The Artist's Oracular Cook Book

Art = Magic.

Art heals.

Image by Catherine Nash

"It seems to me that a creative act, in any field of endeavor,  really does, after you take a good look around, have to begin with a leap of faith.  Maybe being alive at all is a profound leap of faith.  Faith in yourself, faith in some greater web of minds and being and continuum you are a part of that will catch you when you fall......faith in the sheer beauty  of the process, faith in what you'll learn from it when you're (theoretically) "done".

I've been applying for residencies this coming summer, feeling a deep need to get  on the road for a while, and to be somewhere where I can again be in Flow, to open to the creative energies within and without once more.

Among them I applied to the magical IPark, near Devil's Hopyard park, in Connecticut.  In 2005, when I was last there, at  I Park Artist's Enclave it was the custom for residents to leave behind  a  recipe for a cocktail. Because I spent a month utterly blissed out in a creative fury there, my contribution was the "Artist's Oracular Cook Book", cards I made with commentary on the back.   They later evolved into the Rainbow Bridge Oracle, but I still like them a lot.  They remind me that art is Magic, that art can heal, and that it really is basic and simple.

I put the collection away in a box a number of years ago, feeling it was naive and silly.  In taking a look at this little book from that magical month again, it's as if a fragrance has drifted in the window.   I realize I am revived -  a previous version of myself is giving the  woman I am currently a reminder. 

Open a door for Mystery.

And sometimes, the 

Miraculous.

"As you come near the glass, she approaches from the other side to meet you. You lift your pen, and she raises hers to touch its tip in the other world. You begin to move your hand and words form on the glass on her side, on that other side. Patiently, you now follow her pen; you hear what she is writing, but dimly. You can see a little bit into the images she is creating. Can you read what she is writing?  Is the glass clearing, can you collaborate?"

 Felicia Miller

                                                                                       Sometimes  you are a beacon.

More than you can  imagine is possible

when you believe that it's possible.

Imagination is the confluence

 of possibilities

the Beginning Place

Be Contrary.

Be capricious, liminal,

walk the borderlands.

When you find yourself  making too much sense

try doing it 

Backwards

When the Moon is full, allow yourself 

a heaping dose 

of lunacy.  

Develop night vision, 

the penetrating ability 

to see 

in an alternate

 kind of light.  

When the  Sun is shining,

in the dappled play 

of light and shadow, 

 the amazing 

rainbow palette

 of color, 

the purple taste 

of  grapes, lemon  grass, sweat, iridescent,

 gleaming words 

crystallizing

on a 

pristine page......

Play!

The beauty and mystery

 of nature  is always calling

In all the worlds

you have friends, 

visible and invisible, 

ever ready 

to collaborate

Accept the fallow times 

for what they are:

times of rest, 

gestation,

 and renewal.

Pregnant times

(whether you're a woman or a man)

when you are incubating something  New

Respect your Demons.

They are worthy opponents.

They are there to test your valor, courage,  and ability to make decisions.  

They will force you to fight

for your vision, and

your heart.

Take good care of your work.

Nurture your  discoveries, and protect the children

of  your imagination.   

 Avoid people who talk you into being smaller

 than you really are.  And anyone, or anything, 

that wounds your enthusiasm.

Where there's Fear 

(or resistance)

there is Power

Light a fire 

in your mind

and heart.  

Don't let it go out.

Is your studio a

 Sacred Space?

Even if, for now, 

it's just a notebook, 

or a table.

Are your art works touchstones,

talismans,

field notes,

and road maps

from a life-long journey

that sometimes

feels like a pilgrimage?

Strive for Balance.

The harmonious exchange

of creative opposites.

You will never lack 

for Grace.

as 

Above 

so 

Below

With brush, voice, eye, hand, heart and mind, 

 at last 

we dance!

The Circle has No End.

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(The top  image not my own - it was created by  Catherine Nash.)