14″x18″, Acrylic Paint on stretched Canvas
This image of a dirtied and clean lamb reflects the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. The juxtaposition of the red and white drapery represents the intense sacrifice of Christ with His intense love as the Shepherd over us. Christ, represented by the pure white lamb, covers and washes away our sins with His blood, making our tarnished image new. My painting takes inspiration from Martin Johnson Heade’s series of Magnolia paintings because I love the way he paints drapery.
I set up this Still Life with one dramatic light, including the two lambs which were stuffed animals from my childhood. The dirty one was used, worn down, broken, and no longer in its original clean color. The white lamb, although it was the exact same lamb, was untarnished and white as snow. This white lamb is set upon the Bible, the only true foundation for life in Christ. I hope that by looking at this painting, we can remember Christ’s ultimate act of love for His sheep: covering us in His blood so that we may appear white as snow before Him.