raising the bar, Monotype of the Day #792

Day 60 of year 3

I'm returning to my roots. I haven't worked in black ink for at least a year. It's soothing, a mental reset. The colors of my current ink choices have me feeling a bit fed up. Because I'm only able to work with water soluble inks, my palette is considerably limited. Limits can be a good thing, they force you to stretch and think creatively but some times you just need to run free. So I'm giving color a rest for now. Overall, I'm in sort of a weird place with my work the last few weeks. It feels uncomfortable. I'm working on embracing this place of uncertainty rather than judging it. I know whatever is going on, it's necessary to my process. At the same time, my desire to spent more time on larger project is growing. Like many artists, my work has been upended by COVID. Projects that I had been working on for a traditional gallery setting prior to quarantine stopped feeling relevant. Finally though, new projects are beginning to sprout and I look forward to seeing what unfolds. I'm been reading a lot of Rilke lately, the poem below is speaking to me tonight.

I live my life in widening circles
By Rilke, Trans Barrows & Macy

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not ever complete the last one,
but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, that primordial tower.
I have been circling for thousands of years,
and I still don't know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

From Rilke's Book of Hours https://amzn.to/2ZxWMJH

For more information on purchasing this monotype click here or see “Buy Art” in the menu above.

reflection, Monotype of the Day #767

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

annunciation, the wait, Monotype of the Day #758

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

boat fire moon ghost & the slumber, Monotype of the Day #735

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.

angel in the room, Monotype of the Day #698

Day 328 of Year 2 (Actually Day 333)

This is the ghost ink from last night with a new layer on top.

emergence & emergence ghost, Monotype of the Day #694

Day 324 of Year 2 (Actually Day 329)

I put a little too much ink on tonight. I has been raining a lot here and it is very humid. When that happens you definitely have to use less ink. Art materials are very effected by the weather and if you're not paying attention, it can cause a lot of trouble. I liked my first print tonight but everyone else here preferred the ghost. What do you think?

rain must fall, Monotype of the Day #693

Day 323 of Year 2 (Actually Day 328)

Posting early tonight. This is the ghost print from last night's ink with a second layer.

treescape ghost (plus 2nd print: treescape), Monotype of the Day #660

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.

thought bubble, Monotype of the Day #658

Day 288 of Year 2 (Actually Day 293)

This piece and the yellow piece from two nights ago were both done using the ghost ink from the night before they were made. The ghost ink dried enough so when I rolled the fresh ink on top the next day, it kept its form instead of being mixed in. I like the delicate, ephemeral quality this technique brings to the image.
I am posting tonight's poem because we are all a little peckish here and the house feels worn out with our constant presence. We are in a time of ups and downs and I know it us only a matter of time until this passes and we, in our little quarantined world, are in harmony again. This poem reminds me of the beauty and possibility in home (both inner and outer).

The Work of Happiness
By May Sarton

I thought of happiness, how it is woven
Out of the silence in the empty house each day
And how it is not sudden and it is not given
But is creation itself like the growth of a tree.
No one has seen it happen, but inside the bark
Another circle is growing in the expanding ring.
No one has heard the root go deeper in the dark,
But the tree is lifted by this inward work
And its plumes shine, and its leaves are glittering.

So happiness is woven out of the peace of hours
And strikes its roots deep in the house alone:
The old chest in the corner, cool waxed floors,
White curtains softly and continually blown
As the free air moves quietly about the room;
A shelf of books, a table, and the white-washed wall --
These are the dear familiar gods of home,
And here the work of faith can best be done,
The growing tree is green and musical.

For what is happiness but growth in peace,
The timeless sense of time when furniture
Has stood a life's span in a single place,
And as the air moves, so the old dreams stir
The shining leaves of present happiness?
No one has heard thought or listened to a mind,
But where people have lived in inwardness
The air is charged with blessing and does bless;
Windows look out on mountains and the walls are kind.

