Workshop Leaders 2008

Sandra Bowden is a painter and printmaker living in Chatham, MA. Reading and seeing, image and text have provided a rich well of materials from which she draws her inspiration. In 2005 Square Halo published The Art of Sandra Bowden. With over 100 one person shows, her work is in many collections including the Vatican Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, the Museum of Biblical Art, and the Haifa Museum, and many private and corporate collections. She is also a passionate collector of religious art dating from the early 15th century to the present. Miserere and Guerre by George Rouault was show from her collection at MOBIA in NYC in 2006. Sandra was president of Christians in the Visual Arts from 1993-2007 and is a Trustee of the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City. She studied at Massachusetts College of Art and received her BA from the State University of New York. She has studied biblical archaeology, geology and biblical and modern Hebrew.
Word as Image: Sandra Bowden's art celebrates how language or the word has allowed communication across time and place. Bowden’s art is a complex meditation on the Word, incorporating biblical archaeological references and ancient text, illuminations and books. The mystery of the written word as a vehicle of communication across generations has been an important component other personal iconography, using segments of language and text as design within the image. Reading and seeing, image and text have provided a rich well of materials from which she has drawn her inspiration. She is fascinated with the idea that these small pictorial symbols we call letters have allowed us to communicate across time and cultural barriers, and that we are graced with a conversation to the past.  For more on her art, see: www.sandrabowden.com 

Isabelle Depelteau received her Bachelor’s Honours Degree in Fine Arts (Dance and Music) in 1976. She studied at the Martha Graham Dance School in NY and with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, also in NY. She apprenticed at the Toronto Dance Theatre and DanceMakers in Toronto, Canada, and then decided to return to Quebec to create her own Dance School. After 15 years of professional dance and a serious injury, Isabelle returned to university to study scriptwriting. She graduated from UQAM in 1990 in Scriptwriting and began a new career in the television industry. She then met her husband, Director of Photography and Producer Daniel Shannon and they created their own television production company. Isabelle has written, directed and produced over 20 documentaries for television for broadcasters such as: The Discovery Channel, PBS, CBC, Radio-Canada, Télé-Quebec, Life Network, Bravo! France 5, France 3 and many more. Her work has been broadcast in over 100 countries and now extends to feature film screenwriting and educational websites. She is in the process of completing her Certificate in Theology from ITF (Institut de Théologie pour la Francophonie) and serves as Head of Media Relations at Église Nouvelle Vie (a church of over 3000 people) in Montreal, under the direction of Pastor Claude Houde. She resides in Montreal, Canada with her husband, 16 year old daughter Katia and 14 year old son Anthony.

Matthew Dickerson is the director of the New England Young Writers Conference at Middlebury College and the author of several books, including a novel (The Finnsburg Encounter), a biography (Hammers and Nails: The Life and Music of Mark Heard), and a work of literary criticism (Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings). Matt is also a fishing (especially fly-fishing) and outdoors writer with a regular column in The Addison Independent, and is a frequent contributor to Fly Fish America and the Burlington Free Press. Several of his books, such as Hammers and Nails and more recently From Homer to Harry Potter: a Handbook on Myth and Fantasy deal with the importance of faith and art. His most recent books, Ents, Elves and Eriador: the Environmental Vision of J.R.R.Tolkien, and the forthcoming Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C.S.Lewis explore the relationship between story and nature. He will give both a talk and a workshop on the relationship between art and nature, or creativity and the Creation.

 Elisabeth Ehmann was recognized by art instructors and local critics for her natural talent when she achieved photographic realism in her oil paintings as a teenager. Born into a musical family, she also studied vocal and piano performance and worked as a professional musician before entering college to earn a Bachelor’s of Science in Bible Studies. In 2006 she moved to New York City to begin training with painter, Jacob Collins, at the Water Street Atelier. She anticipates graduating in the summer of 2009. Although New York is exciting and she is grateful for the opportunity of living and studying there, Elisabeth still considers Vermont to be her home and loves occasionally returning to visit her dad and sister who live in Shoreham.

Jason Harrod draws from the best traditions of American music to create a sound all his own. His songs about lost love, found joys, and spiritual longing have garnered him a loyal following across the country. Harrod’s latest release, Bright As You, finds him backed by musicians including Phil Madeira, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Al Green, and Mavis Staples. Before his solo work, he previously released 3 albums to critical acclaim as half of the folk-pop duo Harrod and Funck. In 2001 he won first prize in North Carolina Songwriters Co-op contest and in 2002 appeared on the Legendary Arthur Smith’s “Carolina Calling” television show along with Alison Krauss and Union Station. In 2005, Jason performed at the International Bluegrass Music Association's (IMBA) annual gathering as part of an emerging artist showcase. Living in Skin, Jason’s acoustic-based first album, features the award-winning songs “When I Get Home” and “Carolina.” for more on Jason Harrod, see www.jasonharrod.com