Mary Magdalene’s Cave

Step 1 Draw, Step 2 Take a photo, Step 3 Upload and place in blog post, Step 4 Write, Step 5 Give it a title. If I don’t follow these steps, I’m a little lost. If I follow the steps, I conquer.

One of the stories about Mary Magdalene is that she arrived in the South of France, converted the locals, and then retired to a cave to pray and meditate. There, she was fed every day by angels.

Penitent Magdalene by El Greco, between 1605 and 1610, oil on canvas.

Sometimes we need to go and live in the cave.

Creativity requires time and solitude. Not all the time, but sometimes, especially at the moment when something new is emerging. Once you know what you are doing, it’s easy to continue. But before, when all the ideas are synthesizing in your mind, and your heart, being in our special cave is essential.

We all have our rituals that are difficult to perform with company. I really wouldn’t be able to do all the steps to create a post if I were surrounded by people. What my job doesn’t know is that if I were working remote a couple of days a week they would get so much more out of me. It’s not that I don’t try hard, but all the interruptions in a school, with my office right in the main office, wow, I’m amazed at myself for being able to think! But of course, that’s part of working in a school. But for an artist, it’s different. At least for me. When alone, surrounded by my materials, books, and inspirational items, I can think and create.

I wonder if Mary Magdalene took anything with her into her cave. You don’t need a lot to pray and meditate. I would take something to sleep on and a heavy and very warm blanket. And a way to make fire.

Here in my modern cave, I have a big table, paints of different kinds, supports like paper, canvas and tiles. I have lots of brushes, books, pencils, pens, markers, mediums, gifts from friends, computer, iPad, iPod, bluetooth speaker, lots of blank diaries and sketchbooks, products that I sell, like my books. A scanner and printer, a heavy duty pencil sharpener, lots of scissors, a chair that folds out as a bed, a blanket, a beautiful colorful rug that covers the whole floor, lamps, easels, a huge table… it’s a long list. But it’s all I need and I don’t really need to get anything else.

I wonder if Mary Magdalene, after preaching so much and leaving behind her seeds planted for the future, felt that it was time for her to be in communion with God without interruptions. I think that, translated into the work of an artist, that’s exactly what one feels: a need to be in communion, in silence and in flow. And it’s also great when some incarnated angel makes you something to eat!