Religious works
In contemplating this work I new I wanted to emphasize the love our Heavenly parents and our Savior, Jesus Christ, have for each of their children.
I placed the figure of our Heavenly Mother in the center of the composition so that the light her love would emanate might be the focus of the painting. I decided to continue the grasses and flowers of the foreground trailing onto her gown in shimmering light, connecting her with the little group of boys in the foreground.
When I met with my models I knew I needed to have the boys immersed in their exploration of the surrounding field so I found a small frog just before they arrived. This afford me some time and a scene of genuine excitement as the boys gently held the frog, laughing and whispering. The little group was delighted and so was I, as I snapped the photos.
While creating this work, the process lead me to a new technique that I had only just discovered. I found that the grasses in the foreground were brighter and almost glowing if I painted in layers of light to dark and then scraped through the dark to the light beneath. I was excited to find that this method created so much more light! This technique has inspired me to create a series of figures in grassy fields.
I hope this piece will uncover for the viewer a soft and distant memory of our Heavenly Mother’s love.
