About the Artist
The Creative Mind Behind Stunning Portraits
Terrenia Porter lives in Perry, Utah with her husband, Richard Porter. They have six children and 18 grandchildren. Terrenia’s passion for art only recently developed when she heard a talk given by President Uchtdorf called “Forget Me Not”. In his talk, he spoke the words, “You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine.” At that very moment, the idea or vision came to her of a painting she was to paint.
She really had no idea how to paint with oils. She had no art experience or training.
At the time, she was attending Weber State to obtain a degree in business. She decided to take an art class. Her instructor and fellow students validated to her that she could really do something with her art. This gave her the courage to begin.
When her co-worker’s daughter passed away, she wanted to do something for her. The idea of painting her daughter coming partially through a thin veil came to her mind. Since then, she has completed several ‘Through the Veil’ portrait oil paintings.
Miraculous things have happened, which Terrenia could not have even imagined. Family members have expressed to Terrenia that their lives have been changed. Terrenia comments, doing these portraits for those who have lost a loved one has been one of the most rewarding things she has ever done. She has also completed sixteen commissioned oil paintings for Rocky Mountain Allergy Clinic in Layton, Utah.
Although she has enjoyed doing these, her real passion has been to complete the “Forget Me Not” painting. This depicts a story of the resurrected Lord in our day. Jesus is saying to the little girl and to us, “Forget Me Not”. The pink forget-me-not flower represents the child and the blue forget-me-nots represent the world. We are never to forget that God loves us. As we remember Christ, He will not forget us.
In Revelations 1:14, we read, “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.” When one thinks of a flame, one recognizes that the hotter part of the flame is blue going into pure white which is the hottest, most intense part. Christ’s eyes are in the shadows, but He radiates a pure white going into blue shadows within His hood.
Quite by accident, she mixed red and green to produce the most beautiful color of blue for the shadows in his hood. She continued to use these colors to shade His garments using more red or more green depending on what she wanted to achieve. It was only afterward that she realized the symbolism of those two colors. Red represents Christ’s blood and His atonement for us, and the green represents spring or new birth, much like the evergreen tree; green symbolizes everlasting life.
In President Uchtdorf’s talk, he exclaimed, “God loves you because you are His child… You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine.” Never could I have possibly imagined that I could produce art that would have such a miraculous effect on others. I am so very, very grateful to my creator for giving me the ability to create and helping me conceive things unimaginable.
Terrenia is continuing to share her gift of inspired ‘Through the Veil’ paintings, available here on Rendition Paintings.