Forbidden?
[First published March 2016]
Brushes? Check. Paint? Check. Paper? Check? Dropclothes? Check. Empty yogurt containers? Check. Paper towels, sponges, pencils? Check, check, check. Brushes?! You already asked – CHECK!
I’m getting ready to go paint, as you might be able to tell. Thing is, this time I will be painting in front of a number of people, about 200 women (well, maybe even more…) at The Falls Church Anglican’s annual Women’s Retreat in Annapolis, Maryland.
This is the second year that I’ve been asked to do this—I paint while our speaker is speaking, and while our worship band is playing. I stand to one side of the speaker, and another artist (and dear friend!), Joyce McCarten, stands to the other side. I paint in watercolor, she paints in acrylic.
“Why do we do this?”, Joyce and I laughingly ask one another.
But we know the answer well, though it is sometimes difficult to put a left-brained explanation on a right-brained experience. It is because, as we paint and create, we worship our Lord in a way that is unique and uniquely beautiful. As we create, we come closer to our Creator. A simple explanation; a profoundly moving experience.
So, do I have all my equipment? I sure hope so! And, along with all the paint, brushes, paper, and pencils, I’m bringing my heart to worship.