We had 24 artists at this month’s collaborative meeting! Praise God!
If you are new to the C.cada scene here is our mission statement:
C.cada (Cornerstone Christian artist’s day apart) was begun in an effort to give artists from every genre an opportunity to come together to discover, develop, and deploy their talents in ways that will better the church and the community.
Yesterday we met, had breakfast then painted, wrote, played and carved away the morning. After lunch we met for a collaborative Bop session….That is we learned and practiced writing bop poetry. Here are some of our submissions:
Best Intentions
by Jill Poland
used by permission
Oh Glorious garden of beauty and peace
Suddenly decimated by an invasion of hungry pests.
All I wanted was to enjoy the fragrance.
All I needed was some rest.
Why does this always happen?
Why, oh why, did I allow those locusts in?
Never answer the phone on a Friday afternoon
I know God’s Garden is eternal,
But the destruction looks so real.
Oh I hate those lying vermin
Destroying my refuge.
Where did my pretty flowers go?
I must find the way out,
Out of the darkness and the lies.
I know my hope is true.
Never answer the phone on a Friday afternoon
I stop staring at the broken flowers
Mangled and left to die.
I sprinkle that dark shadowy place
With faith and hope and love.
With the lying shadows dispelled, my garden reappears!
My lovely peaceful garden that was always truly there!
C.cada is our church’s artist collaborative. Our mission is
to give artists from every genre an opportunity to come together to discover, develop, and deploy their talents in ways that will better the church and the community.
About a year ago we realized we needed God’s plan to begin to widen our influence from the church to the community. We prayed.
It is a wondrously dangerous thing to ask God for things like that. In response God has given us a plan and projects to go along with it.
In September I was invited to join a committee called the Robinson Broadhurst Winchendon Enhancement Committee. Our directive was to come up with a project that would benefit the whole town. What we ended up with was a plan to acquire a 43 acre piece of waterfront property in the center of town and to build a town Makerspace.
C.cada has been asked to supply mentors for the Makerspace project and to begin Makerspace programs in advance of the acquisition that will be eventually be housed on the property. How is that for widening influence?
One of our local hospitals has invited a group of our artists to come and paint their pediatric play room ( a makerspace project). These pictures are promotional mock-ups done by one of our artists for the play room project.
We were also welcomed to host a 250th anniversary art show in town On June 14th which is Charter Day for Winchendon (another makerspace project). So far response seems good. We have two musical groups coming and my goal is to hang 100 pieces out doors.
What I am discovering is that God has no shortage of things for us to do to help in the building of His kingdom. If we will just seek Him for the opportunities they will come in His time in His way.
For those of you who may not be familiar with it, C. cada is the artists community of Cornerstone Church our mission is to: give artists from every genre an opportunity to come together to discover, develop, and deploy their talents in ways that will better the church and the community.
The C.cada Cross. One of our collaborative projects
I haven’t written much about our doings because we have been so busy doing them but God has been good! We are currently working on several projects as a group:
1. A group of our artists is in the planning stages of redoing the pediatrics play room at our local hospital.
2. One of our artists just finished collaborating with a local elementary school on the show, Aristocats. In fact, I have to unload our portable sound system, which they used, after I am done here.
3. We are in the midst of preparing for an outdoor art show in honor of our town’s 250th anniversary. Here is our link if anyone out there is interested
4. Plans are underway for C.cada to be a collaborator with many other town committees on a town Makerspace project.
5. One of our artists is preparing to lead worship for a Frontiersmen Camping Fraternity Fellowship in May
6. One Desire, our church youth band is cutting its first album.
7. Clayton Phelps, one of our artists is playing out several times a week reaching people with the gospel through his guitar. In fact yesterday he played at GALA another art association’s art show.
That is just a taste of the exciting stuff going on. Books are being written. Music is being played. choirs are singing. Paintings are being prepared for shows and galleries around the area. GOD IS GOOD.
A few months ago our group project was a short story writing prompt. I have already shared Deb Maciorowski’s offering with you and mine but here is another from our very own Charlotte Dorais
First Day
The flashing school bus lights warned me how late I was. My first day teaching Junior High was causing me enough anxiety without being the last one to arrive in my class room. I had planned on time to pray and make final preparations for the day before the first students arrived, this day would only be blessed if I depended on God to lead me. I prayed God this is your day and I need you more now than ever. Thank you for your peace.
Last nights dream was playing like an old silent film in my mind. Still shots of the class room and each student flashed one by one. I knew a few of the kinds personally from church, but so many of the faces were strangers and the fact that this class was special needs excited me. God see potential where no one else does. He would lead me to the best plan for each student.
The parking lot was filled and late comers like me were left to the back 40. Shouldering my heavy bag I trotted the length of the parking lot. First bell rang as I entered the class room door and most of the students were paired up and talking excitedly to one another. As the final bell rang I turned to close the door Jeff rushed past and slide into an empty seat. Jeff was one of my church kids and I counted on him for support. My greeting to him was ignored and he kept his head down and eyes averted.
These students would spend the day with me, one by one we would get acquainted and develop an individual teaching plan. I looked forward to the challenge.
