I am extremely excited to announce my art residency with Crossgates Church in Brandon, MS! For the last couple of years, I have been brain storming how to combine my lifelong connection with art with my faith Jesus’ commands to obey him and love one another. This has led to a partnership with both Crossgates and the Mississippi Arts Commission that will allow me to create a series of paintings inspired by our home neighborhood of Crossgates, and to host two - 2 day long painting workshops aimed at allowing beginners to experience their first venture into painting while learning real skills they can continue to build on.

My hope for this residency is to glorify God by guiding viewers of the works to see new appreciation for our seemingly normal neighborhood and the beauty of God’s creation near us we often take for granted while blessing our community with hands-on exposure to the arts. The residency and its activities will be celebrated with a public showing of the works I will create and of the work the workshop goers will be making during their learning.

The Crossgates Focused Series

As a landscape painter primarily, I will be creating a series of pieces highlighting the beauty of the hidden natural gems around us as well as the landmarks that make our neighborhood distinct and uniquely ours. These pieces may be created in a variety of styles and I plan for this series to have a bit of experimentation naturally be a part of it. I invite everyone to come by during Open Studio hours to watch these pieces come to life, ask questions, and interact with me as I work. 

You can expect pieces to be painted to be similar to these below:

The Painting Workshops

Over the last few years of my painting journey, I have invested in a variety of educational pieces aimed toward improving my understanding of art principles and command of the oil medium. By far the best resource I’ve education I’ve found during this journey is from Art Academy Studios based out of New Jersey. Their curriculum focuses on ultra clear demonstration of technique and a commitment to helping their student understand why and how to breakdown their subject and build it up with sound principles in oil painting. They begin their teaching by focusing only on grayscale which allows their students to master handling a brush, pushing around the oil paint, and to deeply understand form and value before moving on to color and style. 

Under the blessing and support of this school’s founder, I’ll be leading the participants of the residency workshops through a 2 day crash course of handling oil paint, understanding value, and creating form. By the end of the workshop, the participants should have a greater skill and understanding of how to create convincing paintings. While the workshop will not be exhaustive by any means, my hope is that this workshop will awaken a hungry for them to go learn and create more on their own!

The workshops are open to participants 13 years old or above and each workshop will be capped at 12 students on a first come, first served basis. At that point, any further interested students can sign-up for the waitlist. Cost of each workshop spot will be $25 to cover a small part of the materials and time needed for the course. Each students will be leave the workshop with a pair of paint brushes, a palette knife and a set of paints donated by Art Academy Studios. 

Sign up for a workshop below!