Brian Kershisnik's Nativity is currently on display at BYU's Museum of Art. The 7 by 17 foot work depicts a host of angels flowing past Mary, Joseph, and the newly born Jesus. The painting can be seen through Jan. 12. Viewing this awesome painting is a spectacular way to usher in Christmas. The design of all artists is to tell a story, but this artist has attempted to tell the "greatest story." Brian gave an interesting lecture Thursday at the museum. He told a little bit of how his Nativity was conceived. He taught a semester at BYU in 2005-2006 and he approached the task with unrestrained energy and great expectations. He wanted no slackers in his class. Simply stated, he wanted the students to work. Thus he challenged these students to take out their sketchpads and draw 100 human figures. Next he hung a 7' by 17' canvas in his small office. His busy life got busier and as the weeks went by, his students peered in at the blank canvas as they slowed to pass his office. Having set the bar high, he desperately wanted to lead the way in productivity, but the million-dollar-idea just hadn't come. Months passed before the story took shape in his imagination. He thought about his wife, who recently gave birth to their child, and he remembered feeling that there were angels watching. If these spirits watched at the birth of his child, how many more of these otherworldly would have been watching at His birth. But, who were the first to come from this world? Just as they did for his wife, he imagined that women would come, the midwives. And the first creatures might have been a dog with her pups, because dogs seem to know. He chose charcoal and the figures found their shape. Then the angels started coming and they kept coming. Old and young with hair of every color and fashion. All wore white, but each robe was unique in design and texture. At some point Kershisnik lost control of the work and wanted it such. Past that point it becomes up to the viewer. The end of journalism and doctrine, now we are to add our story. Brian was asked why racial diversity was not apparent in the work. He answered that he painted from his own experience and that to consciously strive to make the angels ethnically diverse would have been a mere exercise in political correctness. That was not what this work was about. The artist added oils and acrylics to his charcoal figures until there were 150-160 heavenly visitors. Even when he had finished, he didn't feel finished. He quoted the oft-used adage most artists understand, that novels are never finished, they are abandoned. Kershisnik's Nativity is burned in my mind's eye, the story never ending.