could you bring, could you tell one what your podcast is and and where they can find it?

SPEAKER_00

Sure. Yes, absolutely. So my podcast is called Enlighten. And if you Google Eva, Kaliva Timothy Art, Enlighten, it will come up. It's on YouTube or any other podcast platform. So just Google my name and Enlighten, and it will come up. And I hope you join us and you share it with your friends, because that's that's what it's all about. The more people we can touch, the better.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and and again, it's like when we can start tapping into our own creative powers, it's expressing Godhood. It's like our version of yes, and then we feel connected to God, which makes us happier, and then we serve people, which makes them happier. Uh, I'm okay. So the second thing is your um oh.

SPEAKER_00

I was can I just say one more thing? Sorry, just because I didn't, I I just my mind's everywhere, but I wanted to say and that on Enlightenment, I invite guests to talk about Jesus, and so that that they can express themselves. So this is my my favorite thing that we can uh people that sometimes would not have the chance to do that, and and it's scary and uncomfortable, and yet they're so willing to share their love for Jesus. So we we all need each other. It's like a big tapestry, so everyone's matters, everyone's playing a part in that big tapestry.

SPEAKER_01

So anyway, yeah, we are all us we all play a role in the mosaic of God's ultimate creation. By the way, I know we've been kind of all over the place, but that's kind of the nature of these creative discussions. But it reminds me of the um in the Rome temple, there's this massive glasswork of mosaic with different um pieces, and it just I love how the different pieces can fulfill a picture in such a unique way that there's just no no words to describe it. Speaking of great artwork, um, I will put it in the show notes as well, but but EvaTimothy.art, it's um it will be in the show notes. That's where people can go to look at your pictures, even buy those pictures or books. There's more information. Um, and some of all your art is there from the Lord is my light series down to your previous work as well. Um, so let's get into some more rapid-fire questions. Favorite temple, Eva. If you had to pick one, where's your favorite temple?

SPEAKER_00

Lake City.

SPEAKER_01

How come?

SPEAKER_00

We were married there. I got my endowments there before my mission, and we were married there. And I was actually sealed to my parents before I was sealed to my husband Adam. So it was uh it was an incredible ceremony. It was very, very special. And I've lost my parents now, but that sealing is eternal, and so I'll never forget that moment of us being there kneeling at the altar.

SPEAKER_01

That's so special. That's also where I was sealed and got my endowments as well, by the way. Um, okay. Oh where uh what is one I know your father taught you a lot of creative lessons. What is one that stands out in your mind?

SPEAKER_00

He always looked for like he would point out the light and how the light, the relationship with the shadows and the light, he was always saying, Oh, look the way the the light falls and the shadow behind it. He was he would always point to light. And I never had a camera until way into college, till I came to America. But since I was a little kid, he would point light. And light could have been a little shoot coming out from the concrete and just walking on the street. And that that little shoot is like, look at this, don't give up, just be like that plant. And some of it it would even be blooming, and it's just a little shoot between the concrete cracks, you know, that he would always find light. Even though we live in such a dark place.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, I think that's gonna be a theme for the show for me, is that concept of light and all of its elements of creation. Um, okay, so uh taking your own advice. What is a creative talent that you would like to develop, but maybe you haven't developed yet?

SPEAKER_00

I want to learn more videography. So I'm working on that, trying to do more videos. Um reels, I'm trying, I'm not very good at this whole Instagram thing, so I'm learning as I go. So I want to do more visual with my art to make videos as well.

SPEAKER_01

Love it. Okay, final question. This is the same question for everyone. You know, our podcast is temple-bound, but you can't do temples without family history, and it's not lost on me that this time that we've spent is gonna serve your generation of your descendants, your kids, grandkids, they're gonna see you at this stage of life right now. What would you say to them about um uh the savior's light and creation?

SPEAKER_00

Wow, I would say seek light and share light. And by going to the temple, you have exactly that opportunity to do exactly that because we go there to seek the light and we feel the light, and then we leave the temple and we get to share that light. And I just I love that we can be on that crusade of seeking light and sharing light. And President Nelson said that the youth has the capacity, right, to be the smartest generation, and I love that living in the latter part of the latter days, and so use that capacity, stay curious and seek the Lord and and seek his light and then share it.

SPEAKER_01

I love that. Uh thank you, Eva. Thank you so much for being on Temple Bound. It's been such a wonderful conversation.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. That was awesome. Thank you so much for having me and all of your listeners and this great cause to talk about the temple and light.

SPEAKER_01

Thank

The Flatiron Lesson On Mistakes

SPEAKER_01

you. All right, and listeners, thank you so much for tuning into this incredibly special episode. If you've stayed in this long, I'm gonna share something with you I've never shared, but Eva brought it up. The reason I keep a picture of the flat iron building behind me is because it reminds me of something very beautiful that Eva and I have been talking about here called creation. When the when the people who were building New York City were planning it all out, they messed up. They made a huge mistake in their calculations and they ended up with this really awkward triangular piece of land. They didn't know what to do, so they ended up hiring architects to solve the problem. And so the flat iron building was erected as a way of solving a mistake. And so ultimately in our creative processes, as we create ourselves to become more like our savior, and I shouldn't even say it like that, because it's the savior who creates us. But as we try, we fail. And it's in the failures that some of the most beautiful things can be built. And so every time you make a mistake, please remember more than anything else that that's part of the journey of creation for you to become like our savior. Thanks again for tuning in. Until next time. Temple Bound is brought to you by the Light on a Hill Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at building and strengthening families across the globe. Produced by Heather Humphreys, with show notes and social media managed by Isabel Dizon and Kimberly Symphonic. Wardrobe by Anne Collar. These views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are on their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Until next time.

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Will Humphreys

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