Creating and Sharing God’s Love through Art

April 2022

Digital Only

Creating and Sharing God’s Love through Art

By Brittany Beattie

Church Magazines

We can each find ways to portray and share God’s love for His children.

November 8, 2018, started out like any ordinary morning. Yet an hour I spent at an art exhibit that day made a significant impact in my life.

The Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, had just opened an exhibit with paintings by President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. While strolling through the exhibit, A Visual Journal: Artwork of Henry B. Eyring , I was in awe of President Eyring’s watercolor skills, and his collection was a great reminder of this message from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.” ¹ The process of creation is worth our time.

But what affected me most that day was this statement from President Eyring:

“My motivation in all of my varied creative work seems to have been a feeling of love. … I felt the love of a Creator who expects His children to become like Him—to create and to build. In addition, I have always had a feeling of love for my family, friends, and others who might gain some satisfaction and joy from my efforts. So, my hope … is that those who see this exhibit might feel both the Savior’s and my own love for them.” ²

Isn’t that so powerful? It reminded me to see opportunities to help others feel Heavenly Father’s and my love for them in all that I create and do. And that is a life-changing perspective that brings so much joy!

President Eyring added: “I have feelings while I paint certain kinds of things. … I can’t do it unless I have something I care about. So I pray to know; I can’t just go do a picture to do a nice picture.” ³ For him, painting is all about the purpose behind the art.

Elder Uchtdorf spoke of this powerful potential of art: “Art shows there is a greater purpose in life which transcends our daily worries, stresses, pleasures, and joys. Art can transmit a message of hope, light, and truth anchored in Jesus Christ, His glory, and His work for the eternal well-being of the whole human race. Expression through art is one of the ways we can help bridge the divide.” ⁴

Artists around the world found ways to use art for this purpose as they focused on the theme of the 12th International Art Competition and Exhibition, “All Are Alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33). ⁵ Some of the entries are included below.

Whether you beautify the world through art or through action, may you be inspired by these artists and their purpose as they show how art helps us feel and share God’s love.

For All His Children

Pamela Salinas Bernal, Valparaíso, Chile

Acid-free paper (32″ x 41.25″ x 2.25″)

All photographs of artwork by Tyler Thorsted

Pamela Salinas Bernal sought to capture how God shows His love for us in His creations. She says:

“God our Father has given all His creations to all His children equally. The great creations that Jesus Christ prepared for us under the Father’s direction—the sea, the mountain, the desert, the jungle, and the savannah—were represented in a single set. The outstretched hands and some of the most significant representations of God’s creations are a symbol of His love for all of us regardless of our origin, race, condition, religion, or ethnicity.

“The temple on the hill represents one of the greatest displays of God’s goodness toward all His children, as all are invited to live worthy to enter and enjoy His blessings. The central circle represents the earth and symbolizes the creations and love of God, which are eternal, without beginning or end. He is waiting for you to come to Him and receive all His blessings.” ⁶

Genealogy Bowl #1 and #2 (Because of These)

Hyrum Benson, Idaho, USA

Ceramic (41″ x 21.5″ x 5″)

“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” teaches that “the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.” ⁷ Being part of God’s family and part of earthly families is an evidence of God’s love, which Hyrum Benson sought to capture in this work. He says: “These two bowls are the personal genealogies of my wife and me. Each bowl features seven generations” with important dates and locations of the individuals.

Hyrum adds: “Using traditional letterpress type, I hand-pressed each individual character into the unfired stiff clay. While the process is tedious and has its own set of issues, I wanted to hand-press the type, letter by letter, name by name, date by date, because of the symbolic nature that these individuals have played in my life. In reality, they have been imprinted on my soul. By pressing each letter, I have been privileged to know these individuals more, learning where they came from and seeing a glimpse of why they did what they did. Despite all these names, dates, and places, these bowls only tell a fraction of the story, which I am grateful to have.”

