self portrait with timer, Monotype of the Day #462

Day 96 of Year 2 (Actually Day 97)

To be alive is to have anxiety, angst, pain, all of it. Holding these emotions in will block the creative flow. Uncomfortable, darker feelings must be acknowledged to be released. The artist needs to be fearless in their embrace in order to find the Light. This piece helped me empty my vessel for more creativity to flow in.


Secret Language
by Rumi, Trans. Coleman Barks

Every part of you has a secret language
your hands and your feet
say what you've done
and every need brings in what's needed
pain bears its cure like a child
From the website Poetry Chaikhana https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/R/RumiMevlanaJ/SecretLangua/index.html
Transcribed from a CD: Secret Language https://amzn.to/33FhIOr

the blessing, Monotype of the Day #461

Day 95 of Year 2 (Actually Day 96)

There is a magical air about the studio these days. I made some real progress today finishing up some old projects that have been hanging around. I am so grateful for the help of my studio assistant. I'm also grateful for a person who recently showed up out of the blue with some much needed expertise. He is helping me make a piece I've been dancing around for ages. It's taken so many years to understand that the less I try to force projects to happen, the more things move. Each time I stop myself from pressing against an obstacle with a gentle, "patience Sybil, patience. It's okay not to see the way", something new and exciting opens up.

To Know the Dark
by Wendell Berry

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

From The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry https://amzn.to/33MW1wf

the transfer, Monotype of the Day #460

Day 94 of Year 2 (Actually Day 95)

A larger sheet of paper would have been useful here. I wanted to do more with the second plate but alas, no room. Maybe tomorrow. This image was printed 3 times. 1, the hand, 2, the hand again with the left over ink from the first print, & 3, the person holding the finger. Printing is so magical, you never know exactly what anything will look like once ink hits paper. It teaches detachment. If you really love an image, it's difficult to take that leap of faith and print a second or third layer over it. So you must reserve judgment. This is one of the most important rules in the studio.

Raga
by Denise Levertov

The fluteplayer
can’t be seen to draw breath,
doesn’t even
part his lips. But music
flows from the
wooden flute, a river
of honey over-
flowing the honeycomb.

From Sands of the Well https://amzn.to/2pmQyNG (To see the bonus content posted with this on my patron page checkout www.patreon.com/sybilarchibald)

Here, Monotype of the Day #459

Day 93 of Year 2 (Actually Day 94)


Today, I needed to feel this orange, with its life affirming heat. From there, the image unfolded. It always starts like that, a flush of color or a fragment of image pops into my head like a key to unlocking a mystery. Then, the innate wisdom of the body takes over. My hands, even in their weakened state, know more about making art than my brain ever could. In this process, the brain has a more important task than thinking. It must empty and listen. The ink's voice, the images that pop in, the nudges, must be heard. All are messages from the universal source of all creativity, The Artist, shining through from behind the veil, a gift to the artist.

By Angelus Silesius, Trans. Stephen Mitchell
God, whose love and joy
are present everywhere,
Can't come to visit you
unless you aren't there.

From The Enlightened Heart https://amzn.to/2OKKWHD

Reaching, Monotype of the Day #458

Day 92 of Year 2 (Actually Day 93)

The remnants of yesterday's ink were still on my plate this evening. Somehow I just couldn't wipe it away so I guess, tonight is a partial ghost print and a variation on a theme. I am curious about this symbolism so I hope the suspended woman comes up again. The last time she appeared, she was suspended by her feet so I call this a definite improvement!
The past month or so has been a struggle physically, but mercifully things have shifted and I'm feeling much better. My seas have been choppy and I ride the swells up and down. I know well that every down leads to an up, followed by a down, and over and over. That's life, keeping afloat in these swells. But, there is an internal landscape of peace within reach. I find mine in the studio. When I make these images of calm they change my energy. I am not the same person who walked into my studio earlier today. Like water on a stone, these images are slowly wearing away my rough edges and emptying my vessel.

I Laugh When I Hear That The Fish In The Water Is Thirsty
By Kabir, Trans. Ribert Bly

I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty

You don't grasp the fact that what is most alive of all
is inside your own house.
and so you walk from one holy city to the next with
a confused look!

Kabir will tell you the truth: go wherever you like,
to Calcutta or Tibet;
if you can't find where your soul is hidden,
for you the world will never be real!
---- From The Winged Energy of Delight https://amzn.to/2q41CiS
There is another translation on the web which is quite different, It's worth looking up if you are touched by this poem

the artist is carried, Monotype of the Day #457

Day 91 of Year 2 (Actually Day 92)

I was thinking of many things to say about this print, but when I sat down to the computer, I realized nothing more needed to be said than the poem below. Perhaps my thoughts need another night to mature? Timing is everything. One of the greatest lessons of the studio is listening, when to wait, when to stop, and when to close the computer and call it a night! 😊 . xoxo


Effortlessly
by Mechthild of Magdeburg, Trans. Jane Hirshfield

Effortlessly,
Love flows from God into man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings —
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.

