The field is white already to harvest...

I have read and thought on this. There is so much that is worth painting!

"A Miraculous Request" by Michael Bedard (commissioned painting update)

A Miraculous Request

 The appearance of Founding Fathers and Eminent Men and Women 

to  Wilford Woodruff in the Saint George Temple in 1877.

PRESIDENTS  of the United States:  
George Washington  of Virginia (1732-1799)
John Adams  of Massachusetts (1735-1826 4 July) 
Thomas Jefferson  of Virginia (1743- 1826 4 July)
James Madison  of Virginia (1751-1836) 
James Monroe of Virginia (1758- 1831 4 July)
John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts (1767-1848) 
Andrew Jackson  of South Carolina (1767-1845)
William Henry Harrison of Virginia ( 1773- 1841)
John Tyler of Virginia (1790-1862)
James Know Polk of North Carolina (1795-1849)
Zachary Taylor of Virginia (1784-1850)
Millard Fillmore of New York (1800-1874)
Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire (1804- 1869)
Abraham Lincoln of Kentucky (1809-1865)
Andrew Johnson of North Carolina ( 1808-1875)



EMINENT MEN:

Louis Agassiz of  Swiss- American (1807-1873) Naturalist
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte of France (1808-1873) Emperor
Lord Henry Brougham of England (1778-1868) Statesman, Lord Chancellor of England
Baron Edward George Bulwer-lytton of England (1803-1873) Novelist/Politician
Edmund Burke of Ireland (1729-1797)  Irish/English Statesman, Political Author
Robert Burns of Scotland (1759-1796) Poet
Lord George Gordon Byron of England (1788-1824) Poet
John C. Calhoun of America (1782-1850) Statesman
Count Camillo Benso de Cavour of Italy (1810-1861) Statesman, Diplomat
Thomas Chalmers of Scotland (1780-1874) Religious Reformer
Henry Clay of America (1777-1852) Statesman
Richard Cobden of England (1804-1865) English leader of Free Trade
Christopher Columbus of Genoa, Present-day Italy (1451-1506) Discovered the New World
John philpot Curran of Ireland (1750-1817)  Statesman
Michael faraday of England (1791-1867) Scienist, Father of Electromagnetism
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut of America (1801-1870) Navial Officer
Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712-1786) King of Prussia
David Garrick of England (1717-1779)  Actor and Director
Sir Edward Gibbon of England (1737-1794) Historian
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe of Germany (1749-1832) Father of German Literature
Oliver Goldsmith  of Ireland (1730-1774) Poet, Playwright, Novelist
Henry Grattan of Ireland (1746-1820) Statesman
Alexander von Humboldt of Berlin (1769-1859) Father of Physical Geography
Washington Irving of America (1783)  Father of American Literature
Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson of America (1824-1863) Confederate General
Samuel Johnson of England (1709-1784) Moralist, Writer , Lexicographer
Benito Pablo Juarez of Mexico (1806-1872)  President, Statesman
John Philip Kemble of Englind (1757-1823) Shakespearean Actor, Director
Baron Justus von Liebig of Prussia (1803-1873) Father of Organic Chemistry
David Livingstone of Sottland  (1813-1873) Missionary, Physcian, Explorer
Martin Luther of Eisleben, Saxony, Holy Roman Emppire (1483-1546) Monk, Theologian
Thomas Babington Macaulay of England (1800-1859) Historian, Essayist, Politician
Lord Horatio Nelson of England (1758-1805) British Naval Hero
Daniel  O' Connell of Ireland (1775-1847) Statesman
George Peabody of America (1795-1869)  Philanthropist
Hiram Powers of America (1805-1873) Sculptor
Sir Joshua Reynolds of England (1723-1792) Painter

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller of Germany (1759-1805) Poet, Dramatist, Historian

Sir Walter Scott of England (1771-1832) Poet, Novelist

William Henry Seward of America (1801-1872) Statesman

George Stephenson of England (1781-1848) Father of the Railway

William Makepeace Thackeray of England (1811-1863) Humorist, Satrist, Novelist

Amerigo Vespucci of Italy  (1454-1512) Navigator

Daniel Webster of America (1872-1852) Defender of the Constitution

John Wesley of England (1703-1791) Divinity Scholar, Preacher

William Wordsworth of England (1770-1850) Poet

Count Dimitrius Parepa of Romania (ca. 1800's ) Baron Georgiades De Boyescu

EMINENT WOMEN:

Jean Armour of Scotland (1767-1834) Wife of Robert Burns  

Jane Austen of England (1775-1817) Novelist

Mary Ball of America (1708-1789) Mother of George Washington

Sarah Barnard of England (1800-1879) Wife of Michael Faraday

Charlotte Bronte of England (1816-1855) Novelist

Felicia Dorothea Browne of England (1793-1835) Poet

Elizabeth Barrett Browning of England, (1806-1861) Poet, Wife of Robert Browning

Farncis (Fanny) Burney of England, Madame d'Arblay (1752-1840)

Jane Butler of America (died 1728) 2nd Wife of Augustine Washington, father of George Washington 

