We enjoyed a real treat today! Our friends from Switzerland, who have a home in Heber, invited us to join them and another couple to visit and tour Greg Olson’s art studio. Greg was serving in the BYU Stake when John was a counselor to Gerrit Gong, so they are good friends. It was wonderful to see them again. Greg and Sid are warm, kind and welcoming. We had such a lovely time with them today.
They welcomed us in and showed us their beautiful home (built about 7 years ago) and then we went to his art studio which is built over their garage. It was wonderful. Lots of windows and light and all of his art stuff. He let us take photos. I was intrigued by all his paint brushes, 100s of them. All in jars and containers by his easel.
He’s working on a painting now that he’s calling “The Golden Hours” and he listened to the book, Theo of Golden” while painting it, a portrait of an old wizened man reading a book with stacks of other books around him. It’s beautiful.
As we entered the studio, in a prominent space on a large wall was a replica of his painting with Claire in it (the original is at BYU). It’s called “By Study and By Faith.” It was so fun to see it there, life sized and up close. He told me that was one of his favorite paintings to paint.
Being in his studio reminded me a bit of being in my quilt room–it was filled with ideas waiting to happen. Greg’s artwork is beautiful.
The view from the loft above:
It was fun to see parts of Claire’s painting in the room around us, like the birdcage below. 
What a pleasure it was to spend some time here today with this gifted friend!
