Leonardo da Vinci — Miracle of Creativity

The ability to create is a miracle that has been given to the human race.  We have the ability to create something that did not exist previously.  From our early days in the caves to the high tech world of digital art, humans have had a need to share their stories and express their emotions.  Whether we sit around the campfire and mesmerize others with our stories or we sit in front of a computer and compose a novel, we are experiencing the miracle of creativity.

Some of us have tossed this miracle away by denying our ability to create.  Some of us have allowed others to destroy this miracle through their words and actions.  And some of us allowed our need for perfection to keep us from expressing ourselves.  The miracle of creativity is a gift that is sacred and we need to honor, respect and give thanks for what we have been given.

If you have lost the miracle of creation, you need to rediscover it.  You need to go deep within yourself and restore the miracle that is your birthright.  If the miracle of creativity has died a slow death within your soul, you need to resurrect it and celebrate the gift of life.

The miracle of creativity is the gift that gives the human race life.  Without creativity, there would be no progress — no growth.  Without creativity, we would not be human. Give thanks this week for the precious gift you have been given.  Celebrate the healing power of creativity.  Draw a picture.  Write a poem.  Tell a story.  Sing a song.

Leonardo Da Vinci

"A painter should be solitary.  Solitude is essential to his art.  Alone you belong to yourself only; with even one other person you are only half yourself, and you will be less and less yourself in proportion to the number of companions."

— Leonardo Da Vinci

Italian Artist / Creative Leader

1452 - 1519

Our society is filled with noise and distractions.  Some days it is difficult to think because there is so much activity.  A creative leader must have solitude if he is to create.  People can block the flow of creative juices.  But we also need people for stimulus and inspiration.  So it becomes a balancing act between too many people and too few people.  If we have too many people in our lives, we stop creating.  If we have too few people, we fail to incorporate new ideas into our work and become stagnant.  What is the balance in your life?

Leonardo da Vinci

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

— Leonardo da Vinci

Italian Painter/Creative Leader

1452 - 1519

Sometimes we make the world too complicated.  We need to learn to simplify our lives, our work and our creative expressions.  What can you leave out of the painting that will make it stronger?  What can you leave out of your short story that will make it better and more meaningful to your readers?  What can you leave out of your poem that will make it more powerful?  Strive to achieve simplicity in all that you do.

Leonardo da Vinci

Self-Portrait
in red chalk
(1512)

"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

— Leonardo da Vinci

Italian Artist

1452 - 1519

Do you have paintings laying around that you have not finished?  Or stories that you can't seem to finish?  I have one such story.  No matter how many times I have rewritten it, I am never satisfied with the ending.  I put it away and and come back to it again and again.  I have a long eighty page poem about the life of my mother that I have never finished.  

Unfinished painting of
St. Jerome in the Wilderness
(1480)

But I think da Vinci is driving at something even deeper.  No art is ever finished.  Sure we may sell a painting or publish a novel, but if we could we would go back and change it.  And some artists do.  I have read of writers making changes even as the novel is going to the printer.  

And sometimes a writer spends a lifetime rewriting the same story.  He may publish 10 novels, but each is a variation of the others.  And artists may paint the same subject over and over.  Each time trying to perfect what they missed before.  Are there certain themes that reappear in your writing and your paintings?  Are there certain personal issues that you are working out in your art?  

Leonardo Da Vinci

Mona Lisa

"The first goal of a painter is to be able to make a simple flat surface appear like a relief . . . this is done by the correct use of light and shade.  The one who can do this deserves the most praise."

— Leonardo da Vinci

Italian Artist

1452 - 1519

The arts are about illusion.  The painter paints an object, a person or landscape and wants us to believe that it represents the real thing.  The writer tells a story and wants us to believe that what he is telling us is real.  A musician plays sounds and wants us to believe the notes tell a story.  If we are good at our craft, people will believe what we show and tell them.  Leonardo reportedly took four years to paint the Mona Lisa.  Perfecting illusion takes time.