Preston resident Brent Borup creates inspiring images from the comfort of a cozy, renovated garden shed in his backyard.

    Leaning back in the office chair next to a desk piled with prints ready to sell at the Summerfest Art Faire in June, Borup describes his journey to being a full-time artist and selling his paintings across the Western U.S.

    “I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist, but people always tell me ‘You can’t make a living out of it,’” Borup says.

    Borup is known for his patriotic and religious paintings created using a blended technique of oils and digital editing. His repertoire includes temples, landscapes and portraits of religious and historical figures.

    A native of the Boise area, Borup broke into the market for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints four years ago when he started painting pictures of the religion’s temples, the first being a painting of the Logan LDS Temple.

    Though he had done small art shows before, the first time Borup sold artwork outside of his art gallery in Preston was when he rented space at Summerfest. His prints were so popular he had to come home each night and print new ones to sell the next day.

    Borup’s artwork expanded to stores around town and now his paintings can be seen at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Sam’s Club locations as far away as Southern California.

    Borup returns to Summerfest each year to sell prints of his paintings, though he leaves the selling of the larger, more expensive framed work to his publisher. He said he likes to see how many pieces of his art he can get out there.

    After closing his art gallery a year ago, Borup moved his painting business home. He renovated the garden shed in his backyard and has been working there for the last six months.

    Borup feels he has a higher purpose in sharing religious artwork in places it is not ordinarily seen.

    “I figure it’s part of my job and my religion to expand the kingdom of God on earth,” Borup says. “So, that’s what I try to do.”

    By experimenting with different ways to paint the face of Jesus Christ, Borup also tries to make his artwork appealing to those outside of the LDS market. He said some of his paintings depict a more “Catholic Jesus” and some a more “Mormon Jesus.”

    Like many artists, he has spent years “trying to get that face just right.”

    Referring to his numerous portraits of Christ, Borup says, “I’m happy to be able to share that image with others.”

    His paintings are created using what he calls a mixed-media method. Borup starts by painting a subject with oil and then scans it into his computer to touch it up digitally. The result is a beautiful image that has a smooth, ethereal quality to it, touched with delicate hints of light in just the right places.

    Blending the two mediums is not as easy as touching a button, and he still calls them paintings.

    “Some people think that if I do it on a computer, I push a button and run it through a filter,” Borup explains. “They don’t understand the work involved. There’s still a lot of painting.”

    He referred to his latest creation, a portrait of Jesus Christ standing in a pathway framed by bushes and trees. Christ holds a staff, at the same time calmly holding the viewer’s gaze as he stares straight from the painting.

    “I’ve had people tell me that they like it because it’s not intimidating,” Borup says. “It’s like he’s saying, ‘Hey, how can I help you?’”

    Borup says his goal is to inspire people with his artwork.

    “That’s why I do a lot of temples,” he says. “I think if you can have a picture of a temple in the home, and it helps your child see that other goal, then mission accomplished. That’s what I want. I want my artwork to be able to lift people up on bad days, I guess.”