Last Summer's Workshop

I realized I never posted pictures from last year's workshop on my blog?!?! I placed them up on my social media.....but not here??  I'm slipping!!!  With this year's Art With Mr. E's 4th Annual Summer Workshop just a couple weeks away..I thought I'd better share the pictures from last year on here....FINALLY!! ha ha 

I love our time together every summer!! What an amazing group of art educators from all over middle Tennessee & beyond (last summer we had 2 from KY & 1 from Ohio)!

For our field trip we went to The Parthenon in downtown Nashville!  We are blessed to have this amazing place...honestly my favorite spot in the city! 

 

(If you've not been...you need to visit!!)

We have teachers attend from all over middle TN & other states!! I believe 7 TN counties have been represented over the summers...and 9 different states!! We also have had teachers from Pre-K- College attend.  The projects are great idea starts & can be modified for the different age groups. We have so much dialog on how to apply projects in our individual settings and trouble shoot problems that might arise.  It truly is an amazing three days with such wonderful peer encouragement!!! 

We used plastic Christmas ornaments as the base for our plaster wrap sculptures.  I purchased them for next to nothing after Christmas (I think 90% off!!!). 

We have breakfast provided for the teachers each morning & snacks throughout the day!

Every summer I have the amazing Mrs. C come and speak to our group! She was our director for Visual & Performing Arts in Metro Nashville....and just an amazing human being!!!

This is inside the Parthenon...

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS IN PERSON!

SHE IS GOING TO KILL ME FOR THIS ONE!! HA HA

(The woman on the right is a friend I graduated from BGSU with that came from Ohio for the workshop!!! She had not been to the Parthenon before & was seeing the Athena for the first time!)

We experimented with Lego printing! So fun.

We used old scratched records to paint on for one of our projects.  It is a great surface to work on & a fun shape.  I know in my classroom...students love working on unusual/unexpected surfaces!

HERE ARE SOME OF THE FINAL RESULTS!!

MIddle TN Region TAEA PD

‪(This is not in conjunction with the Art With Mr.E Workshop at the end of the month....but I like to promote our professional organization's events!!)

Looking for a fun workshop?! June 18th at the Clay Lady's Campus!!  This is put on by the Middle TN Region of TAEA, but you don't have to be a member to join in on the PD(but it is cheaper!). #middletnarted #arted #nashvilleart #tnarted ‬

Sunday Devotional With Mr. E: Repurposed

Bottles, scraps of paper, wood pieces, string, cardboard, plastic caps, and a multitude of other materials...it sounds like a list of items destined for the landfill. They served their purpose or where broken in the midst of their original intent. We live in a disposable society that embraces planned obsolescence. However, artists & art teachers can bring new life & purpose to items others would trash.  This is also why we are often thought of as "hoarders".  We have trouble throwing things away that we feel we can repurpose in a creative way.  There has been a surge in art work being created from materials washed ashore or pulled from the ocean.  The "trash" now bringing awareness to a situation that should concern us all.  The very thing that was tossed because it was used or broken now brings awareness to itself, and a desperate need to rethink items we use & how we hand them when we are finished with them.  The repurposed now has deep and meaningful purpose.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  1 Corinthians 1:27

I have spoken with so many people that feel that they can't have deep and meaningful impact for the Lord because of the life they once lived or the issues they struggle with in their day to day.  It makes me wonder what we...as believers...have perpetuated that would lead them to believe such a thing.  Have we been putting on airs that would lead them to thing we are anything other than sinners saved by grace?  Friends, we are all in need of a Savior!  God chooses to use us.  We see here in 1 Corinthians 1: 27 the truth of the matter...."But God chose the foolish things...".  It doesn't say He chose the wisest, strongest, most beautiful, wealthiest, person who has it all together.  God is about using the broken things...tossed aside...thrown away...seemingly without purpose.  He sees the potential in you to be repurposed for His glory & honor.  He can take your story of brokenness & pain, and use it to reach others who find themselves in the same place.  He can use your struggles to talk to those who felt they were unworthy of God's love and forgiveness.  He can take your greatest weakness & make it His greatest strength for you! God knows how to repurpose, and desires to use you in this amazing work He is about day in and day out.  

Summer Blogging...

It's that most wonderful time of the year.....SUMMER!

I plan on blogging and posting to social media all summer long, but I can't guarantee how consistent I'll be?!?!?!  We are extremely busy during the month of June.  I have a workshop I'm doing for art teachers in another county, I have my 3 day workshop, my wife is teaching at two different VBS's...so I'm creating two totally different sets of room decorations....plus I've got normal #dadlife stuff with my 3 kiddos!!! I'm thinking I'll rest some in July....hopefully. ha ha  Happy summer...

and stay tuned!!!

Sunday Devotional With Mr.E: Snap Judgment

Are there works of art, styles of art, or artists that you detest?  There are times that we actually have visceral responses to art. It could be based on the work itself, connections we make to the work and our own previous knowledge & experiences, or what we know concerning the artist.  So many different elements factor into our snap judgments. However, are these negative reactions where we should leave things? Can we find value in a work/style/artist even if our first response was less than favorable.  I believe that there is something to be appreciated, valued, and considered no matter our initial reaction. We may even reconsider our opinion once we've spent more time with the work, learning about the style/movement and the impact it had/has on culture, or even gaining insight on the artist and their processes & inspirations. 

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus;  he was a  chief tax collector and wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of sinner." But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, " Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." 

Luke 19:1-10 

So often the snap judgment of believers gets in the way of what God wants to do in the life of those who do not initially seem to fit the "Christian Culture" or who "deserve" God's grace & forgiveness. The response of those in Jericho towards Jesus and his interaction, warmth, and desire to spend time with Zacchaeus is unfortunately emulated in churches today.  We have become comfortable with those who look like, talk like, and act like us. We're uncomfortable with those who don't fit in our nice neat little churchy boxes.  We see at the close of this section of scripture..."For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." This is echoed in Jesus's interaction with the woman at the well, in God's desire for Jonah to share his love and grace with Nineveh, and numerous  other accounts through the Old & New Testament.  God desires to reach those who don't "fit" in & let them know how deeply he loves them.  Are we allowing any snap judgments to get in the way of God using us to reach out to the world around us? Are more like Jonah and less like Jesus? What could be keeping you & I from seeing others like Jesus did?