So the painting of the lamb, Smitten, is based on a photo I took a couple of months ago when I went to a farm to photograph sheep for future paintings. Lambs have been a reoccurring image in my work for over 20 years. I see them as a metaphor for vulnerability, innocence (and a threat to that innocence), and sacrifice. Anyway, I was curious about the bright green paint on many of the lambs, even the ones who were only a day or two old. The farmer just left me alone to photograph so I didn't get to ask him what they signified, but when I got home I did a little research. They are called smit marks, hence the title Smitten. The marks represent different things, such as identifying different flocks, or whether or not a sheep has been impregnated, etc.

I didn't find it hard to draw the metaphorical line from the marks to the current state we're living in with wearing masks and to those who have had COVID and those who haven't. I had heard on various podcasts that it might get to a point that those who have had COVID would be identifiable with some type of tag, which is very science-fictiony. The word smit made me think of smitten which means 1) struck, as with a hard blow; 2) grievously or disastrously stricken or afflicted, and 3) very much in love. I think collectively we've all been smitten with the pandemic (what I was thinking about when I painted it) and now we are being forced to come to terms with how afflicted our country is with racism.