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“I would place myself within within
a new tradition born as an intuitive archaic response to
spiritual need, and shaped by the access we have now to our
entire body of human artistic and spiritual achievement. Tools
may be modern, but it is a returning to the primeval,
initiatory authority of art, art as catalyst for a mysterious,
other, mode of perception. This book–both words and
art– are part of a powerful underground movement not only
re-defining art, but our culture as well. “
–Michael Green
Born 1943; BA New York University, and
film school there too; studied at the University of Sao Paulo
in Brazil and adventured around the Amazon. Conscientous
objector during Vietnam War. Joined the legendary Millbrook
community in the 60’s and worked on light shows with Tim
Leary. Lived in a mountaintop tipi in Woodstock, New York,
finally moved to Pennsylvania to study fiveteen years with His
Holiness Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, the ageless Sufi master from Sri
Lanka.
A pivotal initiation unfolded at Millbrook
in the famous summer of ‘67. The entire community moved
out into lean-tos and tipis on a huge tract of land to
see what would happen if we broke all connection with the
outside world. It was an extraordinary experiment, a powerful
initiation into timeless and sacred life-patterns. Our
conceptual knots loosened enough to see that twentieth
century American life as we knew it was a sham, all smoke and
mirrors obscuring a profoundly different set of possibilities
for the human condition. What to call it? Evolution sounded
right, so did Waking Up. We were up against the Great Mystery,
and it was clear that the point of human life was no longer the
pursuit of things, or experiences, but of the consciousness
field within which these
things existed. And getting with this program was the only game
in town.
It was equally obvious that the gigantism
of western civilization was 180 degrees off, and that the
natural life-support system for humans trying to align
themselves in the right direction was the way sacred cultures
have gathered for thousands of years–as a circle of
friends on the same wavelength—in villages, tribes,
ashrams or other kinds of fellowships.
It also became clear that the the arts
were off track as well; that the whole point of art was to
guide the process of realignment to the Great Mystery.
Contemporary gestures of self-expression or social criticism
seemed superficial and indulgent by comparison.
For the next twenty-five years I had a
mixed career as wandering monk, sign painter, landscaper,
television art director and finally as illustrator, artist and
writer: over 2,500,000 copies of my illustrated books are
currently in print, including: Welcome
to the Planet Earth; A Hobbit’s Journal; The Velveteen
Rabbit; Zen and the Art of the Macintosh; Unicornis; The
Illuminated Prayer and The Illuminated Rumi.
The Illuminated Rumi grew out of a profound relationship with Bawa, who
clearly embodied the same wisdom curent as Rumi. I used digital
technology to create a twentieth century version of the
illuminated manuscrips of the Middle Ages, even a new kind of
iconography linking together the art of the great contemplative
traditions. USA Today called it “Stunning, a true
jewel...” and human potential guru Sam Keen wrote, “Rumi
himself would have shouted for joy on seeing the images you
have created.”
I have always skirted the reefs and
whirlpools of the art establishment in favor of the bookstore.
It’s a wonderfully accessible gallery. There is, I think,
no real boundary between “illustration” and
“art.” In fact, place me in the great
pictograph tradition of the shaman-artisan. Whether a mask, or
a circle of stones, a tangka, or even a perfect gesture, this
is an art that is always striving to illustrate–or open a
doorway–to the Great Mystery.
Michael Green lives in a farmhouse in
Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley with his wife Sally. He
is currently working on a large-scale public art installation
of ONE SONG.