Art & Connections – Todd Thomas

The Making Art sessions at the Wild Goose Festival were memorable for many reasons. The creative connections happening across generations and continents, and the conversations about both making art and interacting with scripture made it all worthwhile.

Our connections were felt across generations as age barriers seemed less important and even the local accents blended from Canada, the Deep South and New Zealand. From the planned projects to some activities that participants brought with them to Wild Goose, we rubbed elbows and joined around tables to get creative together; the conversations coming from those sessions were often beautiful.

We listened to scripture and let it lead us to images, and then let the images lead us back to scripture, as visuals helped inform us and teach us to reread. One of the most memorable conversations happened at the table where we crafted peace prayers for Shakori Hills and the whole world, and how one participant had no idea that scripture was actively leading people to engage peace and seek peace in the world. That person was suddenly looking at religion and at God in new ways. We made some art, but I think we also shared some life and made some space for God’s Spirit to move and even dance.

Todd Thomas is a Texas native, born and raised in the Dallas surrounds. He has lived and worked around the world andcurrently serves as a full-time pastor in the Washington DC area. He paints, tries to the play the ukulele and djembe, enjoys photography and all kinds of composition in many mediums.

Photos by Scott Griessel of Creatista.com!