Oh, to be like Creator

As I sit by the campfire, listening to music, with the gentle sounds of the Big Sur River in the background, it occurs to me that art making is an attempt to simulate what Creative Intelligence does every second of every day. To maybe feel an ounce of what it's like to be God (Nature/Evolution).

Today, my partner and I hiked down to Partington Beach from the 1, making our way through rock formations laced with wildflowers, following a creek to where it poured into the bay. Everywhere was endless, restless movement. Water flowing around rocks, surging against the shore; wind lifting the branches and tickling leaves; spring birds flitting among the trees. Every plant growing, reproducing its patterns over and over. Even the rocks are evolving, in a pace so slow we can barely imagine it.

After drinking it all in, the next thing I want to do is paint it. Why?

This is not a new question in my mind. I often wonder, what IS this compulsion that never leaves? Who cares about all those paintings in my house? Is there anything else, something more stable, that I could do for a living?? (The answer to that is still no.)

I have a theory for why we create. Perhaps we are souls having physical experiences, so we yearn for our spiritual states, where we were part of the whole, not separated by skin and private thoughts and the fear of death. Creating is a way of connecting back to that spiritual wholeness. It reminds our internal spirit what it's like to be Creator—but from within this physical shell, where we get to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell what we've created.

And we get to share it with others.

To me, that's the best part. Yes, I love seeing a painting unfold before me. I take pride in my craft. But if it just sits in my house unseen, it's not complete. I need to see a person's face as they stare at my work, transfixed. To see my creation touch someone else's emotions—that's the feeling I chase whenever I paint.

Does Creator feel that way when we appreciate Creation? I like to think so. Every time I marvel at a perfect flower, I thank Creator for sharing this heartbreaking brilliance with me.

Every artist likes to hear that their work resonated.

Art Heals

I'm convinced that the artist SpY feels this same compulsion to recreate Nature--but in his case, with human-made items. I wonder what it's like to stand beneath these metal disks as they drift and turn in the breeze?

With love and light,

Maggie