12×16 oil on ABS panel. Frame gilded with 10k gold.
This painting has such a funny story. I set out to paint Zipporah, Moses’s wife, but when I finished I just knew it wasn’t right. After sitting with the piece for a few weeks I felt she must be one the Lamanite mother’s whose children went into battle for their fathers, who had covenanted with God to put away their weapons of war.
I think in traditional Christianity there is a tendency to focus on the divinely feminine attributes that work within people’s own narratives. A faithful woman is peaceful, grateful, submissive, gentle, caring… but people forget that a faithful woman is also a warrior, an advocate for truth and righteousness, an enemy to corruption, and a full on mama bear. This Lamanite mother is an embodiment of feminine Christian value, but she is not weak. She is bold — and probably has massive biceps.
