Day 321 of Year 2 (Actually Day 326)
Not sure about this print tonight. I have an infection in my hand that made it more challenging than usual. (God knows how considering the number of times a day I wash my hands lately!) I believe this is a time of listening and learning so no commentary tonight. xo
Day 318 of Year 2 (Actually Day 323)
Day 310 of Year 2 (Actually Day 315)
“As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…”
― Hermes Trismegistus
This phrase has had a profound impact on my life and work.
Day 309 of Year 2 (Actually Day 314)
I am really enjoying my time in the studio these days. I hit such a rough patch a few weeks back that I was actually thinking of giving up this project. I thought maybe it's run its course and I have nothing else to say in monotype. But I stuck with it through weeks of feeling uninspired and like I was repeating myself. Then one day without warning this new style came through. Now I feel renewed and everyday I am learning again. It feels like a bit of a miracle that so much growth sprung from such parched earth. This is the lesson given over and over in the studio, radical trust in process. Sometimes it is uncomfortable, but the dry patches are needed to move forward just as the ocean must recede to produce a new wave. It is the cycle of life and creativity.
Day 308 of Year 2 (Actually Day 313)
Lift the Veil
By Kabir, Trans. Rao
lift the veil
that obscures
the heart
and there
you will find
what you are
looking for
Found on https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/K/Kabir/liftveil/index.html
From https://amzn.to/3cPA5p9
Day 251 of Year 2 (Actually Day 256)
Tonight's poem has brought me so much solace in my life. In many ways, to people who live with long term illness, shelter in place is a familiar feeling. We have had to give up so many things over the years, parties, trips, important family events. We know how much it sucks and how much grief it brings. But we also know that we can grieve our cancelled events and come through on the other side. We have been forced to learn that beauty is possible amid loss and that waiting is just a skill. So now as we wait for this storm to pass I offer you tonight's poem as salve. My love and prayers to all those who are suffering or ill.
Gitanjali 81
By Tagore
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time. But it is never lost, my lord. Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.
Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts, buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.
I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed and imagined all work had ceased. In the morning I woke up and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.
From Gitanjali https://amzn.to/2Ux6jgV
Day 236 of Year 2 (Actually Day 241)
Another evening of failed attempts on the etching press. But I'm really enjoying the learning curve. This monoprint is my favorite of the night. It has a lot of subtlety in color that isn't completely coming through in the photo. What I need is a full day to just play, to work, rest, absorb, and work again. Hopefully soon I'll be rested up enough to attempt this, my tank is a bit empty at the moment. Until tomorrow. xo
Day 235 of Year 2 (Actually Day 240)
Earlier today I did demo monotype of this image but the energy didn't feel complete so I tried again tonight. I find this image strangely stirring. Longing for the Unknowable yet fearful of it. xo
Meeting the Light Completely
By Jane Hirshfield
Read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/152783/meeting-the-light-completely
From October Palace https://amzn.to/2PWxEHC)
Day 198 of Year 2 (Actually Day 203)
I guess I've completely fallen back into my bad habit of posting late at night. I feel confident it can be corrected though. 🙂 My head is brimming over with new ideas which is good because I have a lot of blank walls! After a big show it's common for an artist to hit a lull. I anticipated this and strategically planned projects not part of the show. These projects have me excited enough to carry me right through that lull. A lot of this lies in the framing. In my head I cast the show as part of my larger goal, not the end in itself. This way even though the work for the show is done, I'm still moving forward. It is so necessary to have a big dream, one that is so large it would seem like a miracle to fulfill. It could be a status goal like receiving recognition, it could an energetic goal like loving deeply, or anything that lights you up. The point is to create the climate of excitement that feeds the creative process and pulls you forward.
Day 196 of Year 2 (Actually Day 201)
I had high hopes for leaving this stomach bug behind, but alas it didn't happen. To tomorrow! In the meantime when I haven't been sleeping, I've been thinking about mirrors. Mirrors are a symbol that comes up in my work rarely, but in regular intervals. While studying medieval spirituality in college, I was taken with the idea that all creatures are like mirrors reflecting Divine Light. This includes human beings, our souls are compared to dirty mirrors and our duty is to polish them so we can reflect more Light into the world. In the medieval period this mirror haze was thought of as sin, but I think of it as lack of self awareness. The more we know ourselves, the more we can access our innate kindness and share it with the world. Anyplace where you have to stick with difficulties and work them rather that avoid them polishes the mirror. An artists studio is just such a place. Until tomorrow.xo
Day 191 of Year 2 (Actually Day 196)
More birds but the imagery is evolving.
One Heart
By Li-Young Lee
Look at the birds. Even flying
is born
out of nothing. The first sky
is inside you, open
at either end of day.
The work of wings
was always freedom, fastening
one heart to every falling thing.
From Book of My Nights https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1929918089. Found on https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2017/03/10/li-young-lee-one-heart/
Day 189 of Year 2 (Actually Day 194)
Allow
By Danna Faulds
There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.
From Prayers to the Infinite https://amzn.to/2RLldih
Day 123 of Year 2 (Actually Day 124)
The biggest lesson for me of the Monotype of the Day project is the importance of showing up. Showing up changes things. Most of life is completely out of our control. If I go into the studio, sit down to write, make a date, etc. there's no way to know really the result. But, internally I've taken a stand and acted on what I want, what matters. This changes me and changes my life. I've learned don't have to worry so much about how things will happen, it's become more about taking the first steps and trusting what comes next. It's an imperfect life. So much is wrong, but I keep showing up because so much is right too. I want to be there for what matters.
Day 73 of Year 2 (Actually Day 74)
A new color ink came in the mail today. A sort of rose madderish red. It's always fun to push myself with something new. It got in the way of my flow tonight though. I felt stuck in the middle of this print which isn't common. I like this concept but I think it needs another draft. I hope it comes again tomorrow so I can work it some more. The past few weeks have been so busy. That combined with working some of my larger pieces for my show in January has limited my time in front of my printing plates. I hope to get a larger block of time this weekend to really let things unfold. Sometimes I'll make three or four versions of the same image until I hear it sing. It's like an internal harmony or vibration that comes through and you know you've hit it.
The Granary
By Dorothy Walters
I Know,
you want to speak,
you hovering overhead,
waiting.
All right, I say,
let the words come.
Let them flow
like grain from the granary bin,
streaming in torrents and waves,
rushing to return
their gold to the sun.
From Marrow of Flame (Such a wonderful book of poetry!) https://amzn.to/2mwOEIK
Say I am You
Rumi, Trans. Coleman Barks
I am dust particles in sunlight.
I am the round sun.
To the bits of dust I say, Stay.
To the sun, Keep moving.
I am morning mist,
and the breathing of evening.
I am wind in the top of a grove,
and surf on the cliff.
Mast, rudder, helmsman, and keel,
I am also the coral reef they founder on.
I am a tree with a trained parrot in its branches.
Silence, thought, and voice.
The musical air coming through a flute,
a spark off a stone, a flickering in metal.
Both candle and the moth crazy around it.
Rose and nightingale lost in the fragrance.
I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
the evolutionary intelligence, the lift and the falling away.
What is and what is not.
You who know Jelaluddin,
You are the One in all, say who
I am. Say I am you.