He Inviteth Them All to Come unto Him

Amanda Luschin, Niedersachsen, Germany

Paper and pencil (21″ x 28″ x 1.5″)

Amanda Luschin did not discover her artistic ability until she tried sketching her daughter just for fun, and she was surprised by how well it turned out. Art became an outlet for her to battle crippling depression. “I picked up a pencil and paper and started a new adventure in art,” she says. Her purpose? “I love beautiful things and sharing joy and goodness whenever I can. I hope that’s what I can do with my art.” ⁸

Regarding this art piece, Amanda says:

“I love the beauty of flowers, and the song ‘Consider the Lilies’ has always been a favorite of mine. With that song in mind, I picked the subject of my drawing, as there are many varieties of flowers in the world, just like the vast number of peoples and cultures. In picking the flowers, I wanted to show a variety, from the common (including even pesky weeds like dandelions) to less well-known flowers. I especially wanted to include the prickly thistle, as I’ve always felt a bit like a prickly, unwanted thistle. I put the red rose as part of the crown of thorns to symbolize the Atonement of Christ, which we are all invited to partake of and which unifies us if we let it. The blue background symbolizes Christ as the Living Water, which gives life to us all.

“I have always seen the natural beauty and amazingness of people around me. Drawing this piece was a constant reminder to me of the fact that Christ wants me to see the beauty in myself too. I need to let go of all the lies that depression has held me captive with and learn to find the good in myself. It’s definitely a slow process, but creating this artwork has helped me start that process. Like it says in the song ‘Consider the Lilies,’ ‘He will heal those who trust Him.’”

All Partake of His Goodness

Jonathan Kay, England, United Kingdom

Watercolor (22.25″ x 27″ x 1″)

Jonathan Kay’s purpose with this painting (based on 1 Nephi 8:10–11) was to “engender discussion between children and adults” about not only God’s love for us but also how His plan of salvation influences the joy and blessings we will experience in the eternities.

Jonathan adds: “Although ‘all are alike unto God’ (2 Nephi 26:33), each of us decides our ultimate destination by the life we live. The three degrees of glory are represented by the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament and by the structure of the tree” and also by how each of the three groups of birds is partaking of the fruit. Our desire is to live worthy of the celestial kingdom, where we can live in the presence of Heavenly Father forever.

Within the Marrow of Our Bones

Nicole Woodbury Preece, Utah, USA

Porcelain ceramic (8.5″ x 8.5″ x 4″)

Nicole Woodbury Preece says that with her art she “is primarily concerned with capturing that sense of awe and wonder I feel in nature by blending the beauty of mathematical and scientific elements with creative expression. I use organic patterns to express the universal truth that we are purposefully and powerfully made and that the care used to design the heavens and the earth was used to design each of us.” ⁹

To describe this sculpture, she first explains the science that inspired it: “In something as simple as a stomp, a jolt travels up and down the legs, and tiny fractures ripple through the bone marrow matrix. Osteoblast cells infuse the scene, repairing and reinforcing all the tiny fractures. It is in these areas that bone density increases; thus, the more these jolts occur, the stronger the bones become. Every time we fall, every time we jump, we are weakening our bones and then strengthening them.”

Nicole then describes her process: “I began by sculpting the impression of undulating waves into a square of solid porcelain. After forming the clay into the shape of waves, I carefully carved the details of a bone marrow matrix. During the drying process, the piece began to shrink, forming the pattern of fractures spreading across the carving. After the firing, I repaired these fractures using a Japanese method called kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold. Gilding cracks in this way celebrates the beauty of experience and enhances the value of whatever pottery was once broken, just as the Atonement of Jesus Christ does in our lives. Because we are fallen, because we sin, we all depend on the Savior. ‘All are alike unto God’ (2 Nephi 26:33), from the color of our skin to the marrow of our bones. We are all broken. Yet it is in the breaking and in the stumbling and in the falling that we are strengthened. It is Jesus Christ and His Atonement that strengthen us.”

Celestial Worlds

Amy Clements, Idaho, USA

Fabric and embroidery floss (37.75″ x 50.25″ x 0.25″)

Amy Clements’s inspiration for this piece stemmed from truths about God taught in Moses 1:33: “And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose.”

Amy says: “I find joy in the fact that Heavenly Father created me and billions of others all alike—alike in the fact that we were all created with a heavenly purpose that He knows of! In this way, all of God’s children are alike, even though our paths may be different.”

This piece represents the “worlds without number” created for all of Heavenly Father’s children, who have the divine purpose of returning to Him through the plan of salvation. Amy adds: “My hand-sewn worlds aren’t perfectly circular and my scraps are all different sizes, but so are God’s children. We all are slightly different with different paths and talents, but we all shine with heavenly purpose, just like my celestial worlds in my art piece.”

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