By Greta Sandquist (interviewed by Liz Kimmel)
For many years, only three people (other than Pastor Jim) knew the annual theme ahead of time. These were the artists involved with creating the bulletin covers and the banners, Greta Sandquist (and her husband David, who provided technical help) and Julie Thompson. Pictured here you will see the ten bulletin covers for the years 2000 through 2009.
In the year 2000, no separate banner was created, so Greta painted the bulletin artwork onto canvas. That year the same image did double duty. Since it was more graphic in style, Greta drew out the design and David helped her with the painting. They had to move the dining room table to the side, and It filled much the floor between their dining and living room.
In 2001, Julie recreated the bulletin image in fabric for the banner. The idea came out of a brainstorming session between the two of them, integrating worshippers into the design of Jesus’ face. Greta wasn’t sure she would be able to pull it off, but in the end, it was one of the most impactful covers/banners of all the years.
Both of these two ladies are very talented and have created beautiful artwork that we’ve enjoyed over the years.
I asked Greta some specific questions about her process that I thought would be interesting to share. Here are her responses:
WHO KNEW?
PJ was very secretive about the theme message. The only one who knew at our house, besides me, was David. That was in the early years when I didn’t know much about technology. David had to help me scan the art and prepare a digital file for the printer. As my skill level in technology grew, I could do it on my own and then David wasn’t told in advance. Nobody knew besides me, PJ, and Julie. I think we were always able to keep it a secret, and to my knowledge, there were no oopsie reveals.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROCESS:
PJ and I would start with a meeting where he told me about the theme, the verses, what it meant, and any imagery he had in mind. Sometimes he had visual ideas for me, other years he didn’t. In the early years, there were more check-ins and he had input on sketches and ideas. As we worked together year after year, I learned to understand his process more and more, and likewise, I think he learned to trust me more and more. So in the later years, PJ and I would have an initial meeting to hand off the concept and then maybe one more check in for him to approve it, but he became much more hands off and relied on me to interpret his vision without much input. It was a good collaboration, and we always worked well together.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU?
I don’t know how to answer that one because there were so many steps involved: concepts, meeting(s), revisions, sketches, final artwork, digital prep. There is no way to narrow it down to an average timeframe. Suffice it to say that each project took many hours from start to finish. They were all so different.
WHAT MEDIUMS DID YOU USE?
Over the years I used different mediums: pen and ink, charcoal drawing, pencil drawing, watercolor, and one-year acrylic painting (although that one is not included in the images shown here). If I remember correctly, the original acrylic painting was auctioned off at one of the youth fundraisers at church. I remember that back in the day we were limited to a single ink color, so I had to factor that into my design. It changed over the years to 2 color, and eventually full color bulletins printed at church.
HOW WERE THEY PRINTED?
In the beginning, we had them printed at a local print shop. We had boxes of a years’ worth of bulletin blanks shipped to the church with the explicit directions to arrive AFTER Theme Message Sunday. The new bulletins were handed out at church the following week. PJ wanted to make sure that the boxes wouldn’t arrive early and accidentally be opened and spoil the secret ahead of time.
HOW DID YOU PRESENT THE IMAGES?
In later years we were able to digitally present the artwork to the congregation AFTER the message. At first, that was a flash drive installed just before it was needed so that even the technicians in the sound booth didn’t get a sneak peek of the new bulletin. Eventually that process eased a bit, and the images were sent to Liz to incorporate into the slideshow for the morning.
David and I always helped PJ to hang and cover the banner either the Saturday night before Theme Sunday, or early that morning. Julie also helped as she was able (her height created some challenges). It was tricky to get the sheet hanging over it just right so that it wouldn’t fall off, but could be easily pulled away at the right moment.
Pastor Jim LOVED the big reveal!
BCF LIFEline 