CREATIVITY AT WORK
from sketches to masterpieces
Collage Making Party
We had a wonderful time at the collage party inspiring friends to ponder the pieces of life that make them who they are and to discover the divine beauty that is in these pieces. It's amazing what happens when you're more intentional about your story. To think of yourself a little more deeply. And in a creative sense you begin to see the many ways you can express yourself. This is empowering.
July Review
July Painting Party Hosted by Shaun Martin (center)
July brought many wonderful and encouraging things into our lives. It began by a very informative and exciting time meeting with Artists In Christian Testimony in Nashville. This is an organization that ministers to artists who are called to the ministry in an out of the box way. It was wonderful to receive encouragement and counsel, as well as in depth teaching on our role as worshipers. It was a valuable experience that ended in prayer and exhortation in the gifts God has given us as well practical goal setting. We soaked in the wonderful hospitality of the folks in Nashville and were ready to jump into an art party for our dear friend Shaun Martin.
Shaun Martin has been such a blessing to us in spirit and in action. It was our privilege to celebrate her birthday with her by leading a painting for her guests. It was such a wonderful time! As usual, some participants start with trepidation but gradually ease into the flow of painting. God was faithful. He was gracious enough to show me the process of the painting and its meaning.
We started filling the space of the canvas with one continuous line. This represents the life of the person, unique and expressive. We painted each section that was made with fun, bright colors. This represents child like faith. The next step was the kind that would make someone say, "it's ruined!" That makes it more fun, of course. I asked the crowd to use a dark, watery brown to paint to completely cover the canvas. The question was in the air, "Are you sure?"
The answer was, "Trust me." The brown represented trials, hardship, darkness. God knows all about it and yet He allows it into each of our lives. The darkness, however, can never hide all the beauty of a child like faith. We gently wiped away the brown, acknowledging the fact that you can never wipe it off completely. As sad as that may sound, we realized that the brown toned all the bright colors down enough for us to bring in gold accents. This was the overarching element of hope. We began to retrace our continuous line with a bright gold pen. Without the brown, the gold would have competed with those bright colors and it would have appeared cluttered and without direction. It was the unmistakable example of how the Holy Spirit weaves God's glory into our lives and redeems it all! We were so blessed by this process and were able to pray with a couple of the guests about their needs. Here are a the verses that inspired the art:
"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." James 1:2-4
"So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."
"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. " 1 Corinthian 13:12
Article by Nancy Rordriguez
2016 Summer Camps Review
ArtServe, Int. held its annual summer camps the last week in May and the first week of June. Artists Freedom and Nancy were so privileged to spend time with some super creative, awesome kids! The theme for week 1 was “Games” and with the help of our wonderful volunteers, Denise and Selene (who both attend Cumberland Community Church), we had a blast! Only 4 out of the 16 campers were girls, which made for a very active time. Daily games included kickball, soaker soccer, noodle fencing, and a gigantic board game that was 50ft long. The kids also put their imagination and creativity to work by making their own board games which included characters, game pieces, game rules, and dice. We taught the campers the importance of good sportsmanship and emphasized the principle of the strong honoring the weak. Nancy’s favorite part of the week was seeing all the camper’s play one another's board games. They genuinely had a great time learning about each other's games and encouraging one another. Our hope was that they would go home and play together with their family.
The theme for week 2 was “Builders." This camp included a lot of painting, Lego’s, wood work, and paper building. Our goal was to build and "build up" one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 inspired the camp.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
We are truly thankful to the Lord for giving us tactile ways to share biblical principles. Our first activity was to draw a structure using a letter of each camper’s name. Each camper added his letter, all of them having a unique size and drawing attention in very different ways. We discussed the group's differences and how we all should find ways to honor each other and build each other up in the body of Christ.
We also used this principle to build a beautiful six-foot collaborative sculpture. Our wonderful volunteers included Nancy’s good friend & photographer, Aura, and SCAD student, Brooklyn, who were excellent helpers. It was a flurry of creative activity! Our 10 to 13 year old campers worked together to build expert level Lego sets, while our younger campers made buildings with wood. Amidst a few run-ins with the hot glue guns and finding ways to make a balanced structure, they were determined to get the job done! In the end, we were amazed at how kids, when given the time, are natural problem solvers and creators.
The parents and campers had a great two weeks of fun and creative arts! While Freedom was only able to visit on his break and lunch times and he was missed, I saw the incredible value of creating and trusting a team of volunteers who bring their own strength, energy, and creative skills to the mix. The day we ended Builders Camp I was so excited that I started brainstorming ideas for next year. I can't wait!
