rising, Monotype of the Day #797

Day 65 of year 3

Lately I've been making a real effort to get out into nature on a regular basis. It's something I haven't done consistently since I was a child and it's changing me. Each trip feels like dust falling from my eyes. My vision is clearer and I definitely feel more grounded. Sometimes when you feel a little blocked up like I have this last week, the best thing to do is get out of your head and clear the mind. One of the things that has been frustrating me is the small size of my printing plate. My experiments at going larger have all been failures. Today it dawned on me that I need to make my own plates out of gelatin. I'll start with small-sized tests but I'm hoping to be able to get really large with it. We shall see, I've ordered the supplies. It's at times like these that I really do miss my studio assistant because some things are challenging because of my physical limitations. I've learned to have patience though. I do what I can and try to find creative workarounds for the rest. If I absolutely can't figure out how to do something, I remind myself that all things have their proper time. I trust that time will come and, while I am waiting, I turn my process to something else. One foot in front of the other and eventually all will be done.

Click here to purchase this Monotype or use “Buy Art” in the menu above.

the fountain, Monotype of the Day #794

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Day 62 of year 3

This is the ghost print from last night's plate with another layer on top. I've used tonight's poem by Rilke before but from a different translator who gives it a slightly different flavor. I so wish I could read it in the original German!

Sonnets to Orpheus II, XII By Rilke, Trans. Barrows and Macey

Want the change. Be inspired by the flame
where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.

What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.

Pour yourself out like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.

Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.

From In Praise of Mortality https://amzn.to/33tnNiq

For more information on purchasing this monotype click here or see “Buy Art” in the menu above.

an earful, Monotype of the Day #793

Day 61 of year 3

This is a black ink print over an older color print. It's challenging to get the right color on darker prints when editing photo but this is pretty close. I like the mystery of it. It very much captures how I'm feeling right now. There are certain poems that call you back over and over. Tonight's poem by Lynn Ungar is one. If you haven't read her work, a link to her book is at the bottom and she publishes new poems on Facebook regularly.

Salvation
By Lynn Ungar

By what are you saved? And how?
Saved like a bit of string,
tucked away in a drawer?
Saved like a child rushed from
a burning building, already
singed and coughing smoke?
Or are you salvaged
like a car part — the one good door
when the rest is wrecked?

Do you believe me when I say
you are neither salvaged nor saved,
but salved, anointed by gentle hands
where you are most tender?
Haven’t you seen
the way snow curls down
like a fresh sheet, how it
covers everything,
makes everything
beautiful, without exception?

From Bread and Other Miracles https://amzn.to/3bUHvYA

For more information on purchasing this monotype click here or see “Buy Art” in the menu above.

self portrait with bird, Monotype of the Day #755

Day 23 of Year 3

Another self portrait. I'll be exited when this topic plays itself out but for now, I submit to what is given.

I Worried
By Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

From Swan: Poems and Prose Poems https://amzn.to/31peMGf 

self portrait listening, Monotype of the Day #754

Day 22 of Year 3

I'm working through something with all these self portraits. Although I'm not sure what right now, I am sure that it is important stick with this process and listen deeply to see what's on the other side. This piece provoked a strong reaction of discomfort, so much so that I have trouble looking at it. It must embody an energy that no longer serves me and needs to be transformed. Making this print was a start in that process, a moment of identification. Now I need to embrace this discomfort and work with it by making more prints. The act of embracing what is given rather than avoiding it has transformative power. I may never understand the content, much of art works outside of the conscious mind, but I do have trust and faith in the importance of the process.

mask & polishing the mirror, Monotype of the Day #753

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Day 21 of Year 3

One of the challenges of making art publicly is staying true to your inner voice. Praise can sometimes be a bit of a siren song. Once an artist knows something sells or gets a good response, there is a natural and unconscious tendency to want to continue to produce work that pleases. I've been pouring over the older images in this project in preparation for my book. In the past, I often worked one theme sometimes for weeks. Today I realized that recently I have been unconsciously limiting that practice because I'm worried people might get bored. Luckily, now that I am aware of this, I can release that behavior. I want to listen completely to my inner creative flow without imposing external control. My time in the studio is always a spiritual training and I find that usually external limits come from a place of fear. So tonight's images feel very risky to me, they are different and I'm not sure if they are good, but I'm putting them out there anyway. This project shows what happens on a nightly basis, the good, the bad and the ugly- it's all a necessary part of the process. xo

Print 1: mask

Print 2: polishing the mirror (ghost of the underlayer of image 1)

looking out, Monotype of the Day #751

Day 20 of Year 3

Always, The Turning
By Dorothy Walters

Yes. I know how it is
to go with uncertain feet,
a burden which grows
heavier
with each step.

