Joseph Brickey is a few years removed from his full-time mission in Brazil — yet his presence is still found daily in the South American nation.
Hanging on the walls of the newly dedicated Campinas Brazil Temple is Brother Brickey's art work. The paintings that adorn the temple deliver the same happy message and testimony the artist once offered when he walked the streets and taught the people of the Brazil Salvador Mission.
Following his mission to Brazil, Brother Brickey, 28, served as a Church service art missionary, producing oil paintings of religious subjects that now hang in various temples and visitor centers. He remembers leaping at the chance to wear the artist and missionary hats simultaneously.
"It was a dream come true," said Brother Brickey, who completed his service in March. "Missions are so magical anyway. . . to be able to serve the Lord in a capacity that I had so much passion for was living a dream."
During his service as an artist, Brother Brickey called Mike Enfield — recently retired from the Church's Temple Construction Department — his "mission president." Still his Church service art mission was a bit different from his proselyting mission to Brazil. He didn't have a companion, and he didn't have to leave home, as he worked out of his studio.
Prior to his setting apart as an art missionary, Brother Brickey had learned of the faithful members who had accepted similar calls from the First Presidency about a century ago. His predecessors had been sent to France to develop their talents under the Parisian masters then returned home and painted murals in the Salt Lake Temple. Today, Brother Brickey feels a special kinship with those faithful artists.
He did not grow up with designs on an art career. He was studying to be a chemical engineer at Brigham Young University before serving his full-time mission. But the art bug bit when he returned. Once he started painting on a regular basis, he said, "I was hooked."
He enjoys painting the things that matter most to him. A sports fan, he's painted sport-related subjects. Yet most of his time spent in front of canvas has been devoted to religious subjects. He's produced two books for Deseret Book, including When Jesus Was Born In Bethlehem, a collection of paintings capturing the sacred people and places at the time of the Savior's birth.
The Standard Works are his most inspiring resource when developing a painting's subject matter.
"A lot of times it will start with the scriptures. . . you feel a lot of pressure to try to capture what you read," he said.
Now released from his Church service as an artist, his work with the Church continues. He has been commissioned to do some of the murals that will adorn the walls of the Copenhagen Denmark Temple. He hopes his paintings can do justice to the subjects they represent. He understands the double-barrelled power that can be conveyed through an artist's brush and devotion.
"Art that uplifts and inspires faith is of the greatest value."
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
