Trinity House Church

For the past two years I have been involved with a small group at my church - the Vision Team.  We were asked by the Chapter (the governing body) to develop a new vision for our parish.

Our team has read, marked, learned and inwardly digested a lot of material.  We have interviewed parishioners about their experiences, hopes and dreams for our parish.

This started with the idea that we were in a 'financial crisis' (a place where MANY churches seem to be today) and we have concluded that we are in a 'spiritual crisis.'  Many people have complained of not being nourished by the traditional church on Sunday morning.

We believe that small groups offer a partial solution and have looked/are looking at different ways of bringing people together to experience God - to share our beliefs, voice our concerns and listen to the ways that God has touched our lives.

For the past couple of months we have offered "House Church Live"  - a gathering in a parishioner's home to share in a lay led Eucharist.  It is an opportunity to participate in the service through an exchange of ideas about the biblical message, passing the bread and wine to one another, and singing and praying together. At the end of the service there are refreshments and an opportunity to talk about the experience.

So, why does this appear on my art blog, you ask.  Well, with the help of our team we have developed a logo to go with this new program.  It is our plan that this will be 'out there'  - inviting others to join us as we experiment with this new (actually it is a very old) form of worship. But, that story is for another time.

ALL ARE WELCOME!  Our next service is Sunday afternoon, June 23 at 4:00pm.  Please be in touch with me and I'll give you directions!

How much to crop?

She had been taking gymnastics for several weeks and it was time for the class to end.  Parents and grandparents were invited to come on the last day and see what the children had learned.

I snapped a picture at the end of her 'routine.'  She's so proud of herself - she got her feet up on that bar . . .with help and . . . amazement.

Now my dilemma is this:  I really like painting relationships and I like painting children, BUT can this child stand alone without the other figure?  I think we need to see the 'helping hands' but am not sure that the helper's face and figure need to be there. They feel distracting to me.

So far, I have just sketched in the helper, but am leaning toward cropping her out. I really want to focus on the pleasure in the child's face.

Before I work on painting in the helper . . . I am asking for advice. . .

I want to call this one "Helping Hands." (I still have more work to do on it)

This one has no title, as yet . . . the helper is mostly the watercolor underpainting.

Shall I finish the helper's features and keep her in?    or shall I crop her out?

Save the Date

Last week I received an exciting email. Our little town of St. Michaels is planning a big event in August to celebrate the anniversary of the "Battle of St Michaels" which occurred in August of 1813. (You can read more about this battle in my blog post of February 6, 2013)

Well, the email was from the town's administrative clerk who is in charge of planning the event and she asked if she could use my banner image on the "Save the Date" postcard that is to be mailed to Maryland elected officials, past commissioners, town and county board members, tourism office, etc. How cool is that?

I emailed her back to say "Yes!" and we had an electronic conversation in which she told me that she thought my banner "looked like a party" and she was excited about using it to notify everyone about the event.

Another part of the August event will be an Art Show which features the banner art and other work by these St Michaels Art League artists. We are already drumming up business - it's FREE and open to all!

So, Save the Date everyone. . . August 10, 2013 from 10-5. See you at the Women's Club on St. Mary's Square in St. Michaels.

Foolin' the Brits - Watercolor & Ink

On another note - the painting I posted about on March 30 of 2012 just won Second Place in the Out of the Box exhibit at the St. Michaels Library.  It will be hanging there until the end of the month.  Stop by and see the exhibit - it's fun!

Curiosity - Pastel