the echo, Monotype of the Day #477

Day 111 of Year 2 (Actually Day 112)

Something very simple tonight. I've been setting up for my yearly studio tour all day. I am grateful for this project because without it, it might have been easier to just skip my studio practice. But even being really tired from setup, I feel refreshed from making this print. If you are in the area, I hope you will stop by my studio. All the info is here: www.studiotoursoma.com. If you're not in the area, I'll be posting some video of the event soon. xoxo  Sybil

the artist at night, Monotype of the Day #476

Day 110 of Year 2 (Actually Day 111)

I slept most of the day except for when some of my wonderful friends came to help setup for the studio tour. I am hopeful my arm will be more usable by tomorrow. It's been great the past two nights to use only one arm in making my print. I am forced to examine my habits and look at things with fresh eyes. Once I'm back in full gear, I think it will have a positive effect on my work. Wishing you all good things! xoxo

sketch, Monotype of the Day #475

Day 109 of Year 2 (Actually Day 110)

Just a quick sketch tonight. I'm busy setting up for the studio tour this weekend and I guess I overdid it. I cant lift my left arm. I'm not too concerned, it happens, but I am a little put out. 🙂 However, I've learned to just surrender. This too shall pass. The less I get caught up in the mental suffering the easier it is. Sometimes there's nothing you can do to ease physical pain, but you can always shift your mind to change the experience of what you have to undergo. I've posted this poem before, but it always helps me. I do not feel as wretched as this poem at all but the point it makes is a good one. The inner world has a profound effect on the outer world.

Invictus
By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus

the passage, Monotype of the Day #474

Day 108 of Year 2 (Actually Day 109)

When I went to start my print tonight, the remnants of last night's print, specifically the sky and mountains shapes were still there. Something in me couldn't wipe it away so I used it again to very different effect. It made me think of how much is given and how much we willfully refuse to see. It would have been so easy to wipe this ink away instead of allowing it voice. So much of studio practice comes down to listening.


Listen!
By Wendell Berry

How fine to have a radio
and beautiful music playing
while I sit at rest in the evening.
How fine to hear through the music
the cries of wild geese on the river.

From Given: https://amzn.to/2PsMnuv

interested parties, Monotype of the Day #473

Day 107 of Year 2 (Actually Day 108)

I'm getting quite interested in these three figures. I want to know them better. There is an air of something important but it's a complete mystery for now. This is the kind of thing that really gets me going. Some sort of intrigue to warm the blood. It's a happy coincidence that it's finally cold enough to pull out my favorite Sherlock Holmes hat. 🙂 The game is afoot!

the beacon at night, Monotype of the Day #472

Day 106 of Year 2 (Actually Day 107)

Yesterday was interesting. Despite my extreme dislike of the print bubbles, it received a positive response proving once again, an artist is not meant to judge the value of their own work. Work flows through and out. Radical trust is required, trust that though an artist may not learn the true purpose of an individual piece, there is purpose. Tonight I needed this red, I felt it warming my chest, giving me life force. It changed me. But I will never know if it has a purpose after it goes out into the world. That has to be okay because the fastest way to block up creative flow is to become attached to certain outcomes. Creative freedom comes from detachment especially detachment from making a "good" work of art. Every work has a purpose whether it is to change the artist, its viewers, or both. Yesterday was a great reminder to trust, turn off the judgement, and turn on the flow.

ALL
by Wendell Berry
All bend in
one wind.
From Given https://amzn.to/2NgLN0dg

bubbles, Monotype of the Day #471

Day 105 of Year 2 (Actually Day 106)

I won't lie, I can't stand this print. I know talk a lot about not judging my work and 99% of the time, I just let it flow. But tonight is that 1%. I couldn't get in the zone. My yearly studio tour is coming up next weekend and I've been cleaning and organizing. Cleaning is a different head space. I wanted to put red down first, but fought my instinct and went with purple. Things deteriorated from there. It's ok though. There is an ebb and flow to everything. If today was off, tomorrow promises better things. I am reminded by tonight's studio session the deep and profound importance of listening and surrendering to the creative flow. That was important so even on an off night, something was gained.

lifting the veil or the egg at sea, Monotype of the Day #469

Day 103 of Year 2 (Actually Day 104)

