at sea, Monotype Monday

Welcome to February! I don't know about you, but the pandemic has dissolved my sense of time and I find it challenging to remember which day it is. It doesn't help that last week I took a fall while walking and injured my elbow a lot. It's on the mend, but it's kept me inside and relatively sedentary all week. It reminds me how fragile and fleeting life is. This is not depressing, it's a beautiful and inescapable truth. Good times must be seized and squeezed for every drop. I feel at sea right now without the structure of my daily posts or the ability to work as I'd like. But as my print shows, there is much richness in the sea. Structure and work will return soon enough. For now my fragile boat holds it's steady course. (Poem below the title)

at sea 2/1/21 Monotype of the Day Monday

The Ocean Moving All Night
By Rumi Trans. Coleman Barks & John Moyne

Stay with us. Don't sink to the bottom
like a fish going to sleep.
Be with the ocean moving steadily all night,
not scattered like a rainstorm.

The spring we're looking for
is somewhere in this murkiness.
See the night-lights up there traveling together,
the candle awake in its gold dish.

Don't slide into the cracks of the ground like spilled mercury.
When the full moon comes out, look around.

From Open Secret https://amzn.to/31EwLZ2

partners, Monotype Monday

An attempt at a video today below.

partners
1/24/21
Monotype of the Day Monday

Monotype of the Day Mondays, Contemplation

contemplation2, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

It’s been a week since I posted my last print. This is the first installation of Monotype of the Day Mondays. It’s been an interesting week. I’ve made art everyday (but only a few monotypes) because I must. I love the poem The Waking by Roethke. This line really gets me:

“I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.”

(Full poem below the title)

I did fear to stop the daily postings of The Monotype of the Day Project, but it knew that’s where I had to go. Now new projects are opening before me, but as usual I have no idea how they will get done. For now, I only have faith. The idea was given to me so there must be a way to make it happen. I only have to be patient, do the work I can, and the path will become clear.

It’s been a bit difficult to adjust to stopping my nightly prints. The pull of my studio at 10-11pm is so very strong, but I am resisting. I have committed to sleeping and I’ve made some progress moving from 3-4 hours a night to 5-6 hours. Even that much makes a big difference and with my more rested mind a lot is going on in the studio! Some highlights:

-Monotype of the Day Book- I finally have time to work on this! There are so many pieces that have to come together to make this happen but progress is being made and I’m excited!

-Sketching and planning for my newest sculptural installation project. Only Patreon members are getting the details for now but I am VERY amped about it!

-Cleanup and reorganization (It has to happen see messy pictures below!)

contemplation 1 & contemplation 2
1/4/21
Monotype of the Day Monday

The Waking
By Theodore Roethke 

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go. 

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. 

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go. 

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. 

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me, so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

 This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

From The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke https://amzn.to/3neIBST

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

The Artist and the artist, Monotype of the Day #899

The Artist and the artist
Day 167 of year 3 (Total project days 899)

Tomorrow is the final day of this project in this form. In the beginning of the project, I made many prints each day and chose one to post with no commentary. As my project progressed and the commentary and poetry became more and more important, I did fewer prints each day. It worked because I was in a rhythm and I never really left the flow from one day to the next. Today I slipped back into making many prints. It was so freeing. There is a different quality to working this way. It's not that one is better or worse, but the daily prints are more like a dairy, like dipping a cup into a stream. The multiple print sessions are like mining to tap a deep well. I am looking forward to mining for a while and I'll be posting the results each Monday on "Monotype of the Day Monday". I am filled with gratitude for all of you who have taken this journey with me and supported my work with your comments, likes, and purchases. xo Sybil.

Heavy Secrets
By Dorothy Walters

You and I carry heavy secrets within.
This is why our breasts have grown so large.
Already they are overflowing,
ready to fill the world’s waiting mouth.

From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/34QewCH

the gift, Monotype of the Day #897

Day 165 of year 3 (Total project days 897)

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

the gift, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

the language of dawn, Monotype of the Day #896

Day 164 of year 3 (Total project days 896)

Wishing everyone a beautiful day whether it's a Merry Christmas or a lazy day off. May you feel loved and content. xo

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

the language of dawn, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

incubation, Monotype of the Day #892

Day 160 of year 3, Total project days 892

“And I am the egg that surrounds and nurtures the seed of the God in me.”
-Carl Jung, The Red Book

Today I woke up with my head full of ideas for new projects. I got out my idea sketchbook which I haven't done for a while. It feels good.

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

the fire within, Monotype of the Day #885

Day 153 of year 3

Quatrain 359
By Rumi, Trans. Moyne & Barks

Do you think I know what I am doing?
That for one breath or half-breath I belong to myself?
As much as a pen knows what it's writing,
or a ball can guess where it's going next.

From Open Secret https://amzn.to/3gJYnmX

the fire within, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

frustration (2), Monotype of the Day #882

Day 150 of year 3

I've hit a major stumbling block in the studio. I accept where I am and trust my process. I know eventually I will figure it out, but that hasn't dissipated my feelings of frustration which are intense. I have to honor those feelings instead of fighting them so they can pass. I am grateful to have art to help me do that.

frustrated (2), monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

frustration, Monotype of the Day #881

Day 149 of year 3

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

reflection, Monotype of the #878

Making art can be like medicine. If an image comes up that is uncomfortable to the artist, it is always important. It means there is an opportunity to heal and grow.

Day 146 of year 3

There are two ways of handling this discomfort.1) Stay with that uncomfortable feeling, breath into it and embrace it. Eventually the energy will shift. Or 2) consciously alter the piece in a way that changes its energy.

I used method 2 last night. Starting with a figure in the center, I placed a red mark on its chest. This brought up fears from past health issues so I added red lines connecting the mark with the angels in the lower corners. This helped me feel connected and supported so my anxiety eased.

A few days ago I wrote about my discomfort with a figure hanging upside down in that day's print. In this case I chose method 1, to embrace the discomfort and sit with it. This ultimately led to an internal transformation that allowed me to interpret that work in a more positive light. (See day #875 for more on this)

These methods are important ways artists can heal their internal landscape. If these tools are consciously embraced they are extremely powerful. Additionally any transformational energies an artist experiences while making a piece become integrated into their work. and are passed on to the viewer adding extra dimension, power, and depth.

Tonight's print is a response to the strong physical reaction I had to last night's work. I started with the same central figure and heart marking but the energy is much different, lighter and more spiritual. This shift shows a great internal change from yesterday to today. This deep work in the studio can be hard. There are many challenges, but when an artist sticks with it the rewards are great.

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

infusion, Monotype of the Day #877

Day 145 of year 3

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

emanation, Monotype of the Day #870

Day 137 of year 3

The image of the fish descending from the sky is kind of obsessing me right now. I feel something when I look at it. I can't articulate what it is and that is good. Much of life happens outside of language and often we are unaware. Art has the rare ability to make us conscious of the unsayable. That is a gift. On this busy shopping weekend, remember all that art gives to the world and consider supporting living artists with your purchases. xo

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

stream of life, Monotype of the Day #869

Day 136 of year 3

The image to the side is the plate inked up just before printing.

Plate just before printing

In the stream,
Rushing past
To the dusty world,
My fleeting form
Casts no reflection.

-Dogen, Trans. Heine

Poem found on http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/D/DogenEihei/Instream/index.html

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

becalmed, Monotype of the day #868

Day 135 of year 3

“Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.”
― Mary Oliver from Evidence: Poems

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.