ACREAGE

The painting titled “Clowns in Paradise” in Hunter Drohojowska Philp’s feature on the Rev. Ethan Acres looks familiar (“A Preacher’s Art of Spreading the Word,” June 8).

A very similar painting hangs in the Mormon Temple in Mesa, Ariz. Except in that painting, Adam and Eve look like Ken and Barbie, not clowns.

Did the Rev. Acres paint the one I saw at the temple and then later parody his own work? Or did he neglect to give credit where credit is due? Or did he give due credit and your reporter omitted that information?

ELLEN SWITKES

Van Nuys

Acres says that he was aware of the Mormon Temple artwork and borrows from religious imagery in his works. For example, he notes, “Clowns in Paradise” includes his trailer in the background, a detail not seen at the Mormon Temple.