Perfect Peace

Perfect Peace, 30x40, oil on canvas

~On February 27, I worked on this painting all day and just couldn't get the sky the way I had envisioned. I was going for a light and airy feel for the clouds but the wispy magic wasn't happening. Frustrated, I scrubbed all the paint off the canvas and immediately felt relief. Ahhh, a fresh start. I planned to begin again the next day, but that was not to happen. Early the next morning, I got the phone call that my dad died. Even though he had been in hospice care for a few months, I thought he was going to live forever. And then he didn't. Very hard.

After a few weeks, I came back to this canvas with new eyes. I painted the sky and pretty much just let the brush go where it wanted. I found that sometimes when you don't try so hard to make something happen, that's when things fall into place. The woman in the painting is amazed at the beauty of the heavens, and even in the strong wind, she stands tall and and has peace.
Concerning this historic Pandemic, my mother texted me the words, "These are the days that try men's souls." True, and yet there is peace, perfect peace, to those who put their trust in the Lord.

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you." Isaiah 26:3 NLT