Many devout religious people believe that God created the heavens and the earth, and he made everything perfect. Well, guess what? I don't want to live in a perfect world where every tree of the same species is exactly the same, were every blade of grass goes exactly straight up, or where every human, bird, and insect of each species is exactly the same. Personally, I revel in the variety; the nuisance of perhaps what some might say from a philosophical level is a mistake or imperfection. In other words thank God for the mistakes, even if God supposedly created everything perfectly.
(FYI: Before I go much further, I am a nonbeliever, so don't jump to any conclusions on my comments here).
Have you ever looked at a caricature of an individual? Have you noticed that the artist accentuates the flaws, or the unique characteristics of that person? In many regards it's very obvious to tell who the person is, if the artist has done a good job, because those differences are something that our mind recognizes, perhaps our mind and memory use those differences to imprint the memory of a face, something that human minds are very good at.
Now then, there are some types of art where everything is in exact order, but the best art (giving away my personal preference here) is that which beautifies the mistakes in nature, or perhaps one might call the design flaws, which makes our world unique, which makes every tree slightly different, and which makes our world what it is. Can you imagine a world where everything was the same, and would you even wish to live in that world? Some religious folks say that heaven is a place where everything is perfect, I'm sure glad that world doesn't exist here on Earth, how about you?
Now then, I don't wish to be one to trample on anyone's religion, but rather to point out that it is the small flaws and mistakes in nature and design which makes the world interesting, unique, worthy, and beautiful. Without getting too sentimental on this point I would like you to take a few moments and think about this, as you create your own art, and ask yourself; does it pass the test? Is your perfect sunset slightly off, just enough to make it look real?
How about when you draw a tree in one of your paintings? How about if you were to create a sculpture, which wanted to be absolutely perfect? Would it be we revered if it were, or would your sculpture be called a "lifeless statue" robotic-like in form? Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Creativity Concepts. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
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