the artist is empty, Monotype of the Day #839

the artist is empty,  monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

the artist is empty, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 107 of year 3

Today Like Everyday, We Wake Up Empty
By Rumi, Trans. Moyne & Barks

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

From one of my favorite Rumi Books, Unseen Rain https://amzn.to/2G7FVXE

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  You can purchase this monotype here.

annunciation, the wait, Monotype of the Day #758

Day 26 of Year 3

All day I tried to get a good watercolor print with no luck. Mess followed mess, much of it due to technical problems. It was terribly frustrating so I went back to my friend, the ink for a few prints at the end of the day. One thing is certain, I definitely appreciate my ink a lot more! Both watercolor and acrylic have lots of possibilities so I'm going to keep at them and see what happens. For now though, I'm still in that uncomfortable in-between place waiting for my flow to return. A new wave is coming but when it will arrive is a mystery. The trick is waiting and remaining empty, holding the space for when it arrives. Waiting doesn't mean stopping work, it means not grasping and not trying to make something happen. It means putting one foot in front of the other and being present so you know when it happens. I think this print captures some of that needed inner spaciousness.

The Avowel
By Denise Levertov

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

From The Stream and the Sapphire https://amzn.to/3a97hqO

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

connected, Monotype of the Day #614

Day 244 of Year 2 (Actually Day 249)

Working felt good tonight. I'm finally back in the flow after weeks of struggle. My show was an amazing experience and when it ended that body of work came to an end too. I tried so hard to plan so I wouldn't miss a beat between my show and getting back into the studio. And I did keep working, but the energy wasn't there and I battled. I know this but wasn't listening: you have to respect the cycle and where you are in it. You can't fight the emptying of energy. If you do everything stagnates and there is no room for the new. I resisted this truth and so I struggled. Finally I just accepted that I wasn't making my best work. It was ok, just a wave I needed to ride. After a while, things began to shift and I'm renewed and excited by my work again. Lately I see many artists posting that with social distancing and the extra time, they feel they should be working but somehow can't. It's a stressful time. If you can work great, but if you can't, respect your process. Given time things will shift, your tank will fill and your time will come. Be kind to yourself and this kindness will pass onto others too.
Technical note: I used the ghost image from last night's print under tonight image. Lately I've been taking ghost prints of everything for use later. So fun!
xo

self portrait with chaos, Monotype of the Day #610

Day 240 of Year 2 (Actually Day 245)

Every few months a self portrait comes up. Sometimes they are a way of learning something new about myself, sometimes they are to relieve feelings. Tonight's piece is the latter. Although I am generally feeling calm, it's hard not to pickup on all the anxiety in the air. It's important to acknowledge and embrace whatever it is we are feeling so it doesn't overpower us. This will pass, this will pass.

Jane Hirshfield just released a stunning new book of poetry called Ledger (https://amzn.to/33nvmXF). I highly recommend it. Tonight's poem, from Ledger, is excerpted from the poem Nine Pebbles. It is a work of deep calm and stillness. It helped me to touch this energy today.

This work is paired with "Retrospective" by Jane Hirshfield

You can find it here: https://briefpoems.wordpress.com/2023/03/06/pebbles-brief-poems-by-jane-hirshfield/

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

sunrise, Monotype of the Day #587

Day 217 of Year 2 (Actually Day 222)

It's been so busy lately with my show in a wonderful way. I do still need calm to make work and rest for my body. Since I'm not finding enough of it in my life at the moment, I am creating that energy through my work. This piece was made to simply feel peace and stillness and to let that energy saturate my system.

This work is paired with by "The Task" by Jane Hirshfield

Found on Poetry Chaikhana https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/H/HirshfieldJa/Task/index.html

From October Palace: Poems https://amzn.to/2VcU0s9 

into the Light, Monotype of the Day #581

Day 211 of Year 2 (Actually Day 216)

It is really common for an artist to have an ebb after putting together a large project like a show. I knew this and planned a number of projects to keep me moving. I've embarked on all of them and things are moving forward in the studio but the flow of energy is what it is. Things fill and empty, they ripen and fall. I can not escape the cycle of life. Although planning has helped lessen my ebb, I still find the need to recharge. That means keeping up my work but being ok for now that it is floundering a bit and I'm not satisfied. Something new and mysterious (for now) is growing. My job is to refill my tank so I can pour forth creative flow again. By trusting in and accepting that this is a natural cycle, it is much easier to go though.
Technical note, tonight I started with printing small plates multiple times and then put the large plate on top. That's the reverse of my usual process. It was fun to work this way and I like the results.

"...That Passeth All Understanding"
By Denise Levertov

An awe so quiet
I don't know when it began.

A gratitude
had begun
to sing in me.

Was there
some moment
dividing
song from no song?

When does dewfall begin?

When does night
fold its arms over our hearts
to cherish them?

