Southern Visionary Artist Carl Dixon takes on the contentious issue of gun violence in this week's new mixed media carved wood panel painting from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection. The scene at the top of the picture shows Cain slaying his brother, Abel, tracing the murderous intentions of the human heart back to a son of Adam at the very beginning of biblical history. Dixon goes on to illustrate how we have not come very far in modern times in honoring the Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Kill, replacing wooden clubs with semi-automatic weapons. He depicts one terrorized community, turned into a warzone with hold-ups at gun point and drive-by shootings, where the faithful have fallen on their knees in prayer for divine deliverance. The scene is dominated by the figure of a weeping mother, holding her dying son, struck by a random bullet. It brings to mind Pieta imagery, where the Virgin Mary tenderly cradles the body of Christ taken down from the Cross. (John Kohan)