Art: Spring 2006 Cover
By: Sharon
Fujimoto-Johnson
When we took on a complete redesign of Spectrum around eight years ago,
Bonnie Dwyer, editor, and I were intent on incorporating more visual art into the
magazine, beginning with full-color artwork on each cover. Clearly I’m biased,
but I happen to think that Spectrum continues to be a visually-attractive
magazine. It will be a pleasure to post here from time to time on art-related
topics, such as the art in each new issue of Spectrum, Adventist artists, and
the broader world of Christian art.
The cover art for the Spring 2006 issue is
an old photograph taken by Arthur Maxwell, who is best known as “Uncle Arthur” of the classic children’s
book series, The Bible Story and Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories:
This photo of Arthur Maxwell’s sons,
Malcom and Graham, was originally used on the cover of an early edition of
Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories. (Incidentally, storytelling continues in the Maxwell
family. Several other
Maxwells, including Graham, are now writers as well.)
For many of us who grew up in Adventist
homes, Maxwell’s books are familiar icons of an Adventist childhood, much like Fri-Chik or Pathfinders. In this issue of Spectrum,
Lynn Neumann McDowell writes that “Uncle Arthur may well rival Ellen White as
the most influential author in Adventism.”
And speaking of Ellen, an article by artist John Hoyt in the current issue
features James and Ellen as the American Gothic couple:
