Medium of Being

From the Mary-El Tarot, the Fool; from the OH Cards, Artwork/Retreat:

I know artists whose medium is life itself, and who express the inexpressible without brush, pencil, chisel or guitar. They neither paint nor dance. Their medium is Being.

~Frederick Franck

Surrounded by butterflies and two river dragons, the Fool seems to be emerging from his own chrysalis. Monarchs are symbols of transformation, which fit with the Fool's new beginning. These butterflies also make extremely long migrations, which seem impossible for such fragile creatures. Likewise, the Fool will have a great journey ahead; an observer might wonder how one so naive might survive. Yet both make the journey while also enjoying the flowers along the way. The Artwork/Retreat combo suggests the practice of art as pure awareness, the basic experience of "isness," or simply being in the world without memory or desire. The Fool, even with his lack of knowledge and experience, is an excellent teacher of the medium of Being. 

Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world. I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinary thing, I realize how extraordinary it is, sheer miracle.

~Frederick Franck