Artist Rituals:: Sharing and discussing the rituals artist use when making art

I have had the fortune of meeting many artist along my way. After we get over- What medium do you work in? and Are you showing? often I feel there is a lack of easy conversational inquires that are intelligent.

Then I met this young artist, who asked me -Do you have any rituals when you work?

Caught off guard, I just responded, "Do you?"

She said that she had read an article about artist rituals. She came across a guy who lit a candle when he arrived to his art space, and then lit incense and then cleaned for a half hour before starting. He scrubbed the floors every time on his hands and knees. The young woman then said: So I tried it just to see, and it really helped. "

"Helped how?" I asked.

"Getting centered. All the time your cleaning you are thinking about what your going to do. And then when you start working, everything is clean and in order." Then she asked again: "Do you have any rituals when you work?"

At the time I was unaware if I has any rituals, I thought not, I thought I just started working. I think a lot of artist share in this self perception of how they go about working. In this group I wan to inquire about other ritual people use in their art making. And to take it a step further by asking the willing, to try some of these ideas and report back your perceptions.