Meet Lester Yocum, an artist specializing in the figurative arts. Painting mostly in oil on canvas, watch as he shares his experiences with the arts and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Created by Facebook friends touring my home.
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/nAscmXzzhKs
The Impromptu Message
Hi. My name is Lester Yocum. I am an artist living in the Baltimore area. I’ve been doing graphic design and gallery work for about 45 years and loving it. I do oil paintings, like you see here, as a hobby – and I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I am in my living room, which I converted into a gallery. It shows paintings that have been in galleries and competitions around the United States but what they are to me is an opportunity for me to explore my own feelings.
My process for creating this stuff is to start out researching stories that strike me. As I go through life, I find all sorts of experiences that bring certain gospel points more prominently into my heart. The fact that I can tell stories like this, and make a difference in other’s lives, is the motivation behind what I do.
So as an example, this painting is called The Women Mourning Him, and it is obviously dealing with women whose lives have been impacted directly by the Savior. They are trying to find some way to bring Him back into their lives, the impact was so powerful.
But the Roman soldiers, as is part of their job, were required to keep them at some distance. Obviously, one of the ladies has an issue with that. I’ve always liked strong women, women who stand up for the Gospel, for their beliefs, for their families. She is comforting these women, wishing they could all be with the Savior and help Him. This of course relates to our own journey in the Atonement and with the Savior, and our own agony that He took upon himself on the cross and in the garden of Gethsemane. While we comfort each other, the Savior has sacrificed for us and continues to work for us through all our weaknesses and trials, and we wish we could be together with Him.
Sometimes the world keeps us from it, but if we are determined, there will come a day of atonement, resurrection and joy in our own lives.