The Artist and the artist, Monotype of the Day #899

The Artist and the artist
Day 167 of year 3 (Total project days 899)

Tomorrow is the final day of this project in this form. In the beginning of the project, I made many prints each day and chose one to post with no commentary. As my project progressed and the commentary and poetry became more and more important, I did fewer prints each day. It worked because I was in a rhythm and I never really left the flow from one day to the next. Today I slipped back into making many prints. It was so freeing. There is a different quality to working this way. It's not that one is better or worse, but the daily prints are more like a dairy, like dipping a cup into a stream. The multiple print sessions are like mining to tap a deep well. I am looking forward to mining for a while and I'll be posting the results each Monday on "Monotype of the Day Monday". I am filled with gratitude for all of you who have taken this journey with me and supported my work with your comments, likes, and purchases. xo Sybil.

Heavy Secrets
By Dorothy Walters

You and I carry heavy secrets within.
This is why our breasts have grown so large.
Already they are overflowing,
ready to fill the world’s waiting mouth.

From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/34QewCH

the chariot, Monotype of the Day #871

Day 138 of year 3

I liked the ghost print from last night so much, I kept the over layer simple. Ghost prints are magical. They are the perfect partnership between artist and materials. The artist controls the ink more fully on the first pull. On the ghost image, the artist's intent is still there but the ink has space to make its own voice heard. 

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.  

rising, Monotype of the Day #858

Day 126 of year 3

Sonnets to Orpheus Book II, 1
By Rilke, Trans Barrows and Macey

Breath, you invisible poem!
Pure, continuous exchange
with all that is, flow and counterflow
where rhythmically I come to be.

Each time a wave that occurs just once
in a sea I discover I am.
You, innermost of oceans,
you, infinitude of space.

How many far places were once
within me. Some winds
are like my own child.

When I breathe them now, do they know me again?
Air, you silken surround,
completion and seed of my words.

From In Praise of Mortality https://amzn.to/3f9QeYu 

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

reflection, Monotype of the Day #857

Day 125 of year 3

For the second night, I intended a wave and instead got calm waters. A wave is exciting, adventurous, tumultuous, dangerous, fun. It can be all these things. In someways those states are much easier to deal with than calm and peace. We get antsy, we get uncomfortable, we long for distractions. So to do I long to add more to this piece. Instead I am sitting with this piece to see what happens. In order to be a clear channel for creative energy, the artist must create and maintain internal space. Meditation is an important way I expand that space and I've been off my practice for a while. This print may have many meanings for people viewing it, but for me it is a call to delve deeply again inside and expand.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

compassion, Monotype of the Day #856

Day 124 of year 3

I thought about waves all day. I went in the studio tonight expecting to make one, but as usual my plans came to nothing. This monotype was supposed to be the background for a wave but once I printed the sun, it was clear the energy of this print was complete. I'm getting better at respecting and listening to the creative flow. There was a time I would have insisted on the wave to the detriment of my overall ease and work flow. Keeping the channel open is more important than any single piece. The top three necessities for an artist (in my opinion):

1- Listening
2- Trust
3- Perseverance

——————-

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

bravery, Monotype of the Day #855

Day 123 of year 3

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

keyhole, Monotype of the Day #851

Day 119 of year 3

Still exhausted from the studio tour, but managed to get this print done somehow! One thing I've learned through the course of this project is the importance of will and decision. Many a night when I was sick or exhausted it was sheer force of will that got me up into the studio. It's a formidable power within each of us if we choose to access it. I slept most of the day and am heading back to bed now. I'll post some tour pictures tomorrow. xo

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

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.

reflection, Monotype of the Day #814

Day 82 of year 3

Tonight's poem is from a beautiful collection of Zen poetry. I ordered this book years ago from a used bookseller. It came dog-eared and stained. I love it, it feels like being a guest in a musty old library filled with ancient books. It takes me out of present time and place and immerses me in the experience of its poetry. Many artists hope their work will shift people's experience. This book shows that work doesn't have to be grand or perfect to do that, only an authentic expression of self.

Reflected
by Kobayashi Issa, Trans. Stryk and Ikemoto

Reflected
in the dragonfly’s eye —
mountains.

From Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter https://amzn.to/30wjse1

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

gathering, Monotyope of the Day #812

Day 80 of year 3

The supplies came to make a new printing plate, finally! I'm excited to experiment this weekend. It's always wonderful when an artist can make their own art supplies. It gives you more possibilities, more room for play and more room for mistakes. Mistakes are one of the most important parts of the artistic processes. It's easy to get attached to what you want to happen, but I try to never get upset over a mistake because mistakes are gifts. They are cracks that let in fresh air and light to guide you on your way. They wake you up and help you to change. Change is the essence of being an artist. Creation is fundamentally an act of changing the world. An artist brings a new physical form into the world and with that form comes transformational energies. Like a drop of water in a well, these energies ripple out. Without mistakes our ripples would grow small and our journeys narrow.

the days grow short, Monotype of the Day #807

Day 75 of year 3

journey, Monotype of the Day #764

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

wings & the descent, Monotype of the Day #756

Day 24 of Year 3

I'm so happy! No more self portraits, at least for now. However, I am in a bit of a muddle, I'm in that in between stage, the ebb between two flows. Usually I feel a bit lost during these periods. The antidote to this is to keep working but forget about the product. I try to do this anyway, but it is so much more important in an ebb. If you focus on making good work in an ebb you will get frustrated.. This is a major cause of artist block. Instead, I am using this ebb to experiment. I desperately miss cadmium red light. It is such a passionate color and not available in my inks so I'm experimenting with acrylic paint. I had many disasters tonight- paper gluing itself to my plate and tearing, paint drying to quickly, etc. I was fun though. Here are a couple of my attempts. I've barely scratched the surface here. Looking forward to playing some more tomorrow. xo

print 1: wings

print 2: the descent

greening, Monotype of the Day #733

Day 362 of Year 2 (Actually Day 2 of Year 3)

O most noble Greenness, rooted in the sun
By Hildegard of Bingen, Trans. Jerry Dybdal and Matthew Fox

O most noble Greenness, rooted in the sun,
shining forth in streaming splendor upon the wheel of Earth.
No earthly sense or being can comprehend you.
You are encircled by the very arms of Divine mysteries.
You are radiant like the red of dawn!
You glow like the incandescence of the sun!

From Hildegard of Bingen's Book of Divine Works https://amzn.to/3gSC6lY

teeth, Monotype of the Day #722

Day 352 of Year 2 (Actually Day 357)