16×20″ (41x51cm), oil on canvas, 2022
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This painting was inspired by my friend Kimberley, who told me of a painting she felt needed creating. In this painting she envisioned the following elements: A woman in waiting; bread that resembles Christ’s sacrament; and a sunrise representing how it is always darkest before dawn.
For Kim, this painting was to be all about faith and trust in the Lord. As we make and strive to keep our covenants, He will bless us with bread (His Atonement) and all those promised blessings. Sunrise will come and we will be filled with the Sun.
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Paraphrasing Kim:
In the Time Out for Women (TOFW) conference series, Laurel C. Day spoke of ladies in waiting, which I related to Isaiah 40:31: Those who wait (meaning trust) in the Lord will be given strength.
I look at this to mean having the strength to wait, to deal with our burdens and upsets in life.
In the painting, I want a sunrise element, which is inspired by He Heals the Heavy Laden, an address by Dallin H. Oaks focusing on Matthew 11:28-30. The whole idea is that it is darkest before dawn. The light will come. Relief will come.
The painting also needs a bread element, which I took from Laurel C. Day’s talk about Matthew 7:9. The Lord wants to give us bread. To me I see it that He is the bread of life. If we partake, we never hunger again, so that bread represents His Atonement. That is how He heals us and gives us bread when we ask for it. That is why I wanted the bread torn, to resemble the sacrament as a visual reminder that the only way our burdens, sadness and frailties are healed or lightened are through the Atonement of the Savior.