From May Sarton: Collected Poems https://amzn.to/2zMRtfu A wonderful book! Shout out to https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/ where I

restless night, Monotype of the Day #648

Day 278 of Year 2 (Actually Day 283)

Last night I tried doing a print overlaying a dark blue as a face onto a bed of ochre images like the piece above. It didn't turn out as I expected. I thought that since the ochre ink was wet it would bleed through the blue. No such luck, but it did provide an interesting varied subtlety to the piece which a flat underlayer of color does not. Lesson learned. So tonight I decided to do that process in reverse, ochre on top of blue. This piece was supposed to be the blue underlayer but I liked it too much to print on top of it 🙂. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a ghost print and try it with the ochre face as an overlayer as planned. We shall see! This is one of the things that makes art such an adventure. Art materials have plans of their own, they dream and actively partner with the artist. Sometimes our plans sync, sometimes materials will fight us all the way. This complex relationship is a subtext in all material works of art and is essential in grounding the artist. It is the earth calling us back. Our materials silently chant, "though your vision soars high above. you are clay and bound by the frailty of the world."

finding peace, Monotype of the Day #623

Day 253 of Year 2 (Actually Day 258)

I couldn't bring myself to erase that beautiful stripe of pink ink from yesterday's plate so I made it into a tree. What else could I do? 😊I am trying to embrace what is happening right now and take in this pause, so I am going on a daily walk. The streets have a peacefulness usually only experiences on Thanksgiving or Christmas afternoons. Bird song is everywhere. I am grateful for these small moments of beauty in the middle of this storm. My love and prayers to all those who are sick or suffering.

The Best of Any Song
By Wendell Berry

The best of any song
is bird song
in the quiet, but first
you must have quiet.

From A Timbered Choir https://amzn.to/33T0w9x

looking out, Monotype of the Day #616

Day 246 of Year 2 (Actually Day 251)

Something very simple tonight. I'm connecting to a calm and peaceful internal energy while working and it's keeping me sane. I also just received a new ultramarine ink. The working properties are very different from my other inks so I'm exploring that too. Just finding normalcy where I can and looking for silver linings everywhere. I hope you are doing the same and if you can't right now that's okay too. Be kind to yourself. Sending you lots of love. xo

presence, Monotype of the Day #604

Day 234 of Year 2 (Actually Day 239)

Yesterday's spat with my new printing press took its toll on me. I woke up exhausted, that wheel is HARD to turn! So I decided to take a breath tonight and go back to a more traditional monotype. Here I'm experimenting with multiple thin layers of texture. Lately I've been taking ghost prints of everything I make, but often they are not strong enough to use a a completed piece. I saved them knowing they would be of use at some point. In this piece, there are three layers of texture- soapy ink I left on the plate, the ink I put down over it, and the ghost ink already on the paper. It's an interesting effect. I'm definitely going to play with this more. When in doubt, play. Until tomorrow... xo

Your Ocean
By Dorothy Walters

When you are in love
you do not say
you are near love
or beside love,
or seeking to know
love's truth.
You say you are in love.
Never mind how you got here.
This is your ocean.
Drown in it.
From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/3cLgQxp

conversation, Monotype of the Day #599

Day 229 of Year 2 (Actually Day 234)

Wow, I just realized tomorrow will be day 600! That feels like a significant milestone to build on. And speaking of building, tonight's print is built on the ghost ink from last night. I couldn't bring myself to wipe the ink off. My exhibit started to come down today. I wasn't sure what to expect. I somehow thought I would be sad or upset but instead I'm excited. I have so many projects to look forward to including a large walkthrough tunnel. Can't wait to be rested up enough to get to work. We have another couple days of breakdown and then I'll need some rest, but the future looks bright.

What I Have Learned so Far
By Mary Oliver

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

From New and Selected Poems https://amzn.to/2TuZhJ3 found on
http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/O/OliverMary/WhatIHaveLea/index.html

moonrise, Monotype of the Day #588

Day 218 of Year 2 (Actually Day 223)

Today I was interviewed for a news program. (More on that later!) I did this piece as a demo using older dryish ink and when I lifted the paper I really didn't like it. I did another print and told them not to use this one. But then I remembered that it's not for me to judge my work and good or bad, it's all part of the process. So I'm posting it here tonight as a reminder to myself to trust the process and carry on. It was a long but lovely day so I'm off to bed. Until tomorrow. xoxo