Day 342 of Year 2 (Actually Day 347)
Here is the final print and a ghost print of one of the layers. Tonight I'm liking the simplicity of the ghost, a chance to breathe. Meanwhile, I'm busy researching and plotting how to make bigger prints!
Ladder
By Jane Hirshfield
Read it here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/oct/19/poem-of-the-week-it-was-as-if-a-ladder-by-jane-hirshfield
From Given Sugar, Given Salt https://amzn.to/2zYBhbv
Day 323 of Year 2 (Actually Day 328)
Posting early tonight. This is the ghost print from last night's ink with a second layer.
Day 297 of Year 2 (Actually Day 302)
It seemed to me this piece wanted more symbols but I hit a snag in the studio. The shadowy images are made by removing ink with cut pieces of paper. My hands were too tired today to cut and I have come to the end of my stock pile. But I made it work anyway and fortunately, tomorrow is Mother's Day and my son has agreed to to cut for me. 🙂 I spent the day drawing shapes out for him. The real trick right now, at least for me, is keeping going. Normally, my studio assistant would cut for me but everyone's normals are broken. I don't want to get stuck because I'm attached to my old way of doing things. So I am embracing this print for what it is, an essential part of my process on this day. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring. My studio is a place of wonder and adventure for me.
The Painter
Robert Arthur Lewis
I put color on walls, then leave
and let light tell its own story. Strange
how our vague ambitions lead
to such particular situations, like these white overalls
with the brass clips, this collection of brushes
and buckets. It was never my intention
to join the order of caps and rags,
but here I am.
One summer evening I knelt in a shed
cleaning brushes. Light streamed through the splintered boards
and I was there to see how it landed, how it made
the shovel and the rake and the dirt floor
all count. I stopped and listened. Wind
swept dry grass against the dryer siding.
The sound was as close as my own breath
and my kneeling went deeper into thankfulness
for this strange and lonely craft
which makes me love so many things. "The Painter" by Robert Arthur Lewis. Published by The Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2005.
Found on http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2014/04/robert-arthur-lewis-painter.html
Day 234 of Year 2 (Actually Day 239)
Yesterday's spat with my new printing press took its toll on me. I woke up exhausted, that wheel is HARD to turn! So I decided to take a breath tonight and go back to a more traditional monotype. Here I'm experimenting with multiple thin layers of texture. Lately I've been taking ghost prints of everything I make, but often they are not strong enough to use a a completed piece. I saved them knowing they would be of use at some point. In this piece, there are three layers of texture- soapy ink I left on the plate, the ink I put down over it, and the ghost ink already on the paper. It's an interesting effect. I'm definitely going to play with this more. When in doubt, play. Until tomorrow... xo
Your Ocean
By Dorothy Walters
When you are in love
you do not say
you are near love
or beside love,
or seeking to know
love's truth.
You say you are in love.
Never mind how you got here.
This is your ocean.
Drown in it.
From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/3cLgQxp
Day 231 of Year 2 (Actually Day 236)
I seem to be obsessed by keyholes right now (if you haven't noticed 😊). I'm pretty worn out, but I'm so filled up by my solo show experience that as I am resting, a torrent of new ideas are flowing through. I hope I'm able to get to work soon. It's challenging to wait and feel life moving forward while you stay at rest. During times like these, I take great comfort in today's poem by Tagore.
Gitanjali #81
by Rabindranath 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/38iqHao
Day 225 of Year 2 (Actually Day 230)
Tonight I made muted seascape after seascape. In the final one, a keyhole appeared. I grew up in Los Angeles and spent a lot of time staring off at the ocean. It was a meditative, healing experience. I guess I need that calming regenerative energy right now because the image I planned to make disappeared the minute I stood in front of my plate! My show has been a wonderful experience. I have been spiritually filled and nourished but physically depleted. I'm fine with that. When you live with illness, you learn there is a fine line between conserving your energy and strength and unnecessarily losing opportunities. It's really tricky because it's next to impossible to be certain how much energy you will have on a given day. You don't want to push yourself so far you get into a mess, but you also don't want to be so timid you miss things you might actually be able to do. It's a constant quandary. Some days 5 minutes in the studio is overdoing and some days two hours or more is overdoing. The key is accepting where you are and what is possible at the present moment. I just take it one day at a time and know that even 5 minutes a day adds up to something real over time. One foot in front of the other and eventually you arrive. I'm feeling incredibly grateful for my show, all the amazing visitors, the outpouring of love, & my ability to continuing working. xoxo
Even if You Have Trudged
By Dorothy Walters
It is never too late.
Even if you have trudged
through snow and ice
for a thousand miles
and still have not arrived.
Even if the map is lost
and the compass broken.
When the eagle who is
supposed to guide you
goes off on a tangent
of its own
and you know you are,
once again, deserted
do not fall into
the pit of despair.
It will return,
brighter than ever.
There will be feather tokens
falling down.
Nothing is irredeemable.