When is daybreak?

From Selected Poems https://amzn.to/2SpmWLn

overflowing, Monotype of the Day #554

Day 184 of Year 2 (Actually Day 189)

it was tough to make this image. I'm a little scattered from my opening last night. There are three overwhelming feelings I have right now: 1) Gratitude for all the people who came out to my opening; 2) Gratitude for all the help I've received putting the show together. I couldn't have down it without such amazing support; & 3) A strong urge to get going on my new projects! The studio is empty and I'm raring to go! Until tomorrow... xo

ready and waiting!, Monotype of the Day #546

Day 176 of Year 2 (Actually Day 181)

A lot of eggs this week. 😊 Whenever I'm making eggs I feel comforted. I've posted tonight's poem before but I love it, so here it is again! xo

Oceans
by Juan Ramon Jimenez, Trans. Robert Bly

I have a feeling that my boat
has struck, down there in the depths
against a great thing. And nothing
happens! Nothing…Silence…Waves… –Nothing happens? Or has everything happened,
and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?

From News of the Universe: Poems of Two Fold Consciousness https://amzn.to/305tT6G

space, Monotype of the Day #541

Day 171 of Year 2 (Actually Day 176)

I've been struggling a bit with the monotypes for the past week or so. So much of my energy has been directed to prep for my show that when I get into the print studio, it's been hard to focus. My mind has felt cluttered. I asked for an image tonight to help me clear my brain out and open back up to the creative flow. This simple image came and looking at it, I immediately feel more open and grounded. Deep breath, pause. I will return to work tomorrow refreshed. Today's poem (below the title) is another from Wendell Berry. I just got a new book of his work so I can't help myself! xo

Sabbaths 1992 II
by Wendell Berry

Lift up the dead leaves
and see, waiting
in the dark, in cold March,

the purplish stems, leaves,
and buds of twinleaf,
infinitely tender, infinitely

expectant. They straighten
slowly into the light after
the nights of frost. At last

the venture is made: the brief
blossoms open, the petals fall,
the hinged capsules of seed

grow big. The possibility
of this return returns
again to the seed, the dark,

the long wait, and the light again.

From A Timbered Choir https://amzn.to/35nN4d8

the boat at midnight, Monotype of the Day #516

Day 150 of Year 2 (Actually Day 151)

Today in conversation with the wonderful @kwaggmac, owner and director of @clerestoryfineart, I finally realized one of the meanings of the boat image. It comes from this poem that I have admired for longer than I can remember by Dogen, a 13th century Japanese Zen monk.

Midnight.
No waves,
no wind, the empty boat
is flooded with moonlight.

by Dogen, Trans. Stephen Mitchell
From The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry https://amzn.to/2LIeH9s
The empty boat is a symbol of the Self emptied of self so it can bear Light into the world. When this image comes through, it's bringing that energy to remind me, let go, let go, empty yourself so creativity can flow through.

you are invited, Monotype of the Day #488

Day 122 of Year 2 (Actually Day 123)

Every moment is an open invitation. If I am quiet, I hear my studio calling. So many times and places in my life I felt I did not belong. I think this must be a common feeling for artists. Ours is not the common path. We are lucky though, because we always have a place were we belong without question. The studio is always calling, always inviting us in. It is the place where we are wanted just as we are with faults and imperfections and, where we accept who we really are, beautifully imperfect partners in the pageant of creation.

The Fist
By Mary Oliver

There are days
when the sun goes down
like a fist,
though of course

if you see anything
in the heavens
in this way
you had better get

your eyes checked
or, better, still
your diminished spirit.
The heavens

have no fist,
or wouldn't they have been
shaking it
for a thousand years now,

and even
longer than that,
at the dull, brutish
ways of mankind—

heaven's own
creation?
Instead: such patience!
Such willingness

to let us continue!
To hear,
little by little,
the voices—

only, so far, in
pockets of the world—
suggesting
the possibilities

of peace?
Keep looking.
Behold, how the fist opens
with invitation.

From Thirst https://amzn.to/2O69o4m

the artist is all ears, Monotype of the Day #466

Day 100 of Year 2 (Actually Day 101)

I am reading this lovely little book called Miro, I Work like a Gardener (https://amzn.to/32C5AxM). I was delighted to find that he was influenced by St. John of the Cross whose poetry has impacted me greatly. I loved this paragraph in particular: "What I seek, in fact, is motionless movement- something equivalent to what's called the eloquence of silence, or what St. John of the Cross meant by the words, I believe, 'mute music.'" Miro captures what I often try to convey in my work: the active nature of the inner world which only finds voice in stillness. Tonight's image of listening is such a moment of stillness, but listening is active. So much happens, so much is uncovered, in a truly motionless moment. Stillness unfolds mystery. Emptiness and silence are both active and passive. These moments where opposites coexist are sacred. I chase these sacred moments through my work.