David Edward Linn

Title of Painting: THE SACRED INCLINE

Media Type: Oil on panel

Dimensions of Painting: 60 "x60"

The subject, Rocky Ridge, provided a springboard for expressing a number of concepts, as well as affording me a visual stage that has some relevance to much of my work. First and foremost was a desire to create a tribute to those who placed everything on the altar of faith and pressed forward through unspeakable hardship with an unquenchable yearning to reach Zion. For many, the Zion achieved was an internal one of purification and sanctification, since they never lived to see the physical destination.

This painting is also dedicated to my own ancestors, who passed through all the trials and hardships of early church history from its very inception as well as those who struggle up the sacred incline of mortality and never lose their vision or faith- regardless of the dispensation in which they live.

Inasmuch as “The Sacred Incline” shows a single family advancing toward the light, it also provides a metaphor for the importance in our day of strengthening our families in the gospel, uniting in the cause of following the Savior, and keeping our eyes fixed on the goal of eternal life. Given the darkness of the world that presses in on every side, our struggle up the slope of life is more spiritually perilous now than at any time in history. These conditions will not improve until the Savior reigns. But just as those who felt the angels pulling the load when all seemed hopeless, we have the same promise and the same help in these latter days.

Artist Biography: 

David Edward Linn received an MFA in painting from Brigham Young University, and cites influences as divergent as Baroque masters and American Luminists to contemporary Conceptual Site and Earthwork artists. David’s paintings can be found in various museums, and in corporate and private collections throughout the country.