Artist At Work

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

I packed a raincoat and a winter coat for our recent trip to Alaska.

I used both. Often at the same time.

Most days began with mist and ended with rain, with highs struggling to climb out of the 40s. A guide in Skagway said the temperatures in April had reached the 70s. He quickly added that he had seen temps in the 40s in July.

It can be a bit chilly in Alaska. And it rains. A lot.

So what?

Once I decided to shove aside my snarky inner voice—the one that wailed each gray morning about the views I couldn’t see—I could focus on the beauty before me. The masterpieces God created using only a handful of colors. Works I couldn’t approximate if I were Michelangelo dipping my brush into the rainbow.

Gray skies brought the snow-covered mountains and the sea into high relief, a play of shadow and light impossible to see on a sunny day.

Eventually the weather cleared, and we beheld the brilliance of the blue sky, the lush green of trees on the mountainside, the Caribbean aqua of glacial waters.

Artists work in charcoal, oils, watercolors, and stone. Their pieces are fixed; they only change as time reclaims them.

God Almighty, Creator of all things and endlessly creative, has Earth as His canvas. He delights in change, bringing forth new landscapes season by season, day by day, even minute by minute. Each work a glimmer of His glory.

Father, thank You for inviting me to Your exhibition.

The fjord of Endicott Arm, Alaska