Chris artistically depicted some of the microscopic views of petrographic thin sections that I had shown to him in his paintings. Here are two of these paintings:
“Formation” was reproduced on the cover of The Banner, the weekly publication of the Christian Reformed Church, on February 22, 1982. That issue of The Banner was focused on “The Christian and the Arts" and included comments by Chris Overvoorde.
"Redemption"

"Ode to a Geologist" was created in 1972, using acrylic paint on canvas. The painting measures 38 inches wide by 50 inches high. I was drawn to “Ode to a geologist,” and Chris seemed eager for me to have the painting. I found out later that the geologist in the title of the painting was me. It hung in our living room for 38 years. When Chris had a “Retrospective” exhibit of his art in the Grand Rapids Art Museum in 2003, he borrowed the painting for a few months to include it in the exhibit. As part of this exhibit, Chris commissioned his friend, writer Cor Barendrecht, to compose a poem, also entitled “ode to a geologist,” to accompany the painting. The poem is presented below.
It is God’s world that we study with the methods of science, and it is God’s world that was the focus of Chris’s painting. So whether it’s through the eyes of the scientist or through the imagination of the artist, we get the sense of God’s presence in his creation and in the minds of his people.
When the Dice mineral collection was received by Calvin College and displayed in the Dice Museum in 2012, my wife and I decided to donate the painting and accompanying poem to Calvin College. They are currently displayed in North Hall Rm 054, directly below the Dice Museum. We hope that visitors enjoy seeing them there.
ode to a geologist
by cor barendrecht
stones without faces
leaning together
like bones in a skeleton
sharing only the shock
of the whole
faces without eyes
which, not having seen,
yet know
or maybe faces of death
or marks of a wrangler
fireballs thrown at
a cold earth
by a destructive hand
or maybe tennis balls
tossed about in
a vacuum
between
armpits of mountains
by the motion of
a player
silent stones speak
in every tongue
they tell time
& time will tell
how the earth
lost its face
& how the moon got hers
in time
human face-savers
will know
of an eternity of thought
which went into these
stones