Stewarding a Masterpiece through Art

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How do we take care of ourselves? We aim to eat well and exercise. For some it means lots of reading or extra physical pursuits. Do you take the time to be creative? I’ve already written about how our daughter requires creativity daily, but even if you don’t consider yourself creative it’s still important! After all, we are creative because we are made in the image of a Creator. Today’s post is all about Stewarding a Masterpiece through Art. Can you guess who the masterpiece is?

Being a Good Steward

Stewardship- Careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.

Years ago in MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), I started out as a Creative Activities leader. MOPS is a ministry for moms of young children and while moms are listening, talking, and creating, their children are cared for in another space. What a balm a MOPS meeting could be in the midst of having many little kids running around your world all day! The non-crafty moms always complained about leaving a chat time to do something creative, but here’s the purpose and what moms learned from that time:

• Be a Finisher– The time allowed moms to be finishers. Regardless of the project, she could finish it. It was designed for that short period of time to walk out with something done. How many things in the life of a young mom are “done” for long? Moms live in a world of done, redone, and undone!
• We’re All Creative– Even the “craft haters” would enjoy a project they could hang on the wall or show off or give as a gift. Often they were surprised by their own talents.
• Time to Build in Is Worth It– Motherhood has many seasons and with them comes a different way of approaching our own time. When our children are young, even a few minutes a day of working on something of our own has value. As our children grow, so does our ability as moms to pour into our own pursuits.

Taking the Time to Create as a Busy Mom or Teen

Most of my creative time now is poured out on the blog. It comes out through images & design, writing, and lesson building. Sometimes, I love to go back to my paper crafting roots and make something new for decorating or presenting. Here are a few strategies I use to be creative:

• Create Together– Our daughter loves to create and she loves to create with others. She and spend a lot of time together working on projects. It’s always time well spent for each of us and for us together!
• Decorate Your Home– We decorate seasonally and anything new we make. Our first floor powder room is a gallery for our art whether it belongs to the kids or to me. It’s quicker and cheaper and more personalized to create your own seasonal decorations. Besides, it provides a pretty compelling reason to make something new when it’s March and you want to take the winter or Christmas art down!
• Reboot with Creativity– When things are busy and you need to tag out. Art is very soothing! Why do you think adult coloring books are so popular right now? Who needs a coloring book when you can build your own art skills?

You Are a Masterpiece Mixed Media Workshop

Sometimes you just need inspiration! We’re big fans of the mixed media workshops from Alisha Gratehouse. There are always a big list of projects to choose from and they are a lot of fun to try. This class is specifically for adult women and teens and is designed to be a reminder of what a masterpiece we are!

We are imperfect. Therefore, we desperately need the Ultimate Artist to take the scraps, the ephemera, the torn pieces of our hearts and lives, and make them into a beautiful work of art. – Alisha Gratehouse

We are so excited about this new class! Here’s what we love about the Mixed Media Workshops:

• Having access to the class for a lifetime– so we can work at our own pace and revisit projects over and over.
• Signing on for the class and receiving a materials list right away so you have time to gather supplies before the start of May.
• Enjoying over 20 projects over four weeks which stretch our art abilities into new areas
• Experiencing mixed media projects with sketching, acrylic painting, watercolor painting, chalkboard art, collage art, sculpting, hand lettering, art journaling, etc
• Lessons not only on the art but the meaning behind the art
• Enjoy the lessons wherever– We often work outside on our porch and the video format works on mobile devices.

You Are a Masterpiece begins in May and right now you can enroll at a discounted price. Will you join us?

Other Posts on Creativity from Blog, She Wrote

Scheduling Time for Creative Pursuits– This post is about making time for creativity in a high schooler’s academic schedule which can easily be applied to your own time.

Must Have Art Supplies for a Project Based Homeschool– Which actually includes many of the things I would use when I want to do a project.