Hands On Art Studio

As it was a rainy day, we went to a place about 1/2 hour away from our "home" in Door County.  Jill had found a place called Hands On Art Studio and had tagged it for when there might be a rainy day.  This was the day!

We walked around to all the buildings to look at what was available to work on.  You could paint a picture on canvas, you could do ceramics (they would glaze it for you) or you could work in the glass studio.

 All 3 kids wanted to pick out a ceramic to paint.  Of course, Claire wanted to paint a horse!

 Hannah picked out an elephant.  And Sophia a container for her paints.

Originally, we were just going to watch them, but when we saw these little suncatchers or Christmas ornaments at the glass studio, we decided to try it!   We purchase a Christmas ornament each year from a place we have been (like from Israel, or Turkey or Colorado) so why not one from Door County for this year!

I got the idea that it would be neat to make an ornament to replicate the cliff the girls jumped into the water from:

 We have never done any kind of glass work before, so there was a learning curve for sure!

 Thankfully, there were helpers there.

 Al learned how to cut and grind the glass.

We finished our piece.  They would need to fire it and we would need to go back to get it another day.  Well, this was our last day in Door County, but the kids were staying a little longer so they would return for it.  

We went to check out the girls.   Claire finished painting her horse but the older 2 girls were not done yet.  It was lunch time however, so we went into town and found The Wild Tomato, a pizza place.

 

 It was really good!!  After lunch, Allen offered to stay with the girls while they finished their projects and Adam, Jill, Claire and I found shops to walk around in.  Adam hung out in a guitar place while we girls found other things of interest.

 We drove back to see if the girls were done with their ceramics.

  They weren't quite done, so we watched them complete them.

 Claire got bored and wanted to play outside, even if it was raining.

  Sophia made a little "bone" for the new dog they would be getting this coming week.

It was finally time to go back to our place for the evening.  It was also date night for Jill and Adam while we watched the kids.  We began a new puzzle since we finished the other one.

 It was a little easier than the other puzzle! 

As I think about the fact that we made these artistic things, it reminds me of Eph. 2:8-10.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Handiwork - Other versions say "Masterpiece" or "Workmanship".

In Greek, the word is "poiema" from which we get the word "poem".  It can mean any great or magnificent work of art.  A painting, statue, lyric or even architecture.

In Latin it is the thought of "magnum opus", the greatest achievement, like Michelangelo's ceiling of the Sistene Chapel in the Vatican city or Handel's Messiah.

Mankind is His "poem" but what is His Magnum Opus?  God's greatest work?  The "saved man", the fact that He saved us!  We can't save ourselves.  It is His most amazing gift!  His work of art!!  

Even the angels are intrigued by this!  1 Peter 1:11-12

A couple of days later, Jill sent me photos of the finished projects.