dawn, Monotype of the Day #875

Day 143 of year 3

When I made this print this morning, I was out of sorts. I've been struggling with getting my new body of work going. The seeds of this work are inside but my physical limitations are slowing things down. I miss having a studio assistant to allow me to work at a much quicker pace. Even small tasks like cleaning my palette make a difference, more energy and time I can put elsewhere. I made this piece and I was really upset by the reversed hanging figure, it just felt wrong and made me uncomfortable. So during the day I worked on being with this discomfort and discovered I had forgotten a key truth about the studio. In the studio everything is in perfect harmony even though it often doesn't feel that way. Divine order seem chaotic and unreasonable to our minds, but there is purpose behind every delay, every mistake. An artist must have the humility to release their own plan and trust the process they are in. My delay will prove beneficial, giving the seeds of my new work the chance to grow strong and flourish. I forgot to trust. After this realization, I viewed my print again and instead of seeing something wrong in the hanging figure, I see a calm surrender at the edge of a sunrise, the coming dawn of new work.

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  

boat, Monotype of the Day #840

boat, monotyoe, 12” x14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 108 of year 3

I added ink directly onto the plate on top of the left over from last night’s print. I like the effect.

KEEPING OUR SMALL BOAT AFLOAT
By Robert Bly

So many blessings have been given to us
During the first distribution of light, that we are
Admired in a thousand galaxies for our grief.

Don't expect us to appreciate creation or to
Avoid mistakes. Each of us is a latecomer
To the earth, picking up wood for the fire.

Every night another beam of light slips out
From the oyster's closed eye. So don't give up hope
that the door of mercy may still be open.

Seth and Shem, tell me, are you still grieving
Over the spark of light that descended with no
Defender near into the Egypt of Mary's womb?

It's hard to grasp how much generosity
Is involved in letting us go on breathing,
When we contribute nothing valuable but our grief.

Each of us deserves to be forgiven, if only for
Our persistence in keeping our small boat afloat
When so many have gone down in the storm.

Source: Robert Bly's Facebook Page

the artist is empty, Monotype of the Day #839

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.

ascent, Monotype of the Day #835

Day 103 of year 3

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

mystery, Monotype of the Day #834

mystery, monotype on paper, by Sybil Archibald

Day 102 of year 3

The Moment By Dorothy Walters

And not once,
but many times over,
again and again,
how we disappeared
into that deep well
of darkness, shuddering beneath that load of silence,
clinging to our narrow ledge.

Yet the darkness, sometimes,
unfolded as light.
Our atoms dissolved in it,
each separate molecule opening
into a radiant disk of feeling.

How still we became,
witness and thing seen,
spectacle and observer,
each point admitting an untrammeled flood.

From Marrow of Flame https://amzn.to/3krhJOP

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

you are not alone, Monotype of the Day #833

you are not alone, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 101 of year 3

One of the great gifts of the studio is a true sense of partnership. I never feel alone while working. Unseen energies are alway there supporting and healing, bringing peace and a deep sense of belonging to each moment.

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

going deep, Monotype of the Day #819

Day 87 of year 3

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” ― Thomas Merton , No Man Is an Island

The life of the studio has the same ebbs and flows as everywhere else. Some days or weeks are easy and joyful, some are difficult, and some can feel like trudging through mud. Right now I'm experiencing a bit of a malaise with my work. The darker more muddy colors this month seem to reflect that. When Matisse said "Creativity takes courage" he may have meant the courage to express yourself or to break norms, but there is another type of courage. I it see in my fellow artists, the courage to show up and do battle with the self, to create in the face of every self judgement, every moment of resistance, and painful or uncomfortable feeling that spills out in the work. I am grateful everyday for their example to guide me. More than anything else, to adapt Thomas Merton, being an artist is a journey of finding the self in order to lose the self. It is a journey of deep transformation leading the artist ever deeper to the loving arms of The Artist.

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

fire, Monotype of the Day #798

fire, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 66 of year 3

My printing plate is just about out of gas. I've been using it every day for a couple of years. The paper is sticking to it and the ink is rebelling. I can't get a solid field of black. It's an interesting texture but I think I'll be replacing this plate soon. To be an artist often means being at the mercy of the physical world. The push and pull of materials is an active force during creation. Materials have purpose and desire, they have moods. Sometimes you get along with them and sometimes you fight. Tonight I fought a bit but in the end I let the ink and plate have their way. This evening, one of my favorite all time poems below. I've posted several time before and used as inspiration for my solo show last winter. I never get tired of reading it and the fire in this print is a good excuse!

This work is paired with "A Fish Cannot Drown in Water" by Mechthild de Magdeberg translated by Jane Hirshfield from The Enlightened Heart https://amzn.to/3hGQDRQ

the wait, Monotype of the Day #779

Day 47 of year 3

chair, Monotype of the Day #775

Day 43 of year 3

the artist as cocoon, Monotype of the Day #629

Day 259 of Year 2 (Actually Day 264)

New puppy came home today, too tired to write! Much of the life of the earth is still going on even as we pause. My love to all those who are sick or suffering. xo

salvation, Monotype of the Day #464

Day 98 of Year 2 (Actually Day 99)

I love this poem by Lynn Ungar so much. I marked it months ago and set it aside. Tonight after making my print, I went to the bookshelf and was magnetically drawn to this book (Bread and Other Miracles) and the page of this poem. I've learned to trust these feelings over my thoughts, they are akin to the directions I get in the studio. I am so grateful for poets and their inspiring work.

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/2VXBUsd

the rescue, Monotype of the Day #463

Day 97 of Year 2 (Actually Day 98)

The physical nature of art materials have a large impact on the way a piece unfolds. My current black ink of choice doesn't allow the rich darks and beautiful line quality of my old ink. Because of this, I feel a bit disappointed in the results. Tomorrow, I hope to go back to this image and find that quality I am seeking. But, whether or not the piece is a success visually, it is definitely a success in shifting my internal landscape. It was born out of sitting and breathing with some fear and anxiety that were plaguing me today. The feelings have passed. I go to sleep with a clear mind and heart.

This work is paired with by "Building and Earthquake" by Jane Hirshfield

Read it here: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7560/723436-065/pdf

from Come Thief https://amzn.to/2Bvvya1

hanging round, Monotype of the Day #387

Day 22 of Year 2

The hanging person is back. The meaning of this symbol is not clear to me yet. I only know it needed to be made again to stop it kicking around my head demanding attention. Images are like that, they are not passive. Some float through without much ado while others pester you, throw tantrums, and generally make trouble until their message is heard. I hear by making.

The Law that Marries All Things
By Wendell Berry

1.
The cloud is free only
to go with the wind.

The rain is free
only in falling.

The water is free only
in its gathering together,

in its downward courses,
in its rising into the air.

2.
In law is rest
if you love the law,
if you enter, singing, into it
as water in its descent.

3.
Or song is truest law,
and you must enter singing;
it has no other entrance.

It is the great chorus
of parts. The only outlawry
is in division.

4.
Whatever is singing
is found, awaiting the return
of whatever is lost.

5.
Meet us in the air
over the water,
sing the swallows.

Meet me, meet me,
the redbird sings,
here here here here.