At The Grunewald Guild - Waxing Poetic: Painting the Psalms

I am very excited to be going to the Grunewald Guild in April to lead a workshop with Shannon Newby. I met Shannon at the Laity Lodge during a retreat for pastors to artists. For a year I had been using her images when teaching workshops on combining found objects with wax. When we met (and I realized this was the woman whose work I loved) I was thrilled! By the end of the weekend she had introduced me to my new love: encaustic. I am so grateful to have met her and for our growing friendship. It is an honor and a delight to be a part of this workshop with her.

If you are in the area (or not), please think about coming. There are only eight spots available and I know it has already started filling up. I think it is going to be a really rich few days. The Grunewald Guild is a retreat center located just outside of beautiful Leavenworth, Washington. The Wenatchee River Valley holds some of the most glorious landscape in the country. The setting alone is incredibly inspiring. Here is what the weekend will look like:

"Waxing Poetic: Painting the Psalms" 

with Shannon Newby and Phaedra Taylor, April 30-May 2


Wax is mentioned several times in the Psalms. Each time, it’s used to describe something different. For this weekend, we’ll begin uncovering what the wax imagery in the Psalms is saying about God’s character. You’ll learn how to paint with hot wax at the same time (a process called encaustic painting). Come with your Bible and a willingness to be creative!


Day 1: Trusting our Creator, Trusting our creativity. Trust your creative instincts! As we talk about painting with hot wax, we’ll unpack what Psalm 22 says about our need to trust in the Lord. We'll discuss the question, "How can we begin trusting God in our creativity, especially when our hearts feel defeated and 'melted'?"


Day 2: Righteous God vs unrighteous self. Watch the wax melt away, as we learn to use the heat tools to fuse, mold and manipulate the wax. We’ll discuss Psalm 68’s depiction of righteousness vs. unrighteousness and how that relates to the melting wax imagery. We'll ask the question, "How can we, as Christian artists, strive to be more righteous?"


Day 3: God's glory and not our own. During this study, we’ll learn to embed mixed media elements into the wax, as we delve into Psalm 97. We’ll also be talking about laying down our art as an act of worship, and asking, "How can we give God the full glory in our art-making?"


Cost of the workshop is $200 with room, board and materials included, $75 for class and materials only.


More information and registration can be found at the Grunewald website. Hope to see you there!