Marie stood in the front by my desk and introduced herself to me, she knew all the students and offered to assist me in any way I needed. I knew God had sent her. As I turned to get material to pass out I saw Jeff slip out the door. Rule number one broken the first hour of the day, no one leaves the room without permission. I decided to step out and look for him and he was right outside the door with his face to the wall praying, God make it stop.
My quick pray was give me words, and I ask Jeff to tell me what had to stop. His said a line from a book:
He heard the crunch of leaves behind him, he turned……
was playing nonstop in his mind and he couldn’t turn it off. I suggested he finish the thought, when he turned what did he see? All fear left him as he replaced the lie with Jesus. God’s power is always work and He never fails us when we cry out to him. I was where He meant me to be.
Charlotte L Dorais
I can honestly say what we are doing is hard work but it is so exciting! I am convinced that God is in this because the results are beyond us. We are offering what we have. We know it is not enough and yet He is multiplying us even as He multiplied the fish and loaves.
Well my sister may not enjoy being lumped in with all things short, but she is the one who chose to stand next to a leprechaun! This week’s travel theme from Ailsa is “SHORT”. Now while I have not posted on the site for many weeks, I thought this theme would probably be of a size that I could tackle ! If you would like to take a little peek at Ailsa’s other contributors you can find them at http://wheresmybackpack.com/2013/11/15/travel-theme-short/.
Short:
Mushrooms in MA
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.
As many of you have asked for a peek at what happened during our art show last weekend I thought I would bring you a post displaying some of the music and moments of the show:
Clayton Phelps is a brother in the Lord who helps me out with a monthly communion service I do for the disabled community. He opened our show musically on Friday night.
The Lingala Landscape
This acrylic painting created in a two hour session by Pastor Don Evans from Trumbull CT was part of an auction geared to raise $45,000.00 for the translation of the Lingala Fire Bible. It was auctioned to me as part of the display for our Arts In Action segment. And yes the $45,000.00 was raised (though my bid was one very small part of it).
The following pieces were part of our main gallery. Many of the 150 pieces which hung in our main gallery can be seen at http://www.artistdayapart.com
The Praying Man a photographic addition to our reflections gallery.
Soul Seen: speaks to the inner strength that is within each of us if only we will reach for it.
Here are some candids of people caught during the show
Charlotte Dorais, painter and worshipper
Our Cafe
Chris Muzzey was a guest soloist on Saturday afternoon.
Doug Stevens led a wood carving demonstration for us on Saturday
I am writing you from the quiet of the church sanctuary where I am sipping the first of what I expect will be many cups of Hawaiian coffee. The weekend of our annual C.cada art show has finally arrived. This is the first year we have done a full weekend of display. The show has also doubled in size since last year. Hanging and setting up displays for over 150 works of art is a larger undertaking than I expected. I am so glad I opted to start setting up after service on Wednesday night!
The work you see above is a multimedia wax and wood piece entitled “The C.cada Cross”. The cross is the collaborative effort of 13 artists from C.cada and has been donated by our group to the Christian Healing Center of New England. It will hang in the center’s guest hall for their open house scheduled next week. We presented “The C.cada Cross” to the Christian Healing Center’s board of directors last night in a public prayer segment of the show.
If you are in the area today, stop by. The show is on until 6 P.M. and if you miss that come to church for a visit tomorrow! The artwork will still be on display through our morning and evening services.
L to R: Amanda Lillie, Sara Glidden, Charlotte Dorais, Lisa Johnson, Tamie Charbonneau. Yours truly of course is behind the camera.
C.cada’s monthly gathering for June was at the Fruitlands museum in Ayer, MA. We had a smaller group this month but our artists brought cameras and got lots of good shots for future paintings and sketches.
Portrait Gallery: Fruitland Museum Ayer MA
Fruitlands is a national historical site. The property, originally held in trust by Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a “back to nature commune” run by transcendentalists in the early to mid 1800’s. Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May) was one of the founding members. The property was bought in the early 1900’s by one of the Sears family and turned into an historical art museum consisting of three display buildings and the Alcott/ Palmer house at the bottom of the hill.
The portrait gallery houses the second largest portrait collection int the U.S.
Our docent in the portrait gallery explained the symbolism of primitive portraiture. Note the child in the middle is not wearing shoes. If you look very closely over the child’s head you can also see the outline of a dead branch. These two facts were tell-tale signs that the child had passed away and this was a memorial portrait. In the portrait below you can see a small bird sitting just outside the window. This most likely indicated this woman died in childbirth.
Native American Longhouse
inside the longhouse
The second gallery is a display of Native American artwork. Our teen-age guide was just learning the ropes but I bet some of the older docents can spin some great yarns from Native American lore.
Charlotte at the Shaker house
Mrs. Sears, the benefactor of the museum, had a Shaker home brought in from the Harvard community board by board and reconstructed on the property.
lavender from the Shaker herb garden
The Alcott House
In the footstep of Louisa May
Fruitlands also boasts miles of walking trails once frequented by Louisa May Alcott and the other children of Fruitlands. This is a day trip worth taking if ever you are heading down Rte 2 in Massachusetts. The views of Wachusett Valley are beautiful the museum buildings have extremely friendly and informative docents and even the coffee in the cafe is delish!
The question asked us was,” What’s the biggest risk you’d like to take — but haven’t been able to? What would have to happen to make you comfortable taking it?”
Lillie-Put 