What Art Has Given Me

I find nature palpably inspiring. From the underside of a leaf, to a majestic forested mountainside– Earth is teeming with life. In nature, my thoughts slow, my body relaxes, and my senses enliven. I think of our planet and the life it supports as the greatest artistic creation; an unending well of inspiration infinitely complex, yet beautifully simple. Steeped in the majesty of nature, it’s hard to deny the sensation of a Higher Power. Surely, we wonder, its creator is at least as majestic. 

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system through which God speaks to us every hour, if we only tune in.” -George Washington Carver

The Earth’s purposeful design naturally leads our thoughts upward. We pray, meditate, learn, and give thanks. We look for meaning, strive heavenward, and seek the truth. We commune with the Great Creator and in the process, feel the call to create in Their stead. We write songs, build furniture, write stories, and have babies. We think about, struggle with, and weep over our creations. And as we do, we become more divine.

“Consciousness expresses itself through creation. This world we live in is the dance of the creator. Dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye but the dance lives on. On many an occasion when I am dancing, I have felt touched by something sacred. In those moments, I felt my spirit soar and become one with everything that exists. I become the stars and the moon. I become the lover and the beloved. I become the victor and the vanquished. I become the master and the slave. I become the singer and the song. I become the knower and the known. I keep on dancing then it is the eternal dance or creation. The creator and creation merge into one wholeness of joy. I keep on dancing...and dancing...and dancing. Until there is only...the dance.” -Michael Jackson

What is art, much like the underside of a leaf or a majestic forested mountainside, is a question beautifully simple, yet infinitely complex. We most commonly use the word “art” when referring to music, images, or stories in their many formats. But even within those categories, people can’t decide what is truly art. For some, art can be ugly, irreverent, and crude. For others, it can’t. For some, art is merely a product. For others, a process. Some say it’s both (or none). Many believe that art should solve a problem. Others believe it should create them. For Pablo Picasso, art is a “lie that makes us realize the truth.” For Paul Klee, it’s to “make the invisible visible.” Or for René Magritte, art is supposed to “evoke the mystery without which the world would not exist.”

While it would be presumptuous and futile for me to try defining it myself here, I think Brandon Sanderson did a pretty good job at his “Dragonsteel” conference:

“What is art? Art is what we define it to be. Why do we make art? Well, remember, art is not just the story. It is not just the painting or the sculpture or whatever else you love to create. It’s also the process of creation and what that process does to you. We make art because we can’t help it. It’s part of us. We understand what it is. We are drawn to it because we are of the same substance. We are the art.” -Brandon Sanderson

Art is as unknowable and mysterious as the world itself– and its Creator. Bottomless and inexplicable, we all know what art is in our bones, yet we can't define it.

While art has given me many things; a love of people and beauty, a work ethic, and a mountain of sketchbooks, above all its given me a deeper relationship with the Highest Creator. If you don't have a creative practice in your life, let this be your sign to start now. The work awaits.