Growing up, every Sunday in church we would sing the psalms. The congregation would chant one verse back and forth. It was mesmerizing; the melody haunting. The words fascinated me because they were emotional, longing, pleading, a kind of language I did not hear often in the understated midwestern culture I grew up in.

No one I knew ever said:

Wash me inside and out from my wrong-doing and make me clean from my sin.
Psalm 51:2

Or

He will cover you with feathers and under His wings you will find refuge.
Psalm 91:4

Or

My soul thirsts for you, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1

The emotion and mystery of it all drew me in. This is great stuff, I thought.
(As a child, my father nicknamed me Sarah Bernhardt, so I confess to being somewhat, ahem, dramatic myself).

Years later I reflected on these songs of praise to create a series of paintings, drawings and prints called “The Psalm Series”.

The images are meant to show an opening to the inner self, into the heart.
The transparent layers invite the viewer to go underneath the surface and examine the deepest self, to where the love and pain and joy emanate.

Here are a few watercolor paintings from the series, done on 22X28 Strathmore Aquarius Paper:

And another one, same size and on the same paper:

This is a smaller watercolor, 11×14 on Arches Watercolor Paper:

And this last image is done in colored pencil on bristol board. It is much softer and more subtle colorwise, but I think it still reflects the idea of innermost layers.

And an 8×10 Print of Psalm 37:4, one of my all time favorite scriptures:

To order the Psalm 37:4 Print, Click Here.