Rich
Money is something I think about a lot, and I have theories about it...mental notes I make that are imbued with all kinds of magical properties.
I have a red wallet because that color attracts wealth. In that wallet I've placed a post-it with the infinity symbol drawn on it. It's important that the post-it be face-out, and right up against the largest bill, usually a 20. This makes the 20's multiply. I count the bills each morning before I leave for the day, making sure they're in order, largest to smallest. I know these things are superstitious and crazy, but they make me feel a tiny bit of control. I think the problem has to do with numbers themselves. In a restaurant when the check comes I look at it trying to figure out a tip. I stare and stare, baffled by the lineup of numbers, and I feel vaguely frightened as my mind wanders off to some other place... like the bed, where I can close my eyes and travel off into a dream world where there are no numbers at all.
In Catholic grammar school, maybe third or fourth grade, the nun would line us up around the perimeter of the room and she would draw flash cards with multiplication problems printed on them. 8x6=, 4x9=, never multiples of 2, or 5, the easy ones, but the ones you could never figure out unless you had that kind of brain....all black and white and linear and sewed up tight. We were supposed to say the numbers out loud, with the answers of course, and I could never ever do it. It was probably my first taste of public humiliation (just the first, since nuns excelled in this area). I felt like an idiot, a freak, 'what is wrong with you' was a phrase etched in my mind for years.
When I take polls among my artist friends about how they handle money I've gotten some excellent ideas. 'Whatever price you think the painting is worth immediately double it before you let the number fly out of your mouth.' Another good one...'Always write a contract for any commission work, and get half the money up front before you start. I mean, what if they die or leave town?' These actions require me to pretend to be a different person- someone with vast self-confidence who even knows the multiplication table. A habit I've gotten into each month is to write down all the money I spend, and what I spend it on, along with any that comes in. This may be my only truly practical financial activity. If you read the Andy Warhol diaries he did this too. I find this fact supremely comforting. Even a hugely successful art star was writing down $4.95 (cab downtown), $6.50 (cheeseburger at Max's). This was New York in the 70's so multiply by 10 today. At the end of the month I look at my list of moneys in and out and at least I can see why I'm broke. It used to be a mystery. Where did all the money go? What happened?
One bit of luxury I manage to have is a separate art studio. It's in a building the residents like to call 'The Castle', built in the 20's with turrets and long narrow stairways that curve around little patios and gardens. There are fruit trees everywhere....orange, lemon, even crab apple. Right now they're all heavy with fruit, so my friend Joan and I decided to have a harvest the other day. We wound up with buckets of fruit. FREE FRUIT! What a thrill! The oranges were very bitter, almost like lemons, and the apples equally so, but beautiful and abundant. When I think about what life really is, free from the clutter of numbers and free from the bondage of fear and self doubt, what you have is tons of beauty, and piles of bounty, and it doesn't cost a thing.
I created a divine salsa from the pickings of our harvest, with some other cheap ingredients thrown in...chilies, herbs, garlic...that I'm calling 'Salsa Cruda con Fruta de la Castilla'. I know... sounds fancy. I gave some to Joan and she said 'You could really sell this. It's fantastic!'
Salsa Cruda Con Fruta de la Castilla
2 Anaheim Chilies
1 small apple diced fine (a tart apple like granny smith or the like)
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 minced garlic cloves
½ red onion diced fine
½ cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon salt
What I like to do with peppers to get rid of the skin, and add a smokey flavor is sit them right atop the flame of the burner. Use a long-handled set of tongs to shift the pepper so that all sides get charred. When done let rest for 5 or so minutes, then peel under running water. Most of the black skin should wash right off, but any bits remaining can be chopped right into the salsa. A fine dice for these peppers is best, discarding stem and seeds. Add all other ingredients and let sit overnight in the refrigerator so the flavors can marry. This is a great accompaniment for poached salmon or tuna or you could bottle and sell it if you're that kind of person.