I'm divided on a title tonight. Which do you prefer: "lifting the veil" or "egg at sea"? I printed the second layer at an angle purposely to suggest the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds, something I feel keenly in the studio. I had a tooth pulled today. The body is good at finding ways to keep us grounded! I am perfectly fine but tired so I will leave it at that for tonight. xo

sail away, Monotype of the Day #468

Day 102 of Year 2 (Actually Day 103)

The medieval idea that we are mirrors reflecting divine light into the world is beautiful. In this metaphor, our mirrors have grown dirty with human limits, ego and jealousies, self-pity, the list is long. Our spiritual growth polishes this dust away so more light can be reflected.
It can be hard to keep an even keel during the events that force us to grow. I've found that with time and experience it becomes easier. This year has been has been at once extremely challenging and extremely wonderful. I tried my hardest to maintain the internal space described in tonight's print. To accept and trust my path even when difficult rather than be irritated or embattled. It was not always possible but the more I let go of my irritation, the easier my challenges were to navigate. This internal space of calm allows my life to move forward with times of happiness even in the face of challenges. And so the polishing continues and hopefully the mirror shines brighter. "If you are irritated by every rub,
how will your mirror be polished?"
-Rumi, Trans. Helminski
From The Rumi Collection https://amzn.to/2JhyYBz

the handover, Monotype of the Day #467

Day 101 of Year 2 (Actually Day 102)

This piece has a lot of subtly that's hard to capture in a photo. My husband's first question was, "how will that look in a photo?" I knew it wouldn't present in it's best light, but I didn't make changes for the photo, there was no impact on my process or the end result. I consider this a victory. One of the hardest things for an artist is to hold their own voice steady, to let the inner world rule the outer and not visa versa. It's human nature to want to please and without even knowing it, an artist's practice can be subtly shaped and altered by what gets the most praise or sales. Don't get me wrong, praise and sales are wonderful! But the artistic vision and flow must come from inside. It's an awareness and a muscle that needs to be developed. This Monotype a Day project has trained that muscle in me and I am grateful.

the artist is all ears, Monotype of the Day #466

Day 100 of Year 2 (Actually Day 101)

I am reading this lovely little book called Miro, I Work like a Gardener (https://amzn.to/32C5AxM). I was delighted to find that he was influenced by St. John of the Cross whose poetry has impacted me greatly. I loved this paragraph in particular: "What I seek, in fact, is motionless movement- something equivalent to what's called the eloquence of silence, or what St. John of the Cross meant by the words, I believe, 'mute music.'" Miro captures what I often try to convey in my work: the active nature of the inner world which only finds voice in stillness. Tonight's image of listening is such a moment of stillness, but listening is active. So much happens, so much is uncovered, in a truly motionless moment. Stillness unfolds mystery. Emptiness and silence are both active and passive. These moments where opposites coexist are sacred. I chase these sacred moments through my work.

salvation, Monotype of the Day #464

Day 98 of Year 2 (Actually Day 99)

I love this poem by Lynn Ungar so much. I marked it months ago and set it aside. Tonight after making my print, I went to the bookshelf and was magnetically drawn to this book (Bread and Other Miracles) and the page of this poem. I've learned to trust these feelings over my thoughts, they are akin to the directions I get in the studio. I am so grateful for poets and their inspiring work.

Salvation
By Lynn Ungar

By what are you saved? And how?
Saved like a bit of string,
tucked away in a drawer?
Saved like a child rushed from
a burning building, already
singed and coughing smoke?
Or are you salvaged
like a car part — the one good door
when the rest is wrecked?
Do you believe me when I say
you are neither salvaged nor saved,
but salved, anointed by gentle hands
where you are most tender?
Haven’t you seen
the way snow curls down
like a fresh sheet, how it
covers everything,
makes everything
beautiful, without exception?

From Bread and Other Miracles: https://amzn.to/2VXBUsd

the rescue, Monotype of the Day #463

Day 97 of Year 2 (Actually Day 98)

The physical nature of art materials have a large impact on the way a piece unfolds. My current black ink of choice doesn't allow the rich darks and beautiful line quality of my old ink. Because of this, I feel a bit disappointed in the results. Tomorrow, I hope to go back to this image and find that quality I am seeking. But, whether or not the piece is a success visually, it is definitely a success in shifting my internal landscape. It was born out of sitting and breathing with some fear and anxiety that were plaguing me today. The feelings have passed. I go to sleep with a clear mind and heart.

This work is paired with by "Building and Earthquake" by Jane Hirshfield

Read it here: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7560/723436-065/pdf

from Come Thief https://amzn.to/2Bvvya1