Bind Up the Brokenhearted (34 by 26 inches, oil on canvas on panel)
For me, the inspiration for my paintings is often combinations of my own experiences and the reading I do, such as the following:
Robert L. Millet said, “The cosmic Christ who creates and redeems worlds without number is the same gentle and good Shepherd who goes in search of one wandering lamb. He who holds all things in his power is the same who stills the storms of the human heart by a healing touch” (Alive in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth, p. 34).
Indeed, Elder Howard W. Hunter observed “whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands on the family, it lives” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, 93).
According to Millet, “God has never promised us a life of ease or an existence free from strain and anxiety. We have not been promised that we would be spared bitter potions in this life. We have been assured that we are not alone and that if we trust in and rely on his mighty arm, we will be empowered and comforted in our trials; we will eventually be delivered out of bondage. “And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions” (Mosiah 24:14). Truly, “The Lord . . . gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalm 147:2-3) (Alive in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth p. 35).
Scriptural reference: Psalm 147:3
Paint and process