Comments on: Interview with Featured Artist Lee Bennion

By: Lee’s Journal » Blog Archive » Dialogue and Segulla Covers, Studio Progress and New Paintings

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:52:04 +0000

[...] And Segulla, Writings by Latter Day Saint Women Fall 2008. http://segullah.org/artist-interviews/interview-with-featured-artist-lee-bennion/#comments [...]

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:38:29 +0000

Dearest Lee,

You have been my hero for as long as I have known you, and that just keeps increasing with the years.

By: Mommie Dearest

Mommie Dearest — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:47:03 +0000

Thanks for this post, and all the comments. This is the most useful blogging I’ve read in a long time.

I was an art student at BYU and was also frustrated by the lack of attention I received from some of the instructors. I was shocked when one of my male classmates told me the reason for that, almost verbatim the way you stated in your post. Unfortunately I dropped out just when things were getting good, and have never been able to go back and finish my degree. My kids are now in college and I am insisting that they finish. They will have that much mentoring at least.

I am floundering about trying to defeat my few score of excuses, remove obstacles, and mentor myself. I found your suggestions to be very helpful and inspiring. And I love looking at your paintings, they are a treat for the eyes. You should post more of them on your website.

By: m&m

m&m — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:55:26 +0000

Add me to those who especially loved that last section. I think women need to hear that kind of thing often — that there is no One Right Path. I firmly believe, too, that God will guide us along if we let Him. And I believe He CARES about our talents…but sometimes they will emerge in their own time and way — perhaps a little like your paintings have.

As someone who has never been able to do visual art, I enjoyed reading how your pieces emerge as well. Thank you for taking the time to share with us.

And thanks, also, to you, Shelah!

By: JillM

JillM — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:28:37 +0000

Beautiful work, beautiful interview- Just the thing I needed to read tonight as my little ones fall asleep and I begin my nightly escape into the world of adulthood. Thanks for your inpiration.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:35:10 +0000

I love the imagery that comes from what you said about thinking of my life and all of its bits and pieces–of all of the different personas I try to juggle as a mother, a writer/researcher/academic, wife, etc–as one great whole. That helps me give each its place and find purpose in it. Thank you, Lee!

By: annie

annie — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:26:11 +0000

Lovely, lovely. Thank you for this.

By: jendoop

jendoop — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:16:35 +0000

Thank you for this. I also loved the last two paragraphs of the interview. And Lee, thank you for your additional comments. As a fellow female artist at BYU I ran into similar sentiments from men in the program and without – “Oh, you can be an art major because you don’t have to earn a living, your husband will get a real job and take care of you.” And of course when I dropped out of school early to support my husband in his bid to finish school I felt all the taunts were true. It has been my biggest regret not to finish.

But now many years, and children, later I am completing my degree. Life does have it’s ebb and flow. If we are patient and listen to our hearts, not to the jeers of others, as you encouraged, we will each find the path that is best. Thank you for the reminder and encouragement.

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:14:06 +0000

My first exposure to you was through a friend who used to drive to Spring City in college to go to your gallery and buy pottery. I love your words about creating and the process. Thank you!

By: jenny

jenny — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:45:49 +0000

I also loved this interview and found it hopeful and inspiring. I am struggling with my mommy role of five (which is my top priority and I love it desperately) and the creative part of me that is feeling suffocated from too many years up on the dusty shelf. As my children are getting older, I find I am wanting more and more to re-discover that part of me. Thanks for the lovely interview.