In this painting, you will see a scene from 2 Nephi 5:1-9 in the Book of Mormon, depicting Nephi's family fleeing into the wilderness to escape Nephi's vengeful brothers. After their father Lehi passed away, Laman and Lemuel became angry with Nephi and sought to take away his life. The Lord warned Nephi of his brother's plan and told him to take his family and flee into the wilderness to escape. 

In my opinion, some of the most underrepresented figures in the Book of Mormon are in Nephi’s own family. His wife, sisters, and possible daughters are hardly mentioned, and we never learn their names. It’s important to me that even though we don’t know their names, we still should remember how they sacrificed so much, and had such incredible faith to once again travel into the wilderness to obey God’s commandments. Because of this, I chose to showcase these members of Nephi’s family in my painting.

In this scene, you’ll see Nephi’s wife lead her children alongside Nephi’s sisters and their children. Because most of them are never mentioned in the Book of Mormon, I had to take artistic liberty to include all of these faithful children of God. My favorite detail I added to this piece was the white lamb walking alongside them. This represents Jesus Christ, and how he remained by their side as they faithfully fled into the wilderness. I added it to remind us that when we follow Him, He will always stand and walk beside us.

This painting was to celebrate my beloved Grandpa Shelley's birthday. Here I painted one of my favorite family photographs my grandmother gave me. The black and white photo depicted my infant Grandpa in a highchair standing alongside his twin brother held by my great grandmother. I wanted to make this family photo come to life, so I decided to paint it using color. Although my Grandpa is no longer with us, I hoped to showcase his bright light and happy personality through this piece of artwork. I love and miss you Grandpa.