you are welcomed, Monotype of the Day #791

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Day 59 of year 3

I have been feeling unsatisfied with my work the past couple of weeks. I'm sharing this because it a natural part of the process of working. Interestingly it doesn't necessarily correlate to the quality of the work. An artist can make phenomenal work and still not feel good about it. This is an internal state, part of being human. Just like in other areas of life, some days feel better than others for no good reason, some weeks are just bad. Maybe someday I'll look back on this period and like the work. It doesn't really matter though, what matters is being in the process- whatever it is at the moment good or bad. It can be easy to let frustrated or unsatisfied feelings overwhelm and become reasons to stop working. Working doesn't necessarily mean brush to canvas, it can also mean doing the internal work necessary to allow creativity to flow freely. Once you accept that these states as a normal part of the process, they are easier to be with. They become a passing moment in time rather than a blockade. You only have to wait and the well will fill again. Everything is cyclical. Trust, have patience, and the feeling of flow will return.

Birdsong Brings Relief
By Rumi, Translation Barks

Birdsong bring relief
to my longing.

I am just as ecstatic as they are,
but with nothing to say!

Please, universal soul, practice
some song, or something through me!

From The Essential Rumi https://amzn.to/3bKYTP6 

you must grow & you can grow (ghost print) Monotype of the Day #789

Day 57 of year 3

"You must change you life" is the final line of tonight's poem, Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rilke. After I named the first print it immediately came to mind. It's about a damaged sculpture of the Greek god Apollo. Although it doesn't exactly fit this piece, I've always loved the poem because it reminds me that there can be great power in brokeness. The speaker in the poem experiences this power and feels the call to transform. A variation of the last line, "You can change your life", has been my motto for many years. My deep belief in this idea, confirmed by my life and supported by my studio practice, has gotten me through some very difficult times. The circumstances of the external world sometimes, probably often, can not be changed but the inner world is always ripe for transformation. True and lasting change in the external world most often comes from healing the inner landscape. When our inner relationship to a situation changes, even though nothing in the world has shifted, everything feels different. These prints are depictions of change and growth in my inner world. (Poem below the title)

Archaic Torso of Apollo By Rilke, Trans Stephen Mitchell

We cannot know his legendary head
with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso
is still suffused with brilliance from inside,
like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low,

gleams in all its power. Otherwise
the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could
a smile run through the placid hips and thighs
to that dark center where procreation flared.

Otherwise this stone would seem defaced
beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders
and would not glisten like a wild beast's fur:

would not, from all the borders of itself,
burst like a star: for here there is no place
that does not see you. You must change your life.

From Selected Poems: https://amzn.to/2Zfc1an

roots, Monotype of the Day #788

Day 56 of year 3

The chair keeps coming up. I still have no idea of its meaning. I love that, it allows me to work in a purer way without my mind overthinking and getting in the way. I am curious though... When the time is right I will know. Usually I am working something out internally and once I do, the chair's meaning will become clear.

A blessing on your head and heart for beauty, love, and peace. xo

from seed to bloom, Monotype of the Day #787

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Day 55 of year 3

Saint Francis and the Sow
By Galway Kinnel

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;   
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;   
as Saint Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch   
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow   
began remembering all down her thick length,   
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of the tail,   
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine   
down through the great broken heart
to the sheer blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering   
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

From Three Books https://amzn.to/3haC5JD

messaging, Monotype of the Day #627

Day 257 of Year 2 (Actually Day 262)

I thought I'd show a few pictures for scale and process. Tomorrow I'll take a picture with ink on the plate before printing. Right now, the urge to simplify is strong so I find myself using just one color. I'm also back to meditating twice a day and it's like spring cleaning my brain! :) My show in February already seems like a millions years ago but really I'm just getting my grove back. With everything going on in the world, I'm grateful for any grove at all. I'm in the studio each day because I love it, but also because I need the healing and generative energy of the creative act. The centering moment of clarity that comes with making art balances and me. And studio teaches that though it's not easy, it's okay not to know what's coming. We are here now and this present moment is sacred and has the power to transform. My love and prayers to all those sick or suffering.

inner world, Monotype of the Day #624

Day 254 of Year 2 (Actually Day 259)

Success! I've gotten back to making my print in the morning, though I'm still posting at night. This will enable me to go to sleep before 3am! What a transformative joy that will be. For those of us at home, this pause can be an opportunity as well as a trial. I am using it to create new healthier habits. That is my intention. Luckily I love the morning anyway. Morning energy is different and my work is changed by it. Somehow early in the day the inner world seems so clear. I am always struck, and particularly so this morning, by how large and spacious this inner world can be. My love and prayers to all those who are sick or suffering. xo

Camas Lilies
By Lynn Ungar

Consider the lilies of the field,
the blue banks of camas
opening into acres of sky along the road.
Would the longing to lie down
and be washed by that beauty
abate if you knew their usefulness,
how the natives ground their bulbs
for flour, how the settlers' hogs
uprooted them, grunting in gleeful
oblivion as the flowers fell?

And you -- what of your rushed
and useful life? Imagine setting it all down --
papers, plans, appointments, everything --
leaving only a note: "Gone
to the fields to be lovely. Be back
when I'm through with blooming." Even now, unneeded and uneaten,
the camas lilies gaze out above the grass
from their tender blue eyes.
Even in sleep your life will shine.
Make no mistake. Of course
your work will always matter.

Yet Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these.

From Bread and Other Miracles https://amzn.to/3anSRT6 Ungar has been turning out a lot of new work recently. I encourage to get this amazing book of her poems and find her newer work on her facebook page. She is SO good and her work resonates deeply with this time we are in.

pollination, Monotype of the Day #622

Day 252 of Year 2 (Actually Day 257)

Tonight's poem is my favorite bee poem. I had to post it to go with the theme of this print. But this poem also relates to last night's post- so much can happen while we are at rest. xo

Last Night As I Lay Dreaming
By Antonio Machado, Trans. Robert Bly

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt -- marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk? Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt -- marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures. Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt -- marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes. Last night, as I slept,
I dreamt -- marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

From The Longing In Between, Sacred Poetry From Around the World https://amzn.to/2JiiyIO

life force, Monotype of the Day #621

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

keyhole, Monotype of the Day #538

Day 168 of Year 2 (Actually Day 173)

Happy new year! The colors of yesterday's print (12/31/19) felt dense and heavy though the imagery was open, I didn't want to bring that into the new year. So something more dynamic and light was needed for today. I started with the heavy ghost ink from last night's plate and physically shifted the imagery and ink to be energetically lighter. I find this to be a powerful tool for change. Often when I am making a piece, an image comes out that makes me feel uncomfortable. Generally I know the meaning of what I've made, but when my discomfort causes me to change it, I no longer understand my work. This shift into the unknown actually causes me to feel freer and lighter. I am physical changing the external world and shifting the internal world at the same time. It is a magical, alchemical process. xo .


No end to the journey
by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi Trans. Robert Bly

No end, no end to the journey
no end, no end never
how can the heart in love
ever stop opening
if you love me,
you won't just die once
in every moment
you will die into me
to be reborn

Into this new love, die
your way begins
on the other side
become the sky
take an axe to the prison wall,
escape
walk out like someone
suddenly born into color
do it now

From https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/R/RumiMevlanaJ/Noendtothe/index.html
https://amzn.to/39vnzJT