Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: Whitney Grimm

Hi.

I’m a Colorado native who moved to LA in 2012 to seek out and explore the world around me. I knew there was more than what I experienced around me at the time. It was during this time that I began learning who I was, where my gifts and skills were, and what I liked in life. While in LA, I met many people in the fashion and creative industries who helped open my mind and doors to the creative world, showing me how diverse these industries are. I was immediately drawn to visual merchandising, wardrobe styling, graphic design, screen printing, typography, painting, art, etc. After working in such areas, I wanted a more stable skill set to fall back on if needed. So I moved back to Denver and was accepted to a local art school where I graduated with honors, Summa Cum Laude, something I didn’t think was possible for me. That season of life was truly valuable. I was growing in self-confidence, my ability to design well, in developing relationships with clients and others in the industry, and even in pursuing being an artist. I’ve grown so much over the last five years in myself as an artist, developing skills in different areas of art I like. My aesthetic is simple: clean storytelling through lines, shapes, and texture. I’ve incorporated that idea into the three art pieces I’ve done for Park, one of which is this piece.

Piece

The house is a representation of a safehouse, the place in which you find comfort and safety, though it doesn’t have to be a house; it could be whatever structure provides safety and security for you. The hands are God’s hands. He is our ultimate security, comforter, and protector from all enemies, both visible and invisible. And greenery represents life that exists in God and what can be grown in His presence.

PROCESS: MIXED MEDIA

I did a lot of research in commentaries and in different versions of the Bible. I sat with God in it and did a lot of contemplating. I wanted to understand what Psalm 9 was about or what David was saying in it. As I sat at my desk reading and asking God what He wanted me to make and what my spirit felt from this Psalm, I got a picture of a simple line-drawn house. Then, reading the Message Bible, in verses 9-10, the word safehouse stood out to me. I then researched the meaning of safehouse. It’s defined as “a confidential, private dwelling where individuals flee to find refuge. A secure environment.” This Psalm was challenging for me on what to create, because there’s so much meat in it. I also couldn’t get out of my head. But here we are, a finished piece.

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: James Stukenberg

James Stukenberg is a photographer drawn to people stories and creating images with a high degree of authenticity. Since relocating to Colorado from Wisconsin in 2018 he has freelanced, photographing editorial and commercial assignments. He lives with his wife, Anne, and their three young daughters Henrietta, Louisa and Juliana, in a mint green house in Westminster.

Piece

In Psalm 8, the weak are made strong and the lowly become the unexpected rulers of the world. Babies and infants are given power beyond their stature to defeat the enemies of God. And man, whose troubled and broken humanity is made evident in Psalm 7, is granted dominion over God’s glorious handiwork.

This image represents the gracious granting of power and privilege to the truly humble. Showing the back of the child avoids specificity and reflects the broad nature of this instance of image bearing, while the tone, subtle movement and layered finish work to further place the moment in the spiritual realm.

PROCESS: PHOTOGRAPHY

Photograph, wheat paste finish.

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: Denise Yennie

My husband and I moved to Denver by God’s calling on our lives 2 1/2 years ago where he placed us in the neighborhood of Park Church. We are blessed that our two adult kids are also in the area. One of my hobbies is photography: mostly capturing our travel adventures, God’s natural beauty, and food.

Piece

I selected Psalm 7 based on the first verse: “O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me.” The center photo of the volcanic rock cradling a small piece of coral immediately came to mind as a representation of God’s protection and refuge for us. This rock was about 5 ft up on a 12 ft tall volcanic rock wall that encompassed a small village. The only way that little piece of coral got there from the ocean, to be cradled and protected, was from a ferocious storm. The same place in our lives where we seek shelter, represented by the photo of the crashing waves on the rocks.

The top left photo of clouds represents a powerful God on high who rises to anger and judges the evil (vs 6, 8, & 11). With the people below worshiping him (vs 7 & 17). The photo of St. Michael, the archangel, is drawing his sword to put an end to the evil and wicked (vs 12-16) that is also represented in the crashing waves.

PROCESS: PHOTOGRAPHY

At first I was just going to stop at verse 1, using only the center photo—God is my refuge, as He has been so in my life countless times. I had so many great nature photos of places that have brought me peace and reminders of God’s goodness and glory: lots of sunrises and sunsets on mountains and beaches that I chose to use multiple photos. This then required me to do some math, playing with layouts of various size photos to best fit the 18×18 board we were given to use (which is not a standard photo size). I could use several 4x6s, though they created visual chaos, not peace and refuge. I settled on 4 8x10s (a vertical and horizontal = 18″), connected with a smaller center one. This arrangement created a nice visual flow.

But there was so much more going on in this psalm: evil and what it takes to conquer it. I don’t have a lot photos of evil, though found one photo of fire with a dark background I wanted to use to represent God’s burning anger over evil. This would give me a couple dark backgrounds with the colorful sunrise/sunset ones. But it just didn’t work, still too much noise and not a great story flow. I prayed as I went back through the Psalm and my photos to find something that might work and found the statue of St. Michael drawing a sword. Then found the angels singing to the heavens photo. Both had blue backgrounds (one day, one night) that matched the nature photos. These added a humanistic aspect, contrast, and balance to the nature photos.

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: Myra Ferguson

As a digital media subject matter expert, I wrote How to Cheat in Adobe Animate CC: The Art of Design and Animation and have authored video courses for Photoshop and Illustrator. I teach part-time at the University of Colorado Boulder, create video tutorials, and write articles to help InDesign users convert print layouts to interactive HTML5 content. I have worked for Adobe on various projects and have created digital media skill assessments for LinkedIn for Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate, and After Effects. My portfolio is available at myraferguson.myportfolio.com.

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: Kari Langford

Kari Langford lives and works in Denver with a heart for creativity and connection. Guided by faith and a love for beauty in the everyday, she sees art as a way to reflect God’s light, to participate in God’s Kingdom, and to stir other souls to worship. When not painting, she might be enjoying a hike with her pup or reading with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Piece

“Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing.
Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you.
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning, I plead my case to you and watch expectantly.”
(Psalm 5:1–3 CSB)

There is lament in these words. There is also rooted hope and trust in them. My piece is meant to depict that gap in between.

There are multiple layers showing light coming through a window, and more specifically, morning light. There are collaged layers of pattern that bring the element of complexity and history to the work. And finally, the forefront of the painting loosely reflects the dappling of shadow from the trees above. Both the deep, rich color and imprinted markings of the shadows correspond to the immense weight of my cry.

PROCESS: OIL PAINT & COLLAGE

Truly, the most beautiful part of this piece WAS the process, and how the Father guided me through. I wrestled with this painting. I started out with an idea of what I wanted it to look like, primarily a light, joyful flow of light coming in through a window, to depict the morning time when we take our prayers to Him. Something was not quite right, so I would paint layer over layer over layer – thinking the whole time that I was wasting time and paint.

But God…

I was sitting and listening one morning, and I sensed him beautifully show me: Kari this is prayer, this is how it works. The act of continuing to come to him morning after morning, thinking we are wasting our time, but He is creating something beautiful! The process of prayer and life with God does not always feel like things are happening—like it is “working”—and it certainly is not always light and joyful. I learned more about persistent prayer and lament throughout this process and ultimately came to a place of deeper trust in the One who is always Faithful, the One who hears every single prayer that we cry, scream, or whisper.