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)

even at night, there is Light, Monotype of the Day #730

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

doorway, Monotype of the Day #617

Day 247 of Year 2 (Actually Day 252)

Today was difficult but also beautiful. The puppy we thought we were getting fell through due to virus concerns and I spent the day working out logistics for a family member who unfortunately needs to travel. But then, I took a really wonderful, reviving walk with my dear. It's a strange time in the world filled with loss but punctuated by beauty. I am learning to embrace the beauty and let go of attachments. I think this is key for getting through this tunnel we are in, this moment of unknowing. My intentions for being my best self: I will trust, I will let go, and I will remain present. My heart and prayers go out to all those who are ill. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Lots love to you. xo

lake light, Monotype of the Day #615

Day 245 of Year 2 (Actually Day 250)

Making landscapes puts me in touch with the spaciousness of the inner world. I find myself making these moonlit scenes when I feel confined. A lot of us are feeling hemmed in right now, but the inner world is a beautiful resource. There is so much to explore and know inside. Let us become explorers and adventurers. The interior world is as vast as our physical confinement is small.

dance of the keyholes, Monotype of the Day #596

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Day 226 of Year 2 (Actually Day 231)

Trying out something new, trying to embrace the unknown and new beginnings. This month's studio video for my Patreon subscribers will feature demos of these new techniques. (www.patreon.com/sybilarchibald) Tomorrow is the closing reception, so I'll keep it short. Hope to see you there if you are in the area! xoxo

2-5 pm, Artist Talk around 2:30pm
Clerestory Fine Art, 40 Church Street, Montclair, NJ

How Dark the Beginning
By Maggie Smith

All we ever talk of is light—
let there be light, there was light then,

good light—but what I consider
dawn is darker than all that.

So many hours between the day
receding and what we recognize

as morning, the sun cresting
like a wave that won’t break

over us—as if light were protective,
as if no hearts were flayed,

no bodies broken on a day
like today. In any film,

the sunrise tells us everything
will be all right. Danger wouldn’t

dare show up now, dragging
its shadow across the screen.

We talk so much of light, please
let me speak on behalf

of the good dark. Let us
talk more of how dark

the beginning of a day is

From The Poetry Foundation website https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/152103/how-dark-the-beginning 

breathe, the sun rises again, Monotype of the Day #590

Day 220 of Year 2 (Actually Day 225)

In my on going effort to get to bed before 3AM, I've decided to make my print in the morning before I do anything else. There are too many variables in the middle of the day and of course working at night is the root of my problem. Habit is such an important support, it carries you through when your mind or body just doesn’t want to cooperate. A consistent studio time is therefore a must. I was surprised by the difference morning energy brings to working. I'm excited to see how this change will effect my work. Next step is to do my writeup earlier. Tiny steps add up to great changes! Until tomorrow.

reflected, Monotype of the Day #571

Day 201 of Year 2 (Actually Day 206)

A Language You Once Knew
By Dorothy Walters

There will be an invitation.
It will not come tied in ribbons
nor a message streaming down
from the sky.

There will be no Roman candles
sizzling
nor brilliant colors
exploding overhead.

Instead there will be a soft
whisper
in your ear,
something in a language
you once knew
and are trying to learn again.

In order to hear it,
you will need to
put down all your packages,
stop everything you are doing
and stand very still
then wait. . .

From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/37TYwze

mirror image, Monotype of the Day #566

Day 196 of Year 2 (Actually Day 201)

I had high hopes for leaving this stomach bug behind, but alas it didn't happen. To tomorrow! In the meantime when I haven't been sleeping, I've been thinking about mirrors. Mirrors are a symbol that comes up in my work rarely, but in regular intervals. While studying medieval spirituality in college, I was taken with the idea that all creatures are like mirrors reflecting Divine Light. This includes human beings, our souls are compared to dirty mirrors and our duty is to polish them so we can reflect more Light into the world. In the medieval period this mirror haze was thought of as sin, but I think of it as lack of self awareness. The more we know ourselves, the more we can access our innate kindness and share it with the world. Anyplace where you have to stick with difficulties and work them rather that avoid them polishes the mirror. An artists studio is just such a place. Until tomorrow.xo

embryo, Monotype of the Day #555

Day 185 of Year 2 (Actually Day 190)

