Kellyn Trapp started with Bible art journaling. Then things got bigger.
Kellyn Trapp took our Foundations course. Her husband, Bob, did not.
Somehow, Bob ended up in art ministry, too.
I love how God works.
Kellyn is a mixed-media artist in Connecticut. She creates in watercolor, acrylic, collage, writing, and whatever else she’s currently exploring. When I first got to know her, much of her art ministry was happening through Bible art journaling, women’s Bible studies, and small groups.
Then her idea of where all this could happen started getting bigger.
But let’s back up.
Her Day Starts With Listening
Kellyn likes to write in the morning and paint in the afternoon.
“I start my day creatively writing with my Father God and listening,” she says. “It’s in this time with Him that a devotion and a watercolor sketch is birthed to share in my blog. I’m usually led to create as Holy Spirit guides me to do so.”
In the past, she tried being more of a planner. It apparently didn’t stick. 🙂
Kellyn tends to create spontaneously, allowing an idea to develop as she works. And she works a lot of different ways. Variety never gets old.
For Kellyn, her creative time is deeply connected to her relationship with God.
“I love to create!” she says. Whether she’s writing, painting, working with collage, or exploring another medium, “That’s when I feel His presence and how we communicate with one another intimately.”
Then Her World Got Bigger
Before she took Foundations, Kellyn already had an art ministry—although she wasn’t entirely sure she was allowed to call it that.
“I already had a ministry happening but never really understood what a ministry was, so when I read up on the course and found out all Jessie would be teaching, I thought wow, I really need to take this course.”
Kellyn taught Bible art journaling primarily in church settings, including women’s Bible studies and small groups.
Then something shifted.
“Before this course, I had always stayed within the comfort of the church with my art ministry,” she says.
Foundations introduced Kellyn to a much broader picture of where creativity and ministry could intersect.
“The course is more than learning about ministry. Jessie really gets into the basics of art in every aspect, in everything that is creative. Music, poetry, dance, anything involving the creative arts. So it taught me more about all the ways that someone can be creative in art ministry. For me, the Foundations course gave me a foundation of what the creative arts are in ministry.”
But one idea in particular stayed with her:
Art ministry didn’t have to stay inside a church.
“Learning I could make a difference in the marketplace, and not just in the church, was the biggest impact on me.”
One Foot Here. One Foot There.
So Kellyn started saying yes.
Opportunities began appearing through galleries, art organizations, teaching, live worship painting, online community, and other creative settings.
“The Lord began opening up a lot of doors. I now have one foot in the church and one foot in the marketplace simultaneously, and have my art ministry in secular galleries and other venues. I am painting in worship live and have an online community as well. It keeps growing and God is always doing something new. I am fully blessed.
“I have a passion now to go into churches and teach them what art can do for them. It has gone from Bible art journaling to teaching and instructing. God is big, and everything with God is bigger.”
Today, Kellyn also leads women through in-person and online creative opportunities, helping them learn “how to grow in their relationship with God through art.” She describes part of her work as “bringing joy and healing through art and music to the church and marketplace.” God Loves Art –
And that brings us back to Bob.
And Then Her Husband Got Involved
This might be my favorite part.
As Kellyn began taking her creativity into more places, her husband began joining her with his music.
He plays guitar.
She sketches and paints.
Together, they’ve brought art and music into secular art venues and a local senior community.
“The Foundations course has impacted both of our lives as a team for God’s kingdom. My art ministry now includes my husband and his music as well. It has impacted our lives in such a positive way.”
And at some point her husband looked at their life together and said:
“Wow! We are having so much more fun now than we ever have in our lives!”
Seriously! Praise God!
This might be one of my favorite stories ever.
A World Full of Things to Notice
Kellyn finds inspiration pretty much everywhere.
“Nature, animals, birds and all of His creation inspires me! God’s Word, music and other artists inspire me.”
She loves Vincent van Gogh’s work “because of its loose and impressionistic style. It’s very free!” God Loves Art –
Freedom seems to show up a lot in Kellyn’s story.
Freedom to move between mediums.
Freedom to create without knowing exactly where something is going.
Freedom to take creativity beyond the places where she originally thought it belonged.
And freedom to keep trying new things.
Photo “Scaled” by Kellyn Trapp
Her favorite book of the Bible is Ephesians.
“Ephesians saved me from self-destruction of my identity in Christ.”
And one of the most important things she’s learned as a creative is wonderfully simple:
“I am created in the image of God and created to be creative”
Just Start
So what does Kellyn say to someone who wants to create but isn’t quite sure what to do with that desire?
“There is no right or wrong with art. Just start.”
I like that.
You don’t need the whole plan.
You don’t need to know whether the thing you’re beginning will become a ministry, a business, a gathering, an afternoon with a sketchbook, a new friendship—or something you haven’t thought of yet.
Kellyn certainly didn’t know that taking one course would eventually have her painting while her husband played guitar in places neither of them had planned.
She just started.
And then she kept saying yes.
Find Kellyn
You can find more of Kellyn’s art, writing, and ministry here:
Kellyn’s Website
Trapp Ministries
Instagram
Facebook
Substack
Kellyn is a graduate of God Loves Art’s Foundations course.
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