“Art is dear to my heart, but nature is near to my soul.”
In the human being, the soul comes first. Before the mind crystallizes, there is simply a channel of life flowing from the Unseen into the visible world. The subtle template of the mind precedes birth, but it is only with incarnation that the terrestrial mind takes full form. As the mind grows, the give-and-take between what is within and what is without produces the fruit we call the heart.
In the macrocosm, primal nature comes first. Nature, you might say, is the soul of the universe, its original condition. Then comes humanity, Vulcan, who forges the raw stuff of the cosmos into novel forms, physical and noetic. When this transformation of material is inspired and inspiring, it is called art. In this sense, art is the beating heart of the universe.
Nature and art each have their incomparable magic. Nature is vast and intricate beyond all human imagining. Art is poignantly human. The first is redolent of being, the second, fragrant of becoming. Nature is the mirror of the soul and art is the lamp of the heart.