Personal and Liturgical Creative Expression
In-person retreat postponed to next year
June 13-18, 2021
Registration to coming soon.
Conference Classes and Instructors
WATERCOLOR – Billie Shelburn – Join us for a fun week of creative use of watercolor and other types of watermedia to produce many paintings of our beautiful and colorful world. The class will be based on the principles and elements of design and will help you to see and produce nature in a new way. Special emphasis will be on composition and learning to create depth, inspiration and definition in your paintings. This class is for all levels with no experience required. All materials needed to complete at least one painting a day will be provided by the instructor for a class fee of $100.00.
ILLUMINATED LETTERING – Sharon Coogle – Overcome pen paralysis by learning easy tricks to stylize YOUR OWN HANDWRITING to letter poems, verses, inscriptions, correspondence – even your grocery list! Embellish your work with colorful initials and borders based on the ancient motif of acanthus leaves. Neither calligraphy nor drawing experience is required. The class is designed to encourage exploration of different tools and media – pens, brushes, colored pencils, watercolor and gouache. A $25 supply fee covers all materials.
WOODCARVING – Kent Ellison – Woodcarving at Kanuga will provide you with an opportunity to explore working with knives and gouges to create wooden works of art. All knives and gouges are provided. Safety gloves are also provided, and their use is mandatory. Men, women and couples are encouraged to give woodcarving a try. It can be very therapeutic and relaxing. It is a no stress zone! Couples who carve together tend to create a healthy environment of competition. A large assortment of projects from utensils, animals, religious items and more are provided. All are welcome! There is no additional charge for supplies. Everything needed will be provided for you.
CREATIVE WRITING – Cathy Smith Bowers – North Carolina Poet Laureate 2010—2012, was born and grew up in Lancaster, S.C. She was educated at USC-L, Winthrop University, Oxford, and the Haden Institute. The Abiding Image: An Invitation to Poetry with Cathy Smith Bowers This workshop is for anyone who longs to express thought, experience, and emotion in poetic form. During this workshop we will explore a variety of ways to tap into abiding images from our waking and dreaming lives and to expand and craft those images into vibrant and compelling poems. Both experienced and inexperienced writers are welcome.
FLOWER ARRANGING – John Grady Burns – Come join us for an exciting week of flower arranging with noted artist and author John Grady Burns. This will be a wonderful week of learning a variety of skills and flower arrangements for both home, special occasions and church. This class size is limited so please register early. A description of the 4 classes is listed below. All materials and supplies needed will be provided by the instructor for a class fee of $205.00.
Class #1 BASIC FLORAL DESIGN: Teaching you the basic elements of floral design. Proportion, balance, radiation Basic items to work with in design. Oasis, tape, wire, containers, etc.
Class #2 VASE ARRANGEMENTS: Teaching you the basic “know how” to create a simple vase design. Different shaped vases create different looks. Tape vs non taped, chicken wire, metal frogs, etc.
Class #3 ORCHID COMPOSITIONS: Teaching you the basics of grouping plants together. How to line containers that are porous. How to secure plants in containers, watering, etc.
Class #4 SCAVENGING FROM NATURE: Teaching you what to look for and how to gather. How to process the plant material/flowers you gather. How to make your design very natural looking (not contrived).
SECULAR AND SACRED – Marion Scoular – Doing the embroidery was fun…but now what? Professional finishing can be very expensive, so why not “do it yourself”? In learning edgings that are easy, attractive and versatile, you may bring pieces of your own or merely do doodles. Covered will be a corded edging, a picot edging and a demonstration of how to lace your embroidery for framing. Remember…the word embroidery includes needlepoint! Personal contact will be required prior to the class. Material cost will be minimal and depend on whether you need doodle fabric. All necessary written instruction will be included. Needles will be supplied. Maximum cost $15.00.
EMBROIDERED DRUM – Penny Pritchard – Learn a variety of embroidery stitches as you create your own version of this lovely pin drum. The first part of our time together will focus on different embroidery stitches and the last day we will put our drum together. Expect to learn 10 – 15 embroidery stitches, finishing techniques and information about felted wool and embroidery threads and needles. You will have a choice of blue, purple, black or off white. This will be a relaxed class with lots of time for stitching, chatting and sharing. Cost for instructions, materials and supplies will be under $35.00. Kit will include the wool, special interfacing for finishing the drum, a ball of white or black embroidery thread, needle, and an embroidery stitch book.
STUDIO TIME – Marnie Smith – This year we are going to offer Studio Time again. If you are like me, you have numerous projects of good intentions sitting in your sewing basket waiting to be finished. Studio Time is a great time to tackle this! We will meet in the Lounge of the third floor of the Inn during class time. Bring your own project and enjoy being with like-minded individuals. We will stitch and chat, have a good time and maybe learn something new.
Conference Staff
Chaplain – Ted Lyddon Hatten – is ordained in the United Methodist Church, and is currently the Director of the Wesley Foundation and adjunct professor at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. He is married to a dancer/mathematics teacher, and father to three amazing sons.
Also an artist, his work is best described as theopoetic and multidisciplinary. To learn more about Ted go to http://www.tedlyddonhatten.com/
Coordinator – Lark Howell – is a native of Anniston, Alabama where she attends Grace Episcopal Church. She has served on two vestries, the Altar Guild, the Healing Ministry, the Preservation Committee and is currently a Eucharistic minister. She is a past chairman of the Alabama Diocesan Commission on Spirituality and has been co-chairman of Kanuga’s Liturgical Arts Conference for the past 10 years. Lark is married to Joe, and together they are co-founders of The Institute for Conscious Being, which teaches the spirituality of the Enneagram. Her leisure time is filled with creative activities such as needlework, photography, flower arranging, gardening, traveling and pampering their three cocker spaniels. Today Lark continues to find meaning, creative expression and pure joy in being a part of the Liturgical Arts Conference. “It is a personal blessing to be a part of such an event which touches so many lives. For me it is an annual spiritual renewal offering new creative ways to express and share my faith.”
Gena Vinyard – Organist – Grace Episcopal Church Anniston, AL