Artist: Leslie Morley 
Title: Love Effulgent
Medium: Original Oil on Canvas
Size: 24 x 30 (26 x 32)
Artist Statement:
When I began my first portrayal of Christ, I knew He could not stand alone.
 Love is never solitary.
His very nature—His essence—is effulgent love.
 So I set aside the familiar symbols: the long hair, the robes, the traditional framing we’ve come to expect.
Instead, I went searching for the light in His face—
 that radiant warmth that reaches all the way into the soul.
In this intimate exchange between Jesus and a child,
 I hoped to paint the nearness that steadies us,
 the joy that rises from being wholly known,
 the gentle assurance that we belong in Him.
This is the relationship He extends to each of us—
 an embrace already offered.
 All that remains is for us to lean in.
*This painting belongs to the Love Incarnate Series, part of my larger body of work, Held and Known.