Biblical artists who tried to recreate Moses and the ten commandments faced many challenges. Nowhere in the scriptures is there an indication of the size of the tablets, their weight, their thickness, or any other physical details.

Arnold Friberg faced a similar challenge when he sought to depict the Liahona. All the artist had to work with was this  scripture from the Book of Mormon: “It was a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.”

There is a lack of artistic descriptive words. Nowhere is there a description of its appearance or its size in any greater detail for Friberg to use.

In the end Friberg decision was to make the Liahona an object that could be easily transported. The artist decided that it would be approximately five inches in diameter so that it could fit comfortably in a man’s hand. Friberg also felt that since it was round, the Liahona would probably have some sort of stand to hold it while not in use. So a round stand with three legs were created into which the Liahona would rest.

Arnold Friberg was working as a freelance artist in Chicago when he met Hedve. She grew up in the small town of American Fork, Utah and was not used to the cosmopolitan life that Friberg new well. She took in a room at the Friberg’s home, but it was at church that the two got to know each other well.

Hedve shared with Friberg the Mormon faith and as luck would have it she was assigned to same committee as the famous artist, the decoration committee. The two would help prepare the cultural hall for dances and other various LDS church sponsored activities. Friberg was excited that Hedve was on the same committee. He always felt that the only way to know someone was by working with them.

The two became close friends by the time Friberg was drafted as a result of World War II. The friendship led to marriage.

When the LDS artist Gary Kapp was 13 years old he would spend hours and hours looking at Arnold Friberg’s pictures from the Book of Mormon. Kapp credits Friberg for providing the inspiration to become an artist.

Kapp graduated from LDS owned BYU and studied one summer under another famous Mormon artist, Kenneth Riley. Like Friberg, Kapp went to work for Hollywood, spending nearly ten years creating artwork for various films. After a success commercial art career, Kapp went to painting full time. Also like Friberg, Kapp painted numerous western scenes.

The LDS artist attributes much of his success to his own Mormon pioneer heritage. The artists work hangs in galleries in Texas, Arizona, Wyoming and in major collections throughout the United States.

Although he has not achieved the massive success of Friberg, Kapp plays an important role in the modern LDS art world.

Arnold Friberg turned to Church leaders for historical and doctrinal suggestions before he started painting the scenes from the Book of Mormon. The artist had questions about antiquity and archeological findings as well as about hair length and clothing but was surprised to find that opinions varied from LDS leader to LDS leader. And with that variation grew a personal frustration in attempting to paint another’s artistic interpretation of scripture when Friberg had thoughts of his own.

Friberg wanted to paint heroes that appeared legendary in stature. The artist thought the idea that mankind is wretched and little is wrong. Friberg has said that the muscularity in my paintings is only an expression of the spirit within. When the artist painted Nephi, he painted the interior, the greatness, the largeness of spirit. This artistic philosophy too often left him feeling ostracized.

After Arnold Friberg’s first wife’s death in 1986 a darkness came into his pictures. But happier times were around the corner.

Friberg spent several weeks working at Buckingham Palace and at Windsor Castle on the royal equestrian portrait.