Yes, it is Black.. or is it?

Reality Check!  (or, What You See is Not.)

I can hear you saying it: “Them’s fightin’ words, pardner!”  OK, you want to fight, take this….

∙“There isn’t one single color in the Universe.”

∙“There is no light beyond our brains.”

∙“[And] there are […] no colors, voices or visions within our brain – only electrical signals.

∙“The light we know as bright and shiny is merely energy that our brains interpret as "colors". In reality, the sea is not blue, the grass is not green, the soil is not brown and fruits have no color.”

∙“[What we perceive through our senses] are copies in our brains of the objects that we assume to exist outside of us. We can never know to what extent these copies resemble the originals or whether or not the originals even exist.” Now that is what I call a “reality” check!

I’m speechless! Not because I don’t believe these statements, but because I know them to be true already. They are key points of theology.  Science has just boosted my faith one notch nearer to Awesome!

So what does all of this have to do with art? - Everything. We are. We think. We create. If everything we create is based on a physical world that does not really exist (bear with me), of what value is art?  If this is all a “lie,” where is the “truth?” Why are the arts so important in a healthy society?  Alice Walker once said “If art does not make us better, what good is it?”

 Could it be that the only reality in life is spirit – in other words, energy?  That everything on Earth as we know it is only an illusion, and that the reality exists on another plane altogether? Well, science has proved to us that everything we experience is no more than energy created within our brains. So “What” is the source of energy? Is Creativity the source of energy, or energy the source of creativity? Perhaps together they form one big never-ending circle. Theology teaches that the highest part of the soul is the intellect. Brain, intellect, “creative” energy, – looks like a good fit to me. I’m making connections ad infinitum. The article stops here. If it sounds “unfinished,” it is…..

 We’ll explore color – “as we see it” – in a more down-to-earth fashion in coming articles. Whatever connections you may make on your own, you’ve got to admit, this is great food for thought – and it may be the inspiration for some exciting artwork! 

 For the full explanation of this subject, check the article from which I gathered these bits of science at: http://www.evidencesofcreation.com/matter_03.htm.

 Last week’s challenge:  Did you paint in the dark?  

"Imagine That!" watercolor by Lorena Bowser

 Here’s my attempt: I used red, blue and yellow watercolors, and tried to imagine the form of a flower first, then tried to mush the paints together and create an “edge”. It took three tries before I actually managed a flower form, so I thought: “What the hey! - Why not add a few dark lines to emphasize the center. I did that with the lights on. The fun part: There was paint all over the table and on my water cups where I kept “missing” them, and paint all over my left hand as I used it to help me find the paper.

My conclusions: (1) Color aside, the only way to create a recognizable form in the dark is to concentrate hard and “connect” with it interiorly (sounds weirdly spiritual doesn’t it), (2) watercolor paints do indeed make mud when over-painted, and (3) True enough:  Nothing has a color in the dark J. Yeah, well…it wasn’t meant to be scientific!

Lorena Bowser is a lifetime artist and linguist. She has lived all over the world and really knows how to make the pennies scream. Enjoy more of Lorena's resourcefulness at her website and blog: at http://lorenasartandprose.blogspot.com

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