From The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry https://amzn.to/2VD9OlT

the spotlight, Monotype of the Day #456

456.jpg

Day 90 of Year 2 (Actually Day 91)

This was tough to make tonight. I had an opening and when I got home, I literally could not keep my eyes open. It took about an hour of battling my eyelids until I was able to drag myself into the studio. Then miraculously, and as is always the case, somehow enough energy came to do a print. As I am typing I feel that energy slowly draining away.

This puts me in mind of the renown cellist and amazing exemplar, Pablo Casals. Casals was famously asked at age 93 why he continued to practice. “Because,” he replied, “I think I’m making progress.” I once read that in later years, he woke up as a stiff old man, but as he practiced each day, his body would straighten up and his energy return. When he finished, he would slowly deflate like a balloon until bed and wake up the next morning to start again. On the day he died, he had already practiced for several hours. The renewing force of creativity gives bountiful gifts to those who partake.

the boat is empty, Monotype of the Day #455

Day 89 of Year 2 (Actually Day 90)

While uploading images to my new website (www.sybilarchibaldart.com), I came across an older print titled "so many fish long for bait “. The title, a line from a poem by Wang Wei, suggests wanting and wanting was is not good for us.
This image, strikes me as the opposite of that. The spacious emptiness of the boat and fish, calm in the face of stormy weather, is something I aspire to. How much room can be made to allow for life to flow through. More than any other image I've made recently, this one gives me hope. The fact that this image could come through shows how much these monotypes have changed and healed me. I feel very grateful and renewed in energy for my work. xo

in the light, Monotype of the Day #454

Day 88 of Year 2 (Actually Day 89)

I just received a new book of Wendell Berry poems and I found the poem below. There are so many gems in it. The one that stands out the most right now is "There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places." In the studio the sacred is easily accessed, the veil between worlds pulls thin. But I love this reminder that the sacred is always present and waiting for our awareness. Berry's directions to himself apply to visual artist's as well. One note though, he encourages us to doubt people who like our work. I think he just means keep pushing. No insult to my commenters intended! 😊 xoxo


How to Be a Poet
By Wendell Berry
(To remind myself)

i
Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill — more of each
than you have — inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.

ii
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.

iii
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

From Given Poems: https://amzn.to/2AZDS1I

the artist accepts life, Monotype of the Day #453

Day 87 of Year 2 (Actually Day 88)

This image haunted me all day.

Unison Benediction
by May Sarton

Return to the most human,
nothing less will nourish the torn spirit,
the bewildered heart,
the angry mind:
and from the ultimate duress,
pierced with the breath of anguish,
speak of love.

Return, return to the deep sources,
nothing less will teach the stiff hands a new way to serve,
to carve into our lives the forms of tenderness
and still that ancient necessary pain preserve.

Return to the most human,
nothing less will teach the angry spirit,
the bewildered heart;
the torn mind,
to accept the whole of its duress,
and pierced with anguish...
at last, act for love.

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/S/SartonMay/UnisonBenedi/index.html To get the book: https://amzn.to/35ibOof

what's at hand, Monotype of the Day #452

Day 86 of Year 2 (Actually Day 87)

I looked at my Instagram feed today and noticed a lot of boats and some very similar compositions. I figured, okay, if this is the energy working through, I can at least switch up the composition. I had a plan and, as usual, it went right out the window as soon as I looked at my plate. 😊 Another portrait of my hand came instead. I feel uncomfortable with this piece but I've come to understand that is good. The pieces I like are easily understandable, they are working an energy I already know at least a bit. When the new is unfolding it's uncomfortable, it's the energy of change and that can be scary or at least challenging. I've allowed myself more freedom and abstraction here, it's always a breakthrough when you free yourself from constraints. And, as always, the work reflects my life. Today I had a breakthrough on something that's had me stuck for a while. Celebrations all around. Which reminds me of how very grateful I am to be able to share my work with you. Thank you to all who interact with my posts and to all who silently look. xoxo

The Way, Monotype of the Day #451

Day 85 of Year 2 (Actually Day 86)

I had a lot of fun making this monotype tonight. I'm not usually aware of having fun while working, it's more of a meditative state. But I think playfulness is important. It's another way to set the ego aside and let what comes come. The second image is a picture of the plate just before I printed this image in the comments. I thought you might find it interesting. xo

What Harbinger?
By Denise Levertov

Glitter of grey
oarstrokes over
the waveless, dark,
secretive water.
A boat is moving
toward me
slowly, but who
is rowing and what
it brings I can’t
yet see.

From Sands of the Well https://amzn.to/31UnwTI

empty, Monotype of the Day #449

Day 83 of Year 2 (Actually Day 84)

This piece feels undone to me but every time I tried to add something, it did not come. I've gotten much better at following directions so I was able to leave it even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. Looking at this monotype is uncomfortable, it feels messy and unfinished. My ego definitely didn't want to post it. 🙂 Then I realized this is moment of emptiness and uncertainty just before becoming, just before new arrives. This piece is holding the space void of myself, empty of ego, that allows for rebirth. The discomfort comes from not knowing, the strength comes from waiting. Things will unfold in their own time. I can sense them lingering just outside of the frame, dancing on the edge of my vision.