Connections Unseen

“Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God.” -Rembrandt

 

Okay. We are going to get a little deep with this one.

 

Rembrandt may seem way out in left field here; however, Rembrandt is hinting toward the influence of Aristotle's philosophies. Aristotle related humans to "little g" gods because of their ability to act out of wisdom. It's a characteristic that the gods were believed to have and that humans could replicate.

 

This replication of ability is seen again as artists create. This brings in another philosopher's beliefs. St. Augustine was a theologian that promoted the idea of "creatio ex nihilio," which is just a fancy way of saying "creation from nothing." St. Augustine studied the book of Genesis heavily and believed there was no other way the complexity of the world could exist without a divine being. There was no pre-existing material. All of the world was created by the divine act of God speaking it into existence.

 

Now that you've had your brief philosophy and religion lesson 😅, think about Rembrandt's quote. God created nature, and nature inspires artists to paint. So, God produced nature, which produced art — making painting the grandchild of God. What a concept, and what a way to find a connection with nature and with God other than our mere existence!

 

All of this to say, everything is far more connected than our eyes can see. We just don't always trip over the strings until we paint.

 

Hand-painted in Adobe Photoshop CC using the Wacom Intuos Pro and the Wacom Art Pen.