The New Renaissance Rising WorldWide Art Day

Today artists met in the VineArts Studio in Boise, Idaho to celebrate together. Click on the YouTube link to watch a short video created by artist & author J.Scott McElroy talking about The New Renaissance Rising and what it means for artists and churches worldwide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bYqzxEXpmc We utilized Video

Worship & Prayer

Teaching & Sharing

Art & Creativity

I had so much fun! I love it when we come together for a common purpose! This is the painting I created during our New Renaissance Celebration. It's a 30x40 mixed media abstract expressionist collage on canvas. I call this "The Spirit of Joy" based on the Scripture Isaiah 61.

teaching

over the years, as part of my art business, i have taught private one on one painting lessons in my own personal art studio. once in awhile i do get the chance to teach for VineArts in a workshop capacity to numerous people. i have taught 3 abstract workshops over the last 4 years. this last weekend i had the opportunity to teach a pastels workshop. i taught some basics of utilizing soft pastels and oil pastels. i had 10 artists join me for 3 hours and we enjoyed playing with the 2 mediums together. it was a good time of experimenting with new techniques. pastels were my medium of choice when i first started out as a full time artist. many of the paintings that i sold during those first few years of dedicating my life to art were mainly oil pastel paintings. i encouraged the artists in my workshop to not be afraid to push themselves beyond what they might normally do with the tiny stick chalk & crayon like mediums and have fun with them. this might mean trying short strokes of color layering dark to light creating an impressionistic look...it might mean using your fingers to mix & blend colors onto the papers...it might mean using water and a watercolor brush with the soft pastels to get a wash watercolor paint effect....or it might mean applying the oil pastels thickly with pressure and using a pallet knife to create texture like an oil painting. the workshop seemed to spark interest for all who attended and each created amazing paintings full of vibrant color and life.

if you're interested in upcoming VineArts workshops, please keep checking our webpage at: http://www.vineyardboise.org (click on Ministries at the top, that will give you a drop down menu, click on VineArts under the heading Worship, there will be links you can go to for info on various subjects)

New VineArts Book Study

I'm excited about what's going on! Last night we launched a new book study at The Palate Discipleship Group in the VineArts Studio. We are reading & discussing a book titled, "Finding Divine Inspiration: Working with the Holy Spirit in Your Creativity" by J.Scott McElroy (an award-winning radio producer, writer, visual artist, national voiceover artist, and Vineyard Pastor). This book will take us on a journey of learning how to partner with God in our creativity.

Here's what the author has to say about the book:

"God wants to collaborate with YOU!

There is a New Renaissance coming in the arts and God has a special place for you in it! In Finding Divine Inspiration you'll learn how to hear God's voice and collaborate with Him in the work He has for you.

God wants to reform the arts, to bring a new infusion of Divine Inspiration into the mainstream and an explosion of arts in the church, but for these changes to come His artists must develop a lifestyle of collaboration with Him. Through solid biblical guidance, exciting historical and current examples, and practical steps, Finding Divine Inspiration shows artists how to partner with God in their life and work. Its a concept that can help invigorate your spiritual life, bring new inspiration, enable you to share God's messages more freely and ultimately transform the arts."

-J.Scott McElroy

http://www.findingdivineinspiration.com/

http://jscottmc.wordpress.com/

http://www.thenewr.org/

ABOUT "The Palate":

We are a discipleship group in which visual learners can grow spiritually and creatively in a safe place, through a sampling of artistic activities and solid biblical study. Our focus is worship, prayer, study, and community through creative things like film clips, book study, sketching, painting, poetry reading, encouragement, worship, & prayer. Our goal is to become ever closer to Jesus Christ. We meet the 1ST & 3RD MONDAYS OF EVERY MONTH IN THE VINEARTS STUDIO FROM 6:30PM TO 8:30PM. And yes, we spelled the name like your tongue. Come and feed your inner artist!