Thanks to some supporters, two campers were sponsored and ASI gave scholarships to three other campers this year!
What a start for 2016!
We're so happy to announce that ArtServe International (ASI) is officially a 501c3 nonprofit organization. This was a huge and exciting step for us. When I think about all the years that we have used art as a tool to communicate God’s love and craftsmanship, I am humbled and grateful. 2015 was a wonderful year with local opportunities as well as international. Whether we are in our church leading art workshops or traveling to Africa to give art as a gift in the form of painted portraits, one thing is for sure - what we value most is those small moments of connection with others. These moments are a treasure to us. It is also a reminder that God is inside of us yearning to love, teach, and create beauty.
Artist Nancy Rodriguez explaining a collaborative portrait project.
2016 is off to a great start! We had our second annual Martin Luther King Jr. one day camp, The Art of Peacemaking. The focus of this workshop was for the campers to value their personal artistic point of view as well as the point of views of others and learn about the importance of MLK’s dream come true. We do this by allowing kids to create a self portrait that shares a little about their hopes and dreams or what makes them unique. Then we did a collaborative portrait of MLK. It was at times, a painstaking process for all of us because we each had a piece of portrait and it looked so abstract. Some of the kids thought it would never look like Martin Luther King! The quote of the day was “Where’s Martin?” In all honesty, we sometimes scratched our head and wondered if it would come together. Inwardly we were preparing our speech of encouragement when an art project fails. Little by little, we pieced it together and with a little squint of the eye and lo’ and behold! There’s Martin! Our young artists were amazed to see the finished piece and they felt proud of their contribution.
To further the idea of community and contributing, we announced that the finished piece would be donated to a non profit to be announced soon. This tradition began when we donated last year’s MLK portrait to The Collective at Cumberland who specialize in helping the local community find job training and employment.
Artist Freedom Rodriguez helping with the weaving project.
We also did paper weaving. It truly symbolized what it means to be a unique person that is knit together with others in an accepting way. Each created two painted papers, one with warm and one with cool colors. One of their papers was made into strips and added into a “community pile,” while the other was prepared as a loom. The idea was that each would visit the community box and collect strips to weave into their loom. It was great to see the young artists feel happy to find someone’s strip or sometimes not know whose strip they were adding to their finished piece. This symbolized not only the unity we felt as a group, but also lived out Martin Luther King’s dream that...
“With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together…”
It was emotional to stand back and see the young artists working on this project and being knitted together, so to speak.
Also joining our group was architect and jewelry artist Shaun Martin (left) and Jonathan Everett (back right) who always bringing peace and fun humor. Big thanks to both.
ONGOING INITIATIVES
ASI has a few ongoing programs and some that will take place soon. For starters, we have a few gifted students who take private lessons. We are consistently impressed with the ability, maturity, and determination these students display. Another ongoing program has been running sort of behind the scenes. This is the JEMS worship dance team. (Jesus Es Mi Salvacion, translates: Jesus is my salvation). It is a free discipleship group of women and young teen girls who meet together to pray and worship through dance and the use of flags. The funny thing is, none of us have any dance training. This leaves us to fly by the seat of our pants and trust the Holy Spirit. The focus is not on performance, but on worship. The results are very deep moments between women, girls, and God. Please consider donating to this program as it is completely free and open to the church community of women and girls who are seeking confidence, belonging, and healing.
UPCOMING
ASI will be conducting our first official after-school art program! This will take place at The Stonehaven School. We look forward to the fun times creating with kids and will update you with the outcomes.
REMEMBER
Your donations also help us with art supplies. Thank you so much for joining us on this beautiful journey!
2015 Christmas Painting Party
What a joyful time we had this past Friday as we painted the starry night sky of Bethlehem. Everyone brought their warmth and cheer. There was splattering and dotting galore and the end result was beautiful. The setting was lovely in the home of Barbara who has white carpet but was brave enough to host our first painting party in her home.
A big thank you to Nichelle, Shaun, and Barbara for helping us plan every step of the way. Without them, we wouldn't have been as organized. Their encouragement, advice, and practical help really made our fundraiser a success and freed us up to focus on the step by step process of the painting. Thank you also to all who came and to those who encouraged us with their words and their giving. We hope to have more painting parties like this in the future as well as other creative workshops to help us raise funds for creative missionary endeavors.