Nothing is lost forever.
Be guided by the stars.
Let the moonlight
direct your steps.
There will be a path
which will open
in the forest.
The treasure which is yours
is waiting.
Claim it.
From her blog: http://kundalinisplendor.blogsp
Day 210 of Year 2 (Actually Day 215)
It's been an intense and wonderful month with all of the activity around my show. I find it helpful to pause every once in a while to integrate, to take a breath and let it all in. So today I paused and read poet Lynn Ungar. So many beautiful poems in her book Bread and Other Miracles it was hard to choose one for tonight! See my choice below the title.
My show is up for a few more weeks. There is a closing party on 2/29 and I hope you can make it! xo
Boundaries
By Lynn Ungar
From Bread and Other Miracles https://amzn.to/2tYx0Ss
The universe does not
revolve around you.
The stars and planets spinning
through the ballroom of space
dance with one another
quite outside of your small life.
You cannot hold gravity
or seasons; even air and water
inevitably evade your grasp.
Why not, then, let go?
You could move through time
like a shark through water,
neither restless nor ceasing,
absorbed in and absorbing
the native element.
Why pretend you can do otherwise?
The world comes in at every pore,
mixes in your blood before
breath releases you into
the world again. Did you think
the fragile boundary of your skin
could build a wall?
Listen. Every molecule is humming
its particular pitch.
Of course you are a symphony.
Whose tune do you think
the planets are singing
as they dance?
Day 202 of Year 2 (Actually Day 207)
Day 172 of Year 2 (Actually Day 177)
Another calming image tonight. I'm feeling unaccountably relaxed considering I have just 5 days to get everything completed for my show. I was really stressed for a while but my daily practice of monotypes brought me back down to earth. The value of positive habits can't be overstated. They ground you in moments of chaos or pressure. They remind you that life goes on and our drama is just that, drama. Trees will keep blooming, grass will still grow, and I will continue to brush my teeth until I take my last breath and my creativity passes to another. Our own insignificance in the passage of time is strangely comforting. Without the pressure of self imposed ideas of greatness or importance we are free to truly be ourselves and create marvelous things. This week, I'm just breathing and putting one foot in front of the other. xo
Until Even the Angels
By Dorothy Walters
What the heart wants
is to follow its true passion,
to lie down with it
near the reeds beside
the river,
to devour it in the caves
between the desert dunes,
to sing its notes
into the morning sky
until even the angels
wake up
and take notice
and look around
for their beloved.
From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/2QMn2uE
Day 144 of Year 2 (Actually Day 145)
I spent most of the day in the ER. Don't worry, I'm fine. One of the downsides of having a chronic illness is your doctors become overly cautious. After a battery of tests and a waterless day of fasting they sent me home with absolutely nothing new wrong. I arrived at my door at 12:30am. After taking a drink I headed right for the studio. I observed a lot of callousness in the ER today. It's a place filled with people wanting to help. They've devoted their lives to it and I honor them. Yet still, people are people and they get busy, they get upset, they have their judgements. It's a microcosm of the world at large. The trick to being in the ER is to not take it all personally. It's bloody freezing, your fingers are turning blue and no one remembers to bring you a blanket when you've asked. The best tactic is to watch what's happening and see yourself from above as a tiny cog or even an ant in the ER machine. If you attach to your upsets it only brings more suffering. I admit I struggled a bit with this today, more than usual, but in the end I accepted my position and left without carrying any emotional baggage. Every experience is an opportunity for spiritual training. I'm grateful for another day of learning. I'm grateful that I was still able to make my print. xo
Day 117 of Year 2 (Actually Day 118)
Day 107 of Year 2 (Actually Day 108)
I'm getting quite interested in these three figures. I want to know them better. There is an air of something important but it's a complete mystery for now. This is the kind of thing that really gets me going. Some sort of intrigue to warm the blood. It's a happy coincidence that it's finally cold enough to pull out my favorite Sherlock Holmes hat. 🙂 The game is afoot!
Day 86 of Year 2 (Actually Day 87)
I looked at my Instagram feed today and noticed a lot of boats and some very similar compositions. I figured, okay, if this is the energy working through, I can at least switch up the composition. I had a plan and, as usual, it went right out the window as soon as I looked at my plate. 😊 Another portrait of my hand came instead. I feel uncomfortable with this piece but I've come to understand that is good. The pieces I like are easily understandable, they are working an energy I already know at least a bit. When the new is unfolding it's uncomfortable, it's the energy of change and that can be scary or at least challenging. I've allowed myself more freedom and abstraction here, it's always a breakthrough when you free yourself from constraints. And, as always, the work reflects my life. Today I had a breakthrough on something that's had me stuck for a while. Celebrations all around. Which reminds me of how very grateful I am to be able to share my work with you. Thank you to all who interact with my posts and to all who silently look. xoxo
Day 56 of Year 2
This piece seems beyond words to me. I will only say that I look forward to finding out what this key unlocks. xo