I too have felt the silence
fall through the thickening air,
dark currents to carry you
into foreboding channels.

Always, there is the turning,
light descending
into darkness,
the constant reversal
of the poles.

The other face of love.

From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/33jgjjW

boat fire moon ghost & the slumber, Monotype of the Day #735

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Day 364 of Year 2 (Actually Day 4 of Year 3)

Two prints tonight. The first is the ghost print from last night which I liked it so much, I didn't want to put another layer on. The second, the slumber, is a ghost print from a reject. Ghost prints are the ultimate ego deflater. The print I worked hard on was a mess, but the ghost is better. That is the ink's work not mine. Much of the history of art is filled with big egos, Dali, Picasso, Duchamp. But I find making art to be a gentle stripping away of ego. The more I work, the less of me is there. On my best days, I am like a glass filled with clear water. An idea arrives like a drop of ink slowly spreading until it colors the water completely and comes pouring out.

greening, Monotype of the Day #733

Day 362 of Year 2 (Actually Day 2 of Year 3)

O most noble Greenness, rooted in the sun
By Hildegard of Bingen, Trans. Jerry Dybdal and Matthew Fox

O most noble Greenness, rooted in the sun,
shining forth in streaming splendor upon the wheel of Earth.
No earthly sense or being can comprehend you.
You are encircled by the very arms of Divine mysteries.
You are radiant like the red of dawn!
You glow like the incandescence of the sun!

From Hildegard of Bingen's Book of Divine Works https://amzn.to/3gSC6lY

the key to listening, Monotype of the Day #647

Day 277 of Year 2 (Actually Day 282)

This print has beautiful subtle color but you can't see much of it in this picture. Not every work is internet friendly. So my mind automatically goes to, should I post it? Is my goal to succeed at social media or remain true to my monotype of the day project? My first allegiance is to art and I will not let an outside force dictate or change my work. A large part of this project is to capture whatever happens each day without judgment and help reveal the ups and downs (both inner and outer) that are part of the process of being an artist. It would be easy to augment this piece to look better on screen but it would suffer and I would be changing to the work to please someone else. The act of dulling artistic vision has an insidious effect on an artist. Slowly, change after change, and an artist begins to lose the uniqueness of their voice. This monotype a day project has forced me to learn to stand my ground. So many times photos have not done justice to the work. But, like so many other things in life, I have learned this is just a spiritual muscle that must be built. So I post this image today and hope that sometime you might see the original in person. My love to all those who are sick or suffering. xo

illuminated, Monotype of the Day #638

Day 268 of Year 2 (Actually Day 273)

The puppy, who I love, is completely exhausting me. My tank is running low and it's taking a great deal of perseverance to keep going on this project. That's ok though. It can't always be easy or joyful. Sometimes it's just a matter of trusting that soon the tide will turn and you will be filled again. This is the way of the artist, radical trust that the moment we are in is necessary to our process though the outcome is a mystery, Every ebb has its flow and faith in this immutable cycle of life can help carry us through challenging times. My love to all those who are sick or suffering. xo

groundwork, Monotype of the Day #634

Day 264 of Year 2 (Actually Day 269)

Many of us are in the midst of deconstructing, if temporarily, a way of life. Routines are scrambled and the things we thought would come to pass have not. This is a moment of letting go, of ebb. But if we look to nature, we see that every ebb has its flow. It is the retreat of water that allows the wave. In this moment when it seems nothing is happening, the roots of something new and unknown are taking hold. The unknown can be scary and for some more than others. Tonight's poem is for those experiencing anxiety. My love to all who are sick or suffering. xo

This work is paired with "Retrospective" by Jane Hirshfield

Read it here embedded in this article https://www.vox.com/2020/3/21/21173809/book-review-poetry-poems-jane-hirshfield-ledger

from Ledger https://amzn.to/33nvmXF