choose, Monotype of the Day #784

Day 52 of year 3

Last night's print was the ghost print of this image. It's been over a month since I cleaned my plate and so many surprising images came up on the ghost from prints many days past. Tonight I made several prints, but this image kept calling me. So I worked on it some more and added a few additional layers. This chair imagery is a complete mystery to me. Some times it takes months, even years for the true meaning of a symbol to be revealed. It was about two years from the first appearance of the keyhole to really see its complexity and meaning. This place of unknowing is a place of growth, a moment of filling. So much of deep change happens just outside of our view, beyond what we can rationally grasp. Like the opaque chrysalis, the mystery of transformation is shielded. Therefore, artists must put their faith in the unknown, in the mystery of working, and trust the outcome matters. The truth is that each of us matters (artist or not), what we do matters and who we are matters. The hard part is that most likely we will never know how or why. Our job is to trust that our footprints make a positive difference in this world and to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.

moonlight walking, Monotype of the Day #741

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Day 10 of Year 3

More of the energy from last night processing through.

From the Zi Ye, a collection of Chinese folk songs from the 6th - 3rd century BCE.
Trans. Arthur Waley

All night I could not sleep
because of the moonlight on my bed.
I kept hearing a voice calling:
Out of Nowhere, Nothing answered "yes."

From a wonderful book, Women in Praise of the Sacred https://amzn.to/2WM5i6x 

the path, Monotype of the Day #738

Day 7 of Year 3

Another Mary Oliver poem today.

Thirst
By Mary Oliver

Another morning and I wake with thirst
for the goodness I do not have. I walk
out to the pond and all the way God has
given us such beautiful lessons. Oh Lord,
I was never a quick scholar but sulked
and hunched over my books past the hour
and the bell; grant me, in your mercy,
a little more time. Love for the earth
and love for you are having such a long
conversation in my heart. Who knows what
will finally happen or where I will be sent,
yet already I have given a great many things
away, expecting to be told to pack nothing,
except the prayers which, with this thirst,
I am slowly learning.

From Thirst https://amzn.to/2CulGl1 

the lead, Monotype of the Day #737

Day 6 of Year 3

I feel such.a sense of relief that my two year anniversary is behind me. I didn't realize how much pressure I was putting on myself to define my situation. The same thing happened on my one year anniversary. I built it up in my head so much that once I made it, I sort of fell apart. The first week after was a real struggle in the studio. but I kept at it and eventually that cleared. There are natural ebbs and flows to working and then there are the roadblocks we create in our minds. Meditation, which has unfortunately fallen off my radar lately, helps. Another thing that helps is knowing that you're in your own way and waiting it out, trusting that the creative flow will necessarily wash the mental dross away. More than anything, making art is about trust, trusting the inner messages from The Artist to the artist, trusting your materials, trusting the world with your work, trusting yourself to be authentic and brave, trusting the importance and purpose of working though we may never know why.

steps, Monotype of the Day #731

Day 360 of Year 2 (Actually Day 365)

The Guest House
By Rumi, Trans. Barks & Moyne

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

From the Essential Rumi https://amzn.to/2OiRX0L

the path, Monotype of the Day #716

Day 346 of Year 2 (Actually Day 351)

This is the ghost from yesterday with a couple of new layers. I've gotten into the habit of ghost printing every plate and using it as an underlayer for the next day's print. Because of this, the prints are feeling like a continuing conversation rather than individual pieces. I'm enjoying listening to them talk as the days unfold, one piece adding understanding and meaning to the last.

I Go Down To The Shore
By Mary Oliver

I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.

From A Thousand Mornings: https://amzn.to/2BkaKWL

portal, Monotype of the Day #684

Day 314 of Year 2 (Actually Day 319)

Most of my creative energy is going into my garden right now. When I get to the studio, I always have plans to make flowers and plants but this is what comes out. These prints feel like fragment of a greater image. Once my garden is under control I plan to work on larger sheets of paper to see what happens.