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

Person: Beth Dreyer

I am Beth Dreyer, a Chicago-raised transplant living in Denver for almost eight years. I graduated with a B.F.A. in Studio Art with an art education endorsement and have been teaching elementary art in the public school system for 10 years. I am a wife to Adam and a mom to two—Ramona and Nolan. As an art teacher, I am constantly experimenting with different art mediums and techniques which, especially during the pandemic, have helped me see the beauty and mystery in the world around me.

Piece: Mixed Media

While reading Psalm 115, I felt two distinctive things: the conviction of idolatry and its contrast with the sovereignty, steadfastness, and trustworthiness of the Lord. As someone who often struggles with shame, verses 4–8 stood out to me first, addressing the idols we often build.

Through idols built by our own hands, we try to make our own way separate from God, thinking we know ourselves better than He knows us. I do this all the time. This idolatry is symbolized by the gold rock/gemstone raised from the panel, representing our attempt to build and construct our own lives separate from Him. But, by the grace of God, HE is steadfast and faithful and is the true God. The whimsical gold and white background represents the Lord’s sovereignty and faithfulness. His refinement, like actual gold, is at work in us. Even though we make our own idols and try to separate ourselves from Him, He clings to His people and frees us to rest in Him and trust in Him alone. Like verses 9–11 tell us, God is the one true God, our help and our shield. My prayer is that this rests on our hearts and transforms us.

This piece is a mixed media artwork: ink, watercolor, pastel, and spray paint. I have worked a lot with ink, watercolor, and pastel, but this was my first time working with spray paint. For the gemstone, I purposefully wanted to use mediums I could use to add more detail with—like the ink and watercolor and pastel. I wanted those mediums to represent the intense efforts we often go to to build the idols to which we desperately cling. However, for the background panel, the representation of the sovereignty of God, I wanted to use a material more mysterious—free flowing—but with the same color palette. I created the background using a technique called hydro dipping: spraying spray paint on top of water and dipping your surface in to create layers. This technique reminded me of the whimsical beauty of God and the everflowing trust in Him by His people.

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

Person: Anna Armstrong

My name is Anna Armstrong. I feel most like myself when exploring God’s beautiful creation and when those rare moments of “flow” happen with an artistic exploration. I work for a health care start-up, and painting and photography have always served as a balancing outlet for me. It was an honor to get to create something for the Psalms series again this year!

Piece: Acrylic Painting

My piece, based on Psalm 114, is an abstract acrylic paint depiction of the metaphoric waters in motion as described in the Psalm. The emphasis of the painting is the dramatic water that could be interpreted either as the Red Sea or as the River Jordan, each that “ran off” at God’s command. In the background is a land element that has a glow to imply that it is a holy place. This painting is my humble attempt to create a tangible illustration of the Lord’s beauty and strength.

This was a fun piece, it came together pretty quickly for me which is always a gift! The biggest challenge I found along the way was how much emphasis to put on the water vs. land elements of the painting. I did several iterations of the mountains/land, and ended up emphasizing the dramatic nature of the water, while keeping the land element simple. I’m grateful for the inspiration of the Psalm and excited for others to interpret the piece as they see it.

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

Person: Margie Keith

I’m currently the Office Manager at Park Church, making the transition soon to full time student!

Piece: Acrylic

After spending a lot of time reflecting on Psalm 113, what stood out to me the most is that it is a psalm about hope; blessing the name of the Lord and also being blessed by Him. It’s about His praiseworthiness, and His active compassion for those the world has forgotten. He raises the poor, lifts the needy, and gives the barren a home.

My painting represents a woman walking from a dark place into a bright field of flowers, leaving the shadows behind and entering into light.

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

Person: Taylor Powers

Taylor is a photographer who grew up in the small mountain town of Woodland Park, CO. She has been working with different types of film for over a decade, and is drawn to the slower pace and unpredictability of the medium more and more.

Piece: Film (35mm)

My goal with this piece was to visually represent how perfect righteousness is ultimately unobtainable through our efforts alone. How does righteousness look through the lens of our sinful nature? I wanted to show an object that represents righteousness to me and ultimately highlight our need for a Savior who is perfectly righteous.

We make an effort to live like the righteous people described in this passage; we strive to be steadfast, firm in our faith, unshaken in our trust in the Lord. The strong language in this Psalm reminded me of the idea of a large boulder, signifying a steady, secure, unwavering presence. In this piece, the original subject of the boulder never changes, even though the pieces are broken and the efforts to reassemble them aren’t aligning quite right. The rock is still the rock, it doesn’t change or shift or move. Our perception of the boulder can adjust and shift based on our current circumstance, conditional. This imagery is obviously falling short of a perfect representation of the original boulder.

Even though the broken pieces can never be a perfect image of the original subject, you can still get an idea of the boulder’s nature and appreciate all that it represents. The broken pieces can still be formed into something that feels like a glimpse into what righteousness is, even though it’s a flawed picture. In the end, the rock is still the rock, it doesn’t change or shift or move regardless of how we are seeing it.

For this piece I used expired 35mm film and an older film camera with a broken light meter, in order to have little control in the process of photographing the actual boulder. I worked to create the original images in a way that had little clarity or direction, it was a guessing game to see where each frame would land in the final layout. The prints of the images were cut into smaller sections, and I did my best to piece them back together to recreate an image of the original boulder.