Day 49 of Year 2
Tonight I did a bunch a prints, but I thought posting the reworked ghost images from last night's plates would be most interesting. Yesterday, I used two plates, one to create a landscape and the other to print a figure over it. Tonight, on the landscape plate, I rerolled different colored inks over sections but left much of the same structure. I barely touched the figurative plate. Honestly I was mainly trying to get the extra ink off before cleaning. Interestingly, more often than not, a ghost print is better than a first pull. Expectations are so much lower because there is already a good print and you can really let it fly. Knowing that if you ruin it, it's not a great loss turns your brain off and gives great freedom.
It's always such an adventure to peel the paper off the plate and see a ghost print. You never know what you will get. The ink dictates things. During the first pull, a lot of the detail and artist's mark making has been obscured. The extra ink is removed and what's left is just the essential, stripped of much of the artist's intent. It's the ink that wanted to stay but still has plans and something to say. The partial stripping of the artist's intent is a lesson and a reminder that the artist is a window for creativity to pass into the world. We contribute, we are partners, but what comes through is an eternal energy of change meant to transform the artist as much as the viewer. Ghost prints subdue the artist's ego and remind us that we are "the artist", not "The Artist". Every moment spent creating is a gift from "The Artist". Hidden (Plus bonus print- the swimmer)
My Hut
by Issa (Japan 1763-1827), Trans. Stryk & Ikemoto
My hut,
thatched
with morning glories.
from Zen Poetry https://amzn.to/2NPaXF0