Martha Caldwell of America (died 1802) Mother of John Caldwell Calhoun

Eleanor Calvert of America (1757-1811) Wife of John Park Custis

Charlotte Margaret Carpenter of England (1770-1826) Wife of Sir Walter Scott 

Elizabeth Christina of Prussia (1715-1797) Wife of Frederick  II

Charlotte Corday of Normandy (1768-1793) French Patriot

Saraah Creaghv of Ireland (dates unknown) Wife of John Phillpot Curran

Martha Parke Custis of America (1755-1773) Daughter of Martha Washington

Martha Dandridge of America (1732-1802) Wife of George Washington

Rachel Donelsonv of America (1767-1828) Wife of Andrew Jackson

Elizabeth Dykes of Ireland (1795-1865) Wife of Thomas Moore

Abigail Eastman of America  (1737-1816) Mother of Daniel Webster

Mary Anne Eden of England (died 1865) Wife of Lord Henry Brougham

Maria Edgeworth of England (1767-1849) Novelist

Anne Fairfax of America (dates unknown) Wife of Lawrence Washington

Henrietta Fitzgerald of Ireland (dates unknown) Wife of Henry Grattan

Grace Fletcher of America (1781-1828) Wife of Daniel Webster

Sarah Ford of England (1669-1759) Mother of Samuel Johnson

Sarah Margaret Fuller of America (1810-1850) Social Reformer

Elizabeth Gurney of England (1780-1845) Religious Social Reformer

Frances Henderson of England (1768-1805) Wife of George Stephenson

Frances Herbert of England  (c. 1758-1831) Wife of Lord Horatio Nelson

Matilda Hoffman of  America (1791-1809) Betrothed of Washington Irving

Priscilla Hopkins of England (1755-1845) Wife of John Philip Kemble

Lydia Huntley of America (1791-1865) Author

Mary Hutchinson of England (1770-1859) Wife of William Wordsworth

Elinor Junkins of America (1825-1854) Wife of "Stonewall" Jackson

Emily Chubbock Judson of America (1817-1854)  Author (Fanny Forester)

Letitia Elizabeth Landon of England (1802-1838) Poet and Novelist

Charlotte Von Lingefeld of Prussia (1766-1826) Wife of Frederick Schiller

Sarah Van Brugh Livingston of America (1757-1802) Wife of John Jay

Frances Locke of America (1811/1812-1849/1850) Poet

Marie Antoinette of France (1755-1793) Queen

Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780)  Empress, Mother of Marie Antoinette

Margarita Mazza of Mexico (1826-1871) Wife of Benito Juarez

Emily Lamb Melbourne of England (1787-1869) Wife of Lord Palmerston 

Anna Isabella Milbanke of England (1792-1860) Wife of Lord Byron

Mary Russell Mitford of England (1787-1855) Playwright, Novelist

Hannah Moore of England (1745-1833) Religious Author

Lady Sydney Morgan of Ireland (1780-1859) Novelist

Anna Murphy of Ireland (1794-1860)  Author, Archaeologist

Jane Nugent of England (1734-1812) Wife of Edmund Burke

Mary O'Connell of Ireland (1775-1836) Wife of Daniel O'Connell

Lady Catherine Pakenham of Engand (c.1727-1831) Wife of Duke of Wellington

Countess Demetrius Parepa of England (1815-1870) Mother of Euphrosyne Parepa

Euphrosyne Parepa of Engand (1836-1874) Opera Singer

Dorothy (Dolley)  Payne of America (1772-1849) Wife of James Madison

Mary Philipse of America (c.1728-1822) English Patroit, Friend of George Washington

Catherine Maria Sedqwick of America (1789-1867) Novelist

Isabella Shawe of England (1818-1894) Wife of William Makepeace Thhackeray

Sarah Kemble Siddons of Wales (1755-1831) Engllish Actress, Sister of John Philip Kemble

Abigail Smith of America (1744-1818) Wife of John Adams

Mary Fairfaz Somerville of Scotland (1780-1872) Mathematician, Scientist

Eva Maria Veigel of England (1724-1822) Wife of David Garrick

Christiane Vulpius of Prussia (1764-1816) Wife of Goethe

Mildred Warner of America  (died 1701) Mother of Augustine Washington

Martha Wayles of America (178-1782)  Wife of Thomas Jefferson

Wife of John Washington of America (dates unknown)

Wife of Henry Washington of America (dates unknown)

 Wife of Lawrence Washington  of Americal (dates unknown) 2nd wife

"A Miraculous Request" update Nov 3, 2010 Michael Bedard

I have sixteen of the eminent women painted in so far! I will paint in another fourteen to complete the painting! As you can see, I still have a lot of clean up to turn this into one of my best works.

Brother's Keeper Video

Here is a recent video of my painting, Brother's Keeper. I hope you enjoy it.

Founding Fathers' Appearance to Wilford Woodruff 1877

  “I am going to bear my testimony to this assembly, if I never do it again in my life, that those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked men. General Washington and all the men that labored for the purpose were inspired of the Lord.
Another thing I am going to say here, because I have a right to say it. Every one of those men that signed the Declaration of Independence, with General Washington, called upon me, as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Temple at St. George, two consecutive nights, and demanded at my hands that I should go forth and attend to the ordinances of the House of God for them.... I told these brethren that it was their duty to go into the Temple and labor until they had got endowments for all of them. They did it. Would those spirits have called upon me, as an Elder in Israel to perform that work if they had not been noble spirits before God? They would not.” (Wilford Woodruff, Conference Report, April 1898, p. 89-90)

"A Miraculous Request" Current commission underway, scheduled to be completed December 2010

Limited and open edition prints will be made available at the same time.

Make the world a more beautiful place

 by commissioning a work of art! Call 801-803-3415

One of my favorite scriptures concerning prophets and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ:

Proverbs: 29:18
 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

The Founding Fathers & Wilford Woordruff

A work in progress... 
 A Miraculous Request


The founding fathers, early United States Presidents and other eminent men appeared to Wilford Woodruff in the St. George Temple in 1877.

I personally believe this to be one of the most important paintings I have done or will ever do (I've certainly done more work and research on this painting than any other...). I hope it will have a good effect.