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I came back recently from a painting trip to Laguna Beach, California.  For some reason, well maybe because of the song with the lyrics…”it never rains in southern California” I had this idea that my entire trip would be interrupted periodically with the need to slather my ashen Minnesota body with sunscreen.  I had imagined I’d be measuring carefully the minutes I’d be baking in sun, waking early and painting, then again toward the safe hours near the end of the day, minimizing the direct crisping hours of the noonday brilliance.

Well to my surprise the first full four days, nearly half my trip, I did not see the sun once.  The locals had a name for it, “May Gray”, spilling into “June Gloom”.  Yes, somehow I had managed to pick a streak of cloudy days that shrouded the area from sun up to sun down.  The painting commission I was in town for had to be put on hold, for that called for images living up to those now annoying lyrics of…”never raining in Southern California.”  Yes folks, the pressure was on…but I wasn’t budging.  Every day I woke early, walked to Heisler Park, looked for a spot to paint…and painted.  I painted through the fog, the showers and waited for my sunshine.  The commissioned piece called for four separate panels that when presented together would typify the Laguna soul.   That soul needed sunshine.

So as I looked and painted, I thought and planned and prayed, heavy on the prayer that the clouds would part and I would get the image I was looking for.  Well I am happy to say it all worked out.  In a later post I will present the commission as a whole, but for now I will invite you to check out my section labeled “Recent Works”.   There you will find over a dozen pieces I did as I waited and prayed.  Those days taught me to be patient, to keep trusting, to enjoy the now because that’s where I live.  For the tomorrow is in His hands, and that’s where He’s already been…and promised He’ll be with me…and you…if you want.