The Derivatives

So, as promised, and as needed, here’s a piece on one to the paintings series I’ve mentioned lately (more to come). From last post, this is one of the oils I am so happy to have had hanging at The Loft at Camano Commons on Camano Island, WA.

This piece has its base inspirations from several sources.The greatest is the recognition that God’s creation was “out of nothing”, ex-nihilo as the Latins would have it, a creativity not dependent upon existing materials or concept … i.e., God created a tree without first going to the greenhouse, a guidebook on trees of the world, or to the lumber yard. We, created in God’s image, are created as creatives … and not just artists, but humankind is generally creative, thus we have some folks who are very creative when it comes to parenting, to plumbing and to bookkeeping, etc.. Yes, some bookkeepers may not be all that, but then, neither are all artists (ya think?).

We are creative to be sure, but derivative creators. We create by building upon other input, existing materials and concepts … adding-to, taking-away, freshly combining, re-translating from personal perspective, etc., etc.. In pigment, the primaries are red, yellow, blue, and black (CYMK) … in digital sources, red, green and blue (RGB). Given that, ask yourself: “Self, create a new color the universe has never seen”. What do we try to do: imagine taking existing colors and mixing them. Derivative. I spent my career in graphic design. So much is built upon existing design. Even those who are first-line and seem to be radically out there, are building with existing letterforms, shapes, style/lack-of-style, palettes, etc..

It’s a huge topic and goes on-and-on, but in a nutshell, that is one of the spark plugs for this painting. It’s so exciting to see our creativity – I marvel at how craftsmen of the world built, with fewer tools and such, castles and cathedrals and bridges … and today computer chips … gad, how do they make aluminum foil so thin!!! All this creativity, how folks of the past have been so creative to build and create over and over again. I’m astounded at our creativity we’re blessed with.

Now, to use it wisely, and for good …