What does it mean to grow up in a country where faith is forbidden, where your father could go to jail for painting the Beatles on the kitchen wall, and where your hunger for God has nowhere to go?

For Eva Timothy, that was not a metaphor. That was childhood in communist Bulgaria.

In this episode of Temple Bound, host Will Humphreys sits down with fine art photographer and founder of the Enlighten podcast, Eva Timothy, whose story stretches from the cement rooftops of Sofia to the altars of the Salt Lake Temple. Eva shares how the fall of the Berlin Wall opened Bulgaria to missionaries, how a picture of the Savior on a street board stopped her mid-walk and changed her life forever, and why she believes that every person on earth has been given a creative gift from God.

Eva is known for her award-winning series The Lord Is My Light, a photo-painting collection displayed in institutions including the Smithsonian. Her work uniquely omits the face of the Savior in every piece, a prompting she received when the series began, so that every viewer can place themselves into the moment with Christ.

This conversation covers:

• The reality of growing up under communism with no religious freedom and no First Amendment
• How Eva found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through a chance encounter with missionaries in a park
• Her first prayer ever, offered during sacrament meeting in a rented room above a soccer stadium in Bulgaria
• Why photography literally means to write with light, and how that shaped her entire artistic vision
• The concept of chiaroscuro, the Renaissance technique of using darkness to make light more brilliant
• Her mission president's challenge to create something for Jesus, and the seven years it took for that prompting to become The Lord Is My Light
• Why she never shows the Savior's face in her art, and what that invites the viewer to do
• The painting Lord Save Me, depicting Christ pulling Peter from the water, and what it means to be held with both hands
• The temple as a masterclass on creation, and how going to the house of the Lord empowers our creative gifts
• Doctrine and Covenants 109:22 and the promises given to those who come forth from the temple armed with God's power
• How repentance and the Spirit are essential ingredients in the creative process
• Advice for people who believe they have no creative gifts, and why that belief is a lie from the adversary
• How to seek your gifts through prayer, patriarchal blessings, and the things that make you lose track of time

If this episode touched something in you, please follow Temple Bound and leave a comment on the platform you are listening on. Every follow and review helps this podcast reach more people who are searching for light. 

Follow Eva on her podcast:

• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7rNGJgBEbSNED6lefM7p7Q?si=7bf720f254174a27
• Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/enlighten/id1770341207
• YouTube - https://youtube.com/@eva_timothy?si=5yxoxihNx9CveDO-

Connect with Eva:

• Website - www.evatimothy.art 
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/eva_timothy/

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