Most theologies would support that God is more about how things are connected than in how the are separate. Drawing is a celebration of the connections between forms. Therefore, these connections might be thought 0f as a celebration of God; the more connections, the more God. I’ve always believed that finding these connections, then, is a form of worship, sort of an exegesis with nature. If the disciple’s goal is to be closer to God by doing what God might do, then one’s creative process might aspire to the level of His creative intelligence.
But are we playing God or merely emulating His wisdom? In the universe of a work of art before us, we often find ourselves doing both. It is a give and take, a conversation between our own will, our own knowledge and that Universal knowing, we call the collective consciousness or the God factor. Many of us have had the experience of a knowing which is beyond our own comprehension. It’s as if we’ve tapped into something beyond our own ability, as if we are channeling some cosmic Other. We are on fire with an idea and it seems to take on a life of it’s own. We become servants to the idea, as if directed by an outside force. Beethoven described this phenomenon, as have many great artists. Some call it being in the zone. Others call it a groove. But it always seems to involve discovering connections between an unlikely combination of seemingly random thoughts. To recognize these connections means giving up our own ideas, to be open to new ideas.
We are also celebrating how things are different from one another. Discernment of a thing’s uniqueness is another miracle of the creative process. The combining of these processes, seeing how things are the same but also different, gets us closer to the Theory of Everything. Those rare moments when everything seems to makes sense, when we feel as if we are one with all.
If you like/don’t like or want to add your thoughts to the conversation, I encourage you to comment. Also, you may want to get a copy of Point of Art – Second Edition, or download it today. I offer career coaching for those serious about a career in art. Don’t forget to check out The Portrait – a painting video and The Power of Positive Painting