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

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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

reflection, Monotype of the Day #767

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Day 35 of year 3

This monotype is several days of ghosts printed on top of each other and a final layer made tonight. The photo doesn't capture all the subtlety, but gives you an idea. I love working with ghost prints because artist materials and ink in particular have purpose and desires of their own. A ghost print is one step removed from the hand of the artist and it allows the ink to express its own unique vision. The ghost is always a revelation and the ink usually behaves in unexpected ways.

The relationship between an artist and their materials is central to most art practices and similar to any relationship an artist might have with a person. It's taught me to listen, to curtail my desire to control, to support and respect another's vision, and to lay down my own ego. In general, artists have a deep, almost mystical, connection to the material world which is cultivated through this partnership. We have the ability to see the innate potential in the physical world, creative energy pulsing everywhere and divine purpose waiting to be expressed. It is thrilling, a grand adventure without ever leaving the studio. #gratitude

the conversation, Monotype of the day #763

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I pull a ghost print everyday. This uses up the excess ink on the plate and provides a nice base for a future print. Sometimes I use one sheet of paper for several days of ghost prints. The more the merrier as they say! But sometimes, like tonight, you pull a ghost and you know it's a keeper. I couldn't decide which I liked best. What do you think?

the conversation & the conversation ghost (below this post)
Day 31 of year 3 (Total project days 761)

The Further You Go by Andrew Colliver

Mercy, there have been revelations. Grace, there has been realisation. Still, you must travel the path of time and circumstance.

The further you go, the more it comes back to paying attention. The rough skin of the tallowwood, the trade routes of lorikeets, a sky lifting behind afternoon clouds. Staying close to the texture of things.

People can go before you and talk all they want, but only one thing makes sense: the way the world enters and finds its voice in you: the place you are free.

From The Longing In Between https://amzn.to/3kLNv9I

annunciation, the window, Monotype of the Day #759

Day 27 of Year 3

This is the ghost print from yesterday with a few layers printed on top. Yesterday felt like an important print in my spiritual development, a moment of absence and emptying. Consciously adding into that image today feels transformational.

What Else?
By Carolyn Locke

The way the trees empty themselves of leaves,
let drop their ponderous fruit,
the way the turtle abandons the sun-warmed log,
the way even the late-blooming aster
succumbs to the power of frost—

this is not a new story.
Still, on this morning, the hollowness
of the season startles, filling
the rooms of your house, filling the world
with impossible light, improbable hope.

And so, what else can you do
but let yourself be broken
and emptied? What else is there
but waiting in the autumn sun?

From The Place We Become https://amzn.to/3iC9rmb
Found on http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2015/10/carolyn-locke-what-else.html

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)

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.

entrance, Monotype of the Day #732

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Day 361 of Year 2 (Actually Day 1 of Year 3)

Two nights ago I put a lot of ink on my plate and was able to take a few ghost prints. It was fun working with them as a base last night and tonight. The images turned out quite differently despite their similar start. I have one more ghost, I'll see if I am moved to use it again tomorrow. For now, I am so grateful to have my work, this window, to see beyond myself or is it through myself into mystery.

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

keyhole, Monotype of the Day #728

Day 357 of Year 2 (Actually Day 362)

I did a very light white and yellow layer over the ghost from last night but I wish the white ink was more opaque. Art materials have a will and vision of their own and often t is at odds with what the artist wants. It can be an ongoing battle, a conversation, and sometimes even a surrender. Artist materials ground and connect us to the physical world. They remind that we are physical beings that live in the present moment. This is why I try to listen to my materials and partner with their purpose rather than resist. Surprising things happen at the meeting point of divine creative flow and the material world. The artist is the cauldron where these two determined energies mix and are transmuted into one.

dawn, Monotype of the Day #717

Day 347 of Year 2 (Actually Day 352)

This print is what I would call a hot mess, but I decided to post it anyway! It's so important for artists to know that failure is part of the process, an essential part. Every piece can't be great or even good. Struggles with an unsuccessful piece so often bring new discoveries, techniques, imagery or etc. They can also serve to jolt us out of complacency. They are a call to wake up, not from doing anything wrong, but to be more alive and present in our practice, to grow and be more conscious. That's a beautiful thing. Artists must make peace with "failed" work and trust that everything we create is an essential part of our journey. It has meaning and purpose though we may not consciously understand why. Creating art is at its most basic level an act of deep and profound trust and intimacy. So trust yourself, trust your process, and know that all will be well in your studio.
PS I've also posted the ghost of the second layer on a more muted paper.

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

boat and ladder, Monotype of the Day #712

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