I have a number of larger projects bumping around in my head, but I'm feeling at a bit of a loss in the print studio. Getting my show put together was a major energetic completion. The new energies have not uncovered themselves yet. It's an uncomfortable moment which can easily derail an artist. No one likes to feel uncomfortable. No one likes to make work they're not happy with. The trick is just staying with the discomfort. It has to be ok to make incomplete, ugly, unsatisfying, whatever work. My trust in the process is absolute. Knowing that whatever it is being made today is necessary to bring an artist to the next step has carried me through many a rough patch.

From burweed
by Kobayashi Issa, Trans. Stryk and Ikemoto

From burweed,
such a butterfly
was born?

From Zen Poetry https://amzn.to/3anmIeT (A great book with a wide variety of poems and poets)

the forest at night: reaching, Monotype of the Day #533

Day 163 of Year 2 (Actually Day 168)

The forest is such a mysterious place, so much happens there we are unaware of. Like the creative process, we can catch a peak but not really experience it deeply unless we enter in. The veiled nature of the creative process has been the centering theme of my life. Often it's felt like an ascent, like climbing a ladder. But recently this has changed to feel more like a journey deep into a forest to find a mystical place, a true home. Before I strove to heal myself to be a better vessel for creativity. Now I accept we are all imperfect vessels and it's through our cracks that that the Light comes in as Leonard Cohen so beautifully puts it. This change is huge because it removes another control from the process. Even a good goal like healing acts to limit possibilities. I am longer trying to make anything happen, I am just here to welcome and partner with the unceasing flow of creative energy as it enters into the world to transform everything it meets.

rooted II, Monotype of the Day #502

Day 136 of Year 2 (Actually Day 137)

Focusing on finishing up two new large sculptural paintings for my solo show in January. I have the strong desire to spend a whole day in the print studio but this other work calls. Instead, a print studio day will be my present for completing these last two pieces. I have way more work than gallery space and yet I am compelled to make more. I guess that is the nature of being an artist. The natural generative creative flow that undergirds and carries all life forward is infectious if you are listening.

reflection, Monotype of the Day #501

Day 135 of Year 2 (Actually Day 136)

I made it through day 500 without letting the number 500 get in my head like 365 did. This project has been great training. Looking forward to tomorrow. xo

Reflected
By Kobayashi Issa , Trans. Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto

Reflected
in the dragonfly’s eye —
mountains.

From Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter https://amzn.to/2qLffV0
Although I own this book, I found the poem here: https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2011/05/23/kobayashi-issa-reflected-2/

you are invited, Monotype of the Day #488

Day 122 of Year 2 (Actually Day 123)

Every moment is an open invitation. If I am quiet, I hear my studio calling. So many times and places in my life I felt I did not belong. I think this must be a common feeling for artists. Ours is not the common path. We are lucky though, because we always have a place were we belong without question. The studio is always calling, always inviting us in. It is the place where we are wanted just as we are with faults and imperfections and, where we accept who we really are, beautifully imperfect partners in the pageant of creation.

The Fist
By Mary Oliver

There are days
when the sun goes down
like a fist,
though of course

if you see anything
in the heavens
in this way
you had better get

your eyes checked
or, better, still
your diminished spirit.
The heavens

have no fist,
or wouldn't they have been
shaking it
for a thousand years now,

and even
longer than that,
at the dull, brutish
ways of mankind—

heaven's own
creation?
Instead: such patience!
Such willingness

to let us continue!
To hear,
little by little,
the voices—

only, so far, in
pockets of the world—
suggesting
the possibilities

of peace?
Keep looking.
Behold, how the fist opens
with invitation.

From Thirst https://amzn.to/2O69o4m