right click on this picture, then click on "view picture" then use the + magnifier to look at each piece more closely.

I seem to enjoy a bit of torture, when it comes to coordinating projects for church. I take on a huge project which nearly kills me with the amount of time and effort it takes to get it done.
The last few weeks have been exactly that.
I was asked by the pastor last year, if at day camp this year, I would be willing to do art, instead of craft. I was thrilled with the request, even if part of his reason was to save money. :)
He talked of a mural, or something big….
Fast forward 6 months, when the planning for day camp started. After talking some to the children’s director, we came up with this idea of individual canvases joining, but having each child’s art, with one big drawing to connect them all…. And that’s what I did.
Unwrapping 350 canvases that were double wrapped was a lot of work, as was doing a number grid system on the back of all of them. I was blessed with many hands, which helped to lighten the work.
Another able-bodied carpenter made a plywood wall that would hold all of these canvases spanning 19+ feet across and 10 feet tall. But then there was the issue of how we would get these to stay on the wall.
We’d agreed on velcro, so my wonderful husband gave up many evening hours by standing on a ladder, and putting 190 feet of velcro to accommodate all the canvases and he made sure that the lines were straight. We also had many hands putting velcro dots on the back of the canvases.
When the wall was up against it’s “permanent” home, then I went to work putting all the blank canvases on the wall. I projected my original drawing and stood on a ladder for several more hours to draw the whole thing. Then 350 canvases had to come down off the wall, so that we could pack them all for the children.
All during this, my parents were kinda enough to keep my boys with them in NYC for the week, so I could do all this prep work.
The moment of truth came last week, when we then started to have the kids paint.
They painted in the black shapes/lines which I’d drawn for them. They were only given black acrylic. Many had never painted on a canvas.
The black dried overnight, and we then had color out for the children. They were artist, and could choose to paint their canvases any way they saw fit, except that they had to leave the black alone, and not leave any white on the canvas. They followed my instructions perfectly. But at this point, I still did not know how it all turned out, and how things would all line up.
Wednesday night, when everyone else was gone, we had about 6 or 7 people who came out to help me put the canvases up. Many hands again made this go quick and smooth, with a lot of good organizing by my sister Raquel, who came up from NYC for a couple days to help me, along with Diana, who is the kinda person I need to have on every large project from now on.
As we put the canvases up, it was amazing to get to see the “mural/mosaic” wall unfold. The pieces were all lining up. Even some colors lined up. The black lines were there, and they met up with the next canvas.
The children did not know what the “BIG PICTURE” would be, but I told them I was going to be surprised as well, with how it turned out. And I was.
I could not be more pleased with it. It was a joy and a pleasure, and all those hours of planning, prepping, worrying and prepping, and planning were worth it.
I hope the children do continue to think of themselves as artists, and I’m glad I had a part in helping them see that we are all part of something bigger, and God instilled creativity in all of us, because He is the greatest artist ever!!
Here are some pics of the mural. If you’re in PA and want to see the real thing, drop me a line, and I’ll take you to it. It’s much better seeing it in person. But make it quick, because I don’t know how long it will be on display.





Oh, yeah! When this was over, we also made sketchbooks and had drawing lessons on shadow and light, and drawing a friend!
It was a great artistic week for 300+ children! And I loved every minute of it!!

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