ReadFin Literary Journal (Winter 2018)

The Hand of God
Alexandra Mavridis
The hand of God was swift, in her adroit way as she set upon
creating a world of form and colour. She commenced her artistry by
spreading a thin scrub-in of raw umber across the blank surface of
the earth, as it was white and without texture.
As the foundation had been placed, and observing that it was
opaque and without hope of any fruitfulness, She recognized
that the earth needed light and dark. Carefully wiping away the
particles of pigment that blocked the mantel of the earth’s crust
She revealed a patina of tonal gradation. Gradually She blocked in
the position of the foreground, middle ground and background of
the earth’s picture plane.
With great acumen the milieu of the earth began to take form;
in her wisdom She used simple tools to paint the surface, which
was still flat and shapeless. Requiring further clarity She created
definite edges, adjusting the site of the terrain, the heavens and the
underground.
Using her palette of sumptuous colour and tone, and observing
the space, She set the objects in an order of visual priority thus
producing perspective and detail. Objects in the distance being
smaller, cooler, and less defined, and in the foreground She gave
more light, scale and definition.
Great delight fuelled her broad brushstrokes as She worked steadily
in all areas of her canvas, moving from pure cadmium red on the
fruits of the flora that were highlighted with alizarin crimson, to
burnt sienna as an under painting of the warm sky and clouds. The
heavens became iridescent as She added cobalt blue.
Shadows and mid-tones mosaiced in and around the void; creating
a feeling of movement in a once static place. Depth became
apparent as She underlined the shapes with ivory black, bleeding it
out and feathering titanium white lightly over the top view of the
land. With her finger She spread a highlight on the focal point.
Initially it was a perfect world it seemed to her, but there was no
life and as such it was empty and sedate. Using her liner brush,
She gestured across the sky making lines that were uneven and
irregular creating the first of bird life. Stippling with burnt umber,
God dotted across the horizon shapes that grew into hoofed and
webbed animals. Yellow ochre was spread using her palette knife
across the foreground of the land and She then scratched away fowl
and mammals.
Quiet was the land as there was no babble or movement. This
troubled God as her work felt incomplete and shallow, for She knew
that a land without purpose and meaning for its life form was like
a black and white image, two-dimensional, empty and without
richness.
As the eternal wise one She breathed the essence of voice into all
the living beings, and gave the element of movement into each
living cell. Her creation was panoramic and all encompassing.
ReadFin Literary Journal 45