The Creator is Like…
…What the Creator creates.
I was attending an event at a small, private art gallery. Works were displayed from floor to ceiling, beautifully framed and lit. There were walls at various angles within the space, also with paintings arrayed on both sides. I was enamored by a large Suerat-like scene of Oak Street Beach on a sunny day, crowded with people and activities as varied as the shades of blue in the water and sky, with the Chicago skyline in the background.
My friend loved, and in fact purchased, two city streetscapes of busy Chicago intersections on a winter night, created with bold sweeping strokes evocative of wind and traffic and excitement.
There were also: minimalist abstracts; lush landscapes; pastels of flowers; cubist-style depictions of objects and settings; a gentle pink and purple-swirled piece to my right; a straight-stroked black and red work on a far wall. When I peeked into one of the tiny back rooms, there were hundreds more of this artist’s works stacked against the wall, waiting for their turn in the spotlight.
“This man is amazing!” I thought. Even in extensive collections of great artists in fine museums I had never seen one so active in so many styles. He is prodigious – an overwhelming number of paintings are collected there, likely not the whole of his work. He is bold. Curious and willing to experiment. Interested and interesting. Full of energy. Hard-working. Discerning with the presentation of the work, complementing the pieces with unique and detailed framing. Gentle and loving of beauty-none of his works were dark, jarring or upsetting. I looked for the artist, Minas. He was surrounded by people, talking animatedly, wrapping a picture to travel to a new home. I didn’t get to meet him last night. But I did get to know him pretty well.
People say we can’t know God the Creator (or Supreme Being, Divine Intelligence) – the force that generated the grand universe and its inhabitants. But, just as some aspects of an artist can be known by visiting their gallery and seeing their artwork, so also can a world-maker, THE world-maker, if you will, begin to be known by visiting the gallery-world around us and considering what they have made. The Christian psalmist said, “Taste, and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8). Given my fondness for the flavor mangoes, and the abundance and variety of food seen at a farmer’s market, I would concur with the psalmist. What else might we deduce about our artist-creator, based on just a thimbleful of all we see in our field of vision, our spot in the gallery at any given moment?
Varieties of leaves and grasses. Oaks growing from acorns. Sunshine through the trees. Birds singing and music playing. Animals small and large, from bacteria to whales. Snakes and birds that travel without using legs; centipedes that coordinate 100 legs to walk. People of all shapes and sizes, families and tribes and nations. Plants that protect, nourish, heal. Flowers with no apparent purpose other than beauty. Rain, puddles, streams, rivers, lakes, oceans. Consider with me just this last-mentioned creation: water. Amazing, ubiquitous, essential water.
We can clearly see clouds, water in vapor form. Water vapor can be enveloping even, as fog, but is nearly intangible – we move through it as if it’s not there. In liquid form, it’s infinitely flexible. Cleansing and comforting like a warm bath. Offering relief like a cooling mist on a hot day. Refreshingly quenching thirst. Constant and steady as the tides. As gentle as a raindrop and as powerful as a flood. Displaying a few “special effects” – the colors of the rainbow; the bright sunlight sparkling on a rippling lake; the reflection of my face on the calmest surface. As ice, water is solid, massive, usable even for shelters and roads. Essential for and sustaining all life. Everywhere.
What is the creator of this multi-faceted work like? I am thinking this artist-creator of water may be incredibly vastly beyond my comprehension, yet is as approachable as a raindrop. A lover of beauty and a nurturing soul. Strong and gentle. As common as a glass of water, yet as stunning as a glacier. Generous with me. Sustaining, nurturing, life-giving. Close to me…and yes, good.
Too far-fetched? See what you think, with your own place in this world-gallery, possessing your own history, perspective, and beliefs. Whether thinking of the Creator in a Christian context, Native American tradition, or any other perspective, as you take time to linger in the gallery, to even consider one of the works displayed here, you may catch a glimpse of who the Artist is, become acquainted with their nature, get to know them a bit.
