This past weekend I tried something new. I have been trying new things with my art and I had the opportunity to design a stage. I had signed up for this conference a while ago and art has really been stirring my soul. This ladies group, #NABWU, highlights "Creative Arts" as one of their points of focus, and I asked how I could participate or how I could help and in the process I was asked if I would consider decorating the stage. It was a big undertaking, but as I talked it out over the phone, I realized that this was something that I wanted to try. How could I miss an opportunity like this where the theme was "Dream big?"
And I did dream.
I went home and I dreamed about how this could work. I researched how to pull my idea together and I learned some great quotes by artists who dreamed big, including Van Gogh who said, "I dream my painting and then I paint my dream." Well, I did not paint this one, but with the help of my husband and some great friends, I was able to build this stage that came to mind.
The stage was inspired by the theme of dreams with the design in the middle being representative of a dream catcher. The dream catcher also represents a connection to Baptist Women because of the mission work that has been done to partner with the indigenous people. I however wanted to keep the image of the dream catcher vague because I wanted the stage to speak to people in different ways and I also did not want to offend anyone who might think that this was native spiritualism on a Baptist Stage. Therefore, I removed the outer circle that we might normally see around a dream catcher.
The letters "DREAM" were hung from the top of the stage to represent both the theme, and were hung like you might see objects hung from a baby's mobile in his/her crib.
I loved how this design could speak to people in many different ways. It could be seen as a sunshine, or a flower and I loved how the shape radiated outward and "reached out," so to say, toward your "dream."
Some people saw the dream catcher, one saw a sunburst, and I had one person who saw it like a web and he asked if this was representing being "caught in the web of God's love?" Although I did not think of that specifically, I created it to speak to people in different ways and I loved that he was able to find his own interpretation and that it spoke to him in a unique way.
It was a great weekend, and I felt good about this opportunity and this work. It was an opportunity to #dreambig and to see how dreams can be accomplished, grow and be encouraged.
Tina Rae