Art and creation

I may be a math and science geek, but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy doing art now and then. And I use the term loosely. After all, what I do is not so much about communicating important messages or feelings. It won't cause anyone to consider a new point of view, and I doubt what I make will stick in people's minds for any significant length of time.

I guess I just like to create beautiful things. Most of what I paint--and most of the pictures I shoot--are landscapes or depictions of nature. I love trees and the sky and flowers. Buildings, too, though I don't usually paint them. Part of what I do is practicing technique. And, I think, some of it does create a feeling of tranquility. That's one of the things I like about Japanese woodblock art, which I have somewhat tried to imitate in the painting below. Perhaps that's the message of my art--creation and peace. I guess it doesn't matter if I have some grand purpose. Does art have to have deep meaning to be art?

What is it that drives us all to create? I'm certainly not the only human who likes doing it. Nearly all children like to make mud sculptures and build forts. Do we, like the bowerbirds, do it to find mates? To relieve boredom? To give the world meaning? Is it because we are Makers, driven to create by the forces of decay and destruction which we seek to fight?

I don't know. I just know I like taking pictures, and painting, and shaping pots out of clay. It's fun. I guess that's what matters to me.



Watercolor painting of Mt. Fuji, Japan