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

Person: Rachel Buterbaugh

Rachel Buterbaugh is a Denver native and private music teacher who has always harbored a passion for the visual arts.

Piece: Photography

“The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.” (v.3)

The picture the psalmist paints in this verse immediately jumped out at me and provided the inspiration for the main image of this piece. I knew I wanted the furrows to be actually cut into the picture instead of just drawn in, which was the jumping off point for the 3D elements. As I started to create furrows on a human back, I got to thinking about what comes later from furrows made in the ground. Their purpose is to make room for seeds in order that there might be a harvest later. In the same way, the Lord is capable of bringing great blessing out of great suffering in our lives. The image of marks on a human back also brought to mind Jesus’ scourging prior to His crucifixion, and yet, not a single drop of His suffering was wasted. Death, sin, and wickedness did not prevail against Him. On the other side of Jesus’ unimaginable suffering was unfathomable life and blessing.

Process:

This piece is paper layered on paper. There was a lot of measuring and cutting involved throughout the process (and hot-gluing for the flowers). The different ways the different types of paper reacted to the adhesive was the most challenging aspect to creating this piece, which I eventually solved by layering on yet more paper. My main desire was to represent life out of suffering, thus the flowers growing out of the furrows. I chose colors and textures that had a royal feel and suggested the future glory that those in Christ will one day experience.

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

Person: John Forney

I came out to Colorado 20+ years ago and have lived here ever since. My wife, Veronica, and I can often be found riding trains throughout Colorado with our 11-year old, Grayson. I’m a black and white photographer who enjoys using an 8×10 large format camera.

Piece: Photography

I wanted an image that conveyed blessing, fruitfulness, and family (family tree). The image I shot is from a fruit tree in a vineyard.

Process:

I used an analog process called lith printing. Part of the lure of the process is the ability to work with certain papers that have been out of production for decades. The image was taken with a lens from the 1800’s that rendered a rather soft image. The lith process allowed for a high contrast print I was looking for.

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

Person: Lou Ann Summers

I am a mother of four and a grandmother of eight. I’m in love with flowers! I am also obsessed with creating things!

Piece: Acrylic

When I read the words of Psalm 127, “ unless the Lord builds the house,” I thought of the saying “a man’s house is his castle.” How fitting then is this warrior contending with his opponents. “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior… Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them!” If you’ll take a close look you’ll see that this quiver has four different arrows representing our four children.

Process:

God allowed me the perfect opportunity to go and visit my sister who is a professional artist. She is my artistic hero, and I was blessed for her to “hold my hand” while I painted this picture!

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

Person: Anna Armstrong

My name is Anna, and I’m finding my way as a new mom while balancing my career and creative pursuits. These days you’ll find me drinking lots of coffee, snuggling my daughter Margot for as long as she’ll let me, and dreaming about the next mountain adventure or trip for our little family.

Piece: Acrylic

This was a deeply meaningful piece to create. I lost my brother to cancer last November and Psalm 126 was a balm to my soul as I watched his health decline. We who sow in tears will reap in joy. I wanted to create a piece that conjured the beauty that can be born from faithful suffering.

Process:

The idea for this painting came to me one day while I was on a walk. I had the image in my mind of a bountiful field of wheat held within a teardrop. As I started painting, a scene emerged that blended my image of a wheat field with an image of the meadow where we laid my brother to rest. Within the tears is a place of bounty. The process of creating this peace was a small step of healing and faith.

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

Person: Steve Vanderheide

Hi! I’m a filmmaker and producer and I like to dabble in visual art.

Piece: Composite Photography

This actually started out as a sketch during Project 101010 (where a group of artists from Park post art that they spent 10 min on, for 10 days, with 10 Psalms). I was drawn to verse two which says:

“As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds His people,
from this time forth and forevermore.” (v.2)

It made me picture the Lord reaching down into the dirt and lifting up his people. It made me think of words like “support” and “protection.” He is lifting up the land of those who serve Him, saving them from the temptation of “the scepter of wickedness.” The mountains are there not only to give a literal visual element to the verse, but also to represent protection: cities that are surrounded by mountains have a natural fortress that makes them harder to approach. Jerusalem, in the middle of mountains, is represented here by Denver as a way of personalizing it for me, for our church, and to paint a hopeful picture for those in our city that could come to know the Lord.

Process:

This artwork was created in Photoshop, and the big hurdle I had to overcome was getting light and shadows to fall in the same direction. I chose to have light coming from the far left, so you’ll notice that the shadows all fall that same direction on each mountain peak. I had to look for, and cut out photos that I’ve taken of different mountains over the last 12 years. Mountains from Colorado, Wyoming (Grand Tetons), and Iceland are all featured. I then went outside and took a photo of my hands, with a flash off to the left, in an attempt to match the lighting angle from the mountain photos. Finally, I “cheated” a bit and found an aerial image of Denver with similar lighting on iStockphoto that felt like it was the correct angle. It was a challenge, but a blast to put together.