Julie Chen Photography

{Art available here}

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8

Blueberry picking in Michigan each summer has become one of our family’s favorite summer traditions. We will drive up for the day, pick about 12 pounds worth, stick them in the cooler & head to the beach for fun in the sun!

{Vintage Art style available here}

A few years ago, I decided to use a photo I had shot of my favorite little mister’s hands stained & full of those rich & juicy berries to visually illustrate Psalm 34:8.

This verse, and actually all of Psalm 34, has meant a lot to me over the years, as an encouragement and a huge challenge… verse 1 proclaims that I will extol (or praise) the Lord at all times … really? Will I? What a challenge. Back in 2002 my pastor was doing an entire series on Psalm 34 and I prayed about those powerful words and proceeded to go through the biggest trial and heart ache of my life. For the first time I understood the Psalm in more of it’s fullness, which talks about the concept of worship being a sacrifice. {Worship isn’t much of a sacrifice when life is good, right? And, up till then, life had been pretty darn good, so it was easy to give thanks & praise, but when you are crushed & heart broken, it is not.}

Then, moving on through the Psalm it gets to the taste & see part.

Some thoughts I had: Do I really believe that the Lord is good? Or do I just think the things He gives me are good? And, what does it really mean to taste the Lord?

When you taste something, you partake of it. It must enter in.

When thinking through a visual food to represent the tasting, fruits came to mind since they are naturally more sweet & tasty than other foods. Apples have too much of a symbolism with the garden of eden; bananas would like silly; juicy grapes remind others of wine; then, after taking the photo of the handful of blueberries, I thought, “This is it!”

This is a book I designed for Tyndale House Publishers for the fabulous Lisa Velthouse. I wanted to show the cover {as well as the rejected covers on the left} as her concept for the book goes along with Psalm 34’s taste and see theme. {Side note here: While designing Lisa’s cover, I had the privilege of meeting her & giving her my Psalm 34 art which she said encouraged her to press on through the editorial process!}

In the book, Lisa relays an amazing story of a rabbi giving the pentateuch to his kindergarten class. The books he laid on their desks were fresh, brand new, and made of leather. He then goes around & puts wax paper on top of each and every book. After that, he goes around again and pours out blobs of honey on the wax paper. He tells the kids to taste and lick the honey & says to remember that this is what the Lord tastes like!
Oh, my! I just think that is the coolest image of partaking in the goodness & sweetness of God & His Word! When you read His Word, does it taste good to you? Do you take it in? Does it transform you? Does it nourish your soul? Do you crave more?

{btw, Craving Grace is available here}

It’s Giveaway Time!

Earlier this month,  I  introduced my new color line of inspirational art & today I am giving away one 12×18 Psalm 34 Taste and See fine art print.

How To Enter the Contest:

1. For One Entry: Hop on over to Life Verse Design & then come back here & let me know in the comments below which art is your favorite from my shop.

2. To gain a Second Entry: Hop on over & like my shop on facebook & then come back here & let me know you did in another comment here below.

3. To gain a Third Entry: Share this giveaway with all of your friends & family via facebook, twitter, your own blog, word of mouth… however you function & come back here & let me know in another comment that you did.

The winner will be announced Friday night! I hope YOU win! Thanks for passing the word along & enjoy!

Grace & Peace,

Julie