Psalm 147—Artwork

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

Person: Alison Harshberger

Hey, I’m Alison! I do product marketing and graphic design and live in Denver, CO with my pup, Nala. I studied marketing and graphic design in college and fell in love with digital art and design.

Piece: Digital Illustration

This piece is a Digital illustration made on Procreate (shout out to the iPad and the Apple Pencil).

Psalm 147 has some iconic verses that speak to the vastness of God’s glory. I started this piece inspired by the imagery of space and the cosmos, but changed direction mid way through. I ended up incorporating the stars with one of my favorite pieces of symbolism and my favorite things to draw, a twisted tree trunk. For me, the tree trunk is a representation of God’s faithfulness and his character, with beautifully hidden mysteries throughout and steadiness that endures all seasons.

Psalm 147

Every summer at Park Church, we spend several weeks in the Psalms. The Psalms give us a vocabulary and a “hymnal” for relating to God through the full range of human experience and emotion, ultimately pointing us to Jesus. We’re in our thirteenth summer of “Christ in the Psalms.” This year will take us from Psalm 140 to Psalm 150.

Psalm 146

Every summer at Park Church, we spend several weeks in the Psalms. The Psalms give us a vocabulary and a “hymnal” for relating to God through the full range of human experience and emotion, ultimately pointing us to Jesus. We’re in our thirteenth summer of “Christ in the Psalms.” This year will take us from Psalm 140 to Psalm 150.

Psalm 145—Artwork

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

Person: Kenzie Jones

My name is Kenzie Jones. Wife to Collin. Mom to two littles (plus one more on the way). Stay at home mom. Aspiring flower farmer. Former occupational therapist. Beginner watercolor artist.

Piece: Digital Illustration

This piece is mixed media, including watercolor, oil paint and oil pastels, and one piece of medical oxygen tape.

I’ve always been drawn to the themes of topography in scripture. In fact, the theme of gardens, God as the great gardener in John 15, and Mary mistaking the resurrected Jesus for a gardener is why we chose to name our oldest daughter, Eden. My soul stirs as I consider how rocks cry out (Luke 19:40) or all creation groans, (Romans 8:22), or the heavens pour forth speech and reveal knowledge day after day (Psalm 19). While reflecting on Psalm 145, I couldn’t shake the two juxtaposed themes of God’s splendor, glory, majesty, greatness next to his tender care, kindness, and sheer goodness.

To me, summers in Colorado pour forth speech. The mountains to me speak of Gods greatness and power and glory, and yet the wildflowers of the field that He clothes speak of his kindness and tender care. His greatness and his goodness know no match. I aimed to place the landscape and the flower study side by side as a representation of these two beautiful truths. He is incomprehensibly glorious and he is intimately good. Thanks be to God.

Psalm 145

Every summer at Park Church, we spend several weeks in the Psalms. The Psalms give us a vocabulary and a “hymnal” for relating to God through the full range of human experience and emotion, ultimately pointing us to Jesus. We’re in our thirteenth summer of “Christ in the Psalms.” This year will take us from Psalm 140 to Psalm 150.

Psalm 144—Artwork

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

Person: Bruce Butler

I’m Bruce and I’ve been at Park for almost 12 years. I’m married to Jamie Rosenberry, we have one little tike, Joan, who is almost 2. I’ve been a Graphic Designer for about 12 years, formerly freelancing as Wise Bison, and now working full time at The Fire and Smoke Society, a yummy spice and sauce company. I also play guitar for Park and my two bands, Last Ditch and Our Violet Room. Recently, I also became a co-manager for Victory House, a sober living home within Providence Network. Cooking for friends and family is as a beloved hobby.

Piece: Digital Illustration

I chose Psalm 144, a humbling psalm that juxtaposes the unimaginable power of God and the weakness of man. With verses 3-4 saying “Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow,” we are reminded of our own mortality and the humility God shows in even caring for us.

With the tone of the Psalm being battle, awe, and a very blunt take on the humanity’s place with God, I decided to do a more literal version with the artwork. These verses had such blatant imagery, I chose to try to portray this:

“Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
Reach down your hand from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
whose right hands are deceitful.”

I chose black and white and combined stippling and shading inspired by the wood engravings of Gustave Dore.

While controversial, artificial intelligence is undeniably permeating the art world. While I don’t agree with every use of it, I do think it can be a useful tool. Where I usually source imagery to work with from elsewhere, I decided to enlist the help of Midjourney. I began with an image of mountains in a storm and a separate image of the hand reaching through clouds. Using Photoshop and Procreate, I added hand drawn elements and several attempts to create a unique texture that helped blend the picture into one cohesive, heavily textured image.

Psalm 144

Every summer at Park Church, we spend several weeks in the Psalms. The Psalms give us a vocabulary and a “hymnal” for relating to God through the full range of human experience and emotion, ultimately pointing us to Jesus. We’re in our thirteenth summer of “Christ in the Psalms.” This year will take us from Psalm 140 to Psalm 150.

A Word From Author Jonathan Holmes on This Year’s Men’s Retreat

A quick invitation from the speaker for this year’s Men’s Retreat, author Jonathan Holmes…
Our annual Men’s Retreat is a core time for growth, laughs, and dedicated time as a community. Over the years, we’ve seen embarrassing wiffle ball errors, outstanding mountain cycling, decent fly-fishing results, and a confusing amount of spikeball. But more than that, we’ve seen new friendships sprout, old friendship refreshed, and community deepen. This year is all about friendship (though spikeball will still be available).

 

Men’s Retreat 2024: Forming Friendship

Friday–Sunday, August 9–11 • YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park, CO • $200 (Scholarships Available)

Learn More & Register

Psalm 143—Artwork

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

Person: Seth Coulter

My name is Seth Coulter, and I am the writer and artist behind “Saint Brigand,” an Instagram page (@saintbrigand) and website (saintbrigand.com) devoted to exploring the intersection of theology and art. It is my hope to open conversational spaces via writing and art where seekers and believers might be able ask questions and explore faith through the vehicle of artistic contemplation.

Piece: Digital Illustration

This piece was digitally created on a tablet with stylus. Its overall style inspiration is that of the illustrator and engraver line-cut style from the printing press age. <

This Psalm, although having a desperate setting—that of being in most urgent need, ‘crushed to the ground,’ has immense reserves of hope in the God that saves, the God that is faithful. And so it was my hope to try and capture that desperation mingled with hope. This ultimately led me to use the figures here as well as a muted color palette. But around the scene there are gold lines to visually introduce salvation breaking through. The piece in total took approximately 5 weeks from start to finish to complete, and had 7 iterations (it was a wandering road for a while).