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
Day 38 of year 3
"The perfect way is not difficult, only avoid picking and choosing" -Seng-ts'an, 6th century Buddhist master
Day 32 of year 3
The boat and tree make another appearance! I haven't figured this one out yet which usually means it holds an important message. It also means this symbol will be showing up again and again until I unlock its meaning. I'm looking forward to that. Sometimes it takes years for me to be able to listen deeply enough to get it. I've been making fish for 20 years or more and I finally understood them just last year. So one foot in front of the other and back to work! xo
Day 28 of Year 3
A moment of emptiness tonight. I wanted to do more but nothing came so I resisted my inclination and let it be. But this is where I am now, a place of waiting for the well to fill.
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
Day 25 of Year 3
I'm experimenting with watercolor tonight instead of ink. It's quite interesting to work with because you can layer it on a print in a way that's not possible (or at least easy) to do when painting. This print isn't entirely successful, but I learned a lot and I love nothing more than learning in the studio. The empty boat is me. I am completely out of energy right now. It took determination to get this print done tonight. So I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams to you.
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.
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
Day 359 of Year 2 (Actually Day 364)
One year ago I made my first boat fire image. Looking back on photos of that print (sold for a while), I find myself as fascinated as ever by it's symbolism. Last year's print was calm and peaceful, this year the waters are rough, but still there is a sense of hope. This print is a message telling me to take heart. My vessel may be small and insignificant in the vast sea, but the way is lit and the fire is strong. Wishing you many blessings. xo
Day 352 of Year 2 (Actually Day 357)
Day 332 of Year 2 (Actually Day 337)
Meeting the Light Completely
By Jane Hirshfield
Read it here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/152783/meeting-the-light-completely
From Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems https://amzn.to/2YBFaLT
Day 312 of Year 2 (Actually Day 317)
I find it ironic that someone who rarely sees morning makes so many images about it.
Day 297 of Year 2 (Actually Day 302)
It seemed to me this piece wanted more symbols but I hit a snag in the studio. The shadowy images are made by removing ink with cut pieces of paper. My hands were too tired today to cut and I have come to the end of my stock pile. But I made it work anyway and fortunately, tomorrow is Mother's Day and my son has agreed to to cut for me. 🙂 I spent the day drawing shapes out for him. The real trick right now, at least for me, is keeping going. Normally, my studio assistant would cut for me but everyone's normals are broken. I don't want to get stuck because I'm attached to my old way of doing things. So I am embracing this print for what it is, an essential part of my process on this day. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring. My studio is a place of wonder and adventure for me.
The Painter
Robert Arthur Lewis
I put color on walls, then leave
and let light tell its own story. Strange
how our vague ambitions lead
to such particular situations, like these white overalls
with the brass clips, this collection of brushes
and buckets. It was never my intention
to join the order of caps and rags,
but here I am.
One summer evening I knelt in a shed
cleaning brushes. Light streamed through the splintered boards
and I was there to see how it landed, how it made
the shovel and the rake and the dirt floor
all count. I stopped and listened. Wind
swept dry grass against the dryer siding.
The sound was as close as my own breath
and my kneeling went deeper into thankfulness
for this strange and lonely craft
which makes me love so many things. "The Painter" by Robert Arthur Lewis. Published by The Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2005.
Found on http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2014/04/robert-arthur-lewis-painter.html
Day 291 of Year 2 (Actually Day 296)
I mixed a color tonight that has a good amount of white in it. The white seems to have blocked a lot of the under (ghost) layer and also doesn't have the depth of the inks without white mixed in. Lesson learned. Every image that fails in someway is a doorway. There are a lot of failures in studio practice, some true failures and some perceived by the artist alone. It is so important to understand that failure is a vital, beautiful part of the process. Understanding this is like grease for your gears. It keeps the creative spring flowing instead of stopped up by disappointment.
Quatrain 1115
By Rumi, Trans Colman Barks
The minute I am disappointed, I feel encouraged.
When I am ruined, I am healed.
When I am quiet and solid as the ground, then I talk
the low tines of thunder for everyone.
From Open Secret, Versions of Rumi https://amzn.to/2YvQsm8 (A really wonderful collection)
Day 290 of Year 2 (Actually Day 295)
I have completely abandoned cleaning my monotype plates! I love the depth the old (ghost) ink adds under the final image. Tonight I'm posting two prints. The first posted print (the one I am using as my daily print) is actually a ghost* of the second posted print. Printmaking (at least the way I practice it) is about giving up control. You never know exactly how ink will mate with paper. A ghost print is more of an adventure because even the way an artist lays ink down is altered. This method amplifies the ink's own special voice. Artist materials have voice and purpose if you listen. Even alone in the studio, an artist collaborates with the physical world through their materials. It is a constant back and forth, sometime a smooth collaboration, sometimes an epic battle. A good ghost print captures a precious moment of trust and harmony between an artist and the material world. *A ghost print is the a second print taken off of a monotype plate. Because it uses the leftover ink, the image is always different from the first print.