Alcala

Photo courtesy of Sarah Miller

So the real reason I was in Spain last weekend is to support my friend Chantelle, who had been asked to take a dance workshop out there. She had also volunteered Kate and I to take an art workshop, but I have to admit we really did not know what would be required of us until we got there! 

"So you're going to show us how to express our faith through worship, then."

Oh, riiiiiiiight... sure we are. 

Anyway, we quickly came up with an idea and with the help of some fabulous translators were able to explain it to the participants. We took two workshops, the morning one consisted of children, the afternoon of adults but we gave the same instructions to each. Pick a story relevant to your faith, split it into a beginning/middle/end and chose a word for each part, then represent each word using image, colour or texture. Some of the kids were so young I honestly thought it would go straight over their heads, but I couldn't have been more wrong! Every one of them had such a clear, and assured sense of their faith and listening to them explain their paintings was very inspiring. And then in the second session, the adults also expressed themselves each in unique and creative ways. 

Most of all, it was great getting to know so many new people, and the art really helped to break down the language barrier. 

Photo courtesy of Sarah Miller

Photo courtesy of Ken Barrett

Photo courtesy of Sarah Miller