whisper, Monotype of the Day #562

Day 192 of Year 2 (Actually Day 197)

The show and all the excitement has caught up with me. I’m going to be taking some time to physically rest and recharge (except from monotypes 😊). But that doesn’t mean the creative process stops. Sometimes sitting quietly allows you to listen in a very deep and necessary way.

the gift, Monotype of the Day #561

Day 191 of Year 2 (Actually Day 196)

More birds but the imagery is evolving.

One Heart
By Li-Young Lee

Look at the birds. Even flying
is born

out of nothing. The first sky
is inside you, open

at either end of day.
The work of wings

was always freedom, fastening
one heart to every falling thing.

From Book of My Nights https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1929918089. Found on https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2017/03/10/li-young-lee-one-heart/

feed me, Monotype of the Day #560

Day 190 of Year 2 (Actually Day 195)

Another bird in black ink. I'm not sure what's happening, but clearly I need to hear, feel or see this image. I'm not used to the daily images being quite so similar, but I trust the process and know this must be necessary to where I am headed next. Something is definitely loosening up inside. Birds are messengers of creativity and I am starting a lot of new projects right now. I am grateful for the the gifts these birds are carrying.

alight, Monotype of the Day #559

559.jpg

Day 189 of Year 2 (Actually Day 194)

Allow
By Danna Faulds

There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.

From Prayers to the Infinite https://amzn.to/2RLldih

the key again, Monotype of the Day #558

Day 188 of Year 2 (Actually Day 193)

There's something about this pairing of the bird and key that is sticking with me right now. I have an Artist Talk Thursday so all my words are going to that. I'll write more after it's done. If you're in the area I hope you can make it: Clerestory Fine Art, Thursday, 1/23 at 11AM. For those that can't make it, I'm working on having it videoed. xoxo

movement, Monotype of the Day #556

556.jpg

Day 186 of Year 2 (Actually Day 191)

I've gone back to my roots tonight, birds have been with me from the start. A self portrait with a bird on my shoulder was my very first painting. They represent creativity coming into the world and I am refilling my creative tank right now. Tomorrow I'm off to the art supply store to refill my physical supplies too. Then I will be all set to dive back in. I'm including a Kabir poem translated by Robert Bly as a reminder to myself. The poem is about seizing your life, living now. My show is up but my work continues. xoxo

Poem by Kabir, trans. Robert Bly

Friend, hope for the Guest while you are alive.
Jump into experience while you are alive!
Think… and think… while you are alive.
What you call ‘salvation’ belongs to the time
before death.

If you don’t break your ropes while you’re alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after?

The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten—
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now,
you will simply end up with an apartment
in the City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now, in the next life
you will have the face of satisfied desire.

So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
believe in the Great Sound!

Kabir says this: When the Guest is being searched for,
it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest
that does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.

From Kabir https://amzn.to/36flzmx

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)

overflowing, Monotype of the Day #554

Day 184 of Year 2 (Actually Day 189)

it was tough to make this image. I'm a little scattered from my opening last night. There are three overwhelming feelings I have right now: 1) Gratitude for all the people who came out to my opening; 2) Gratitude for all the help I've received putting the show together. I couldn't have down it without such amazing support; & 3) A strong urge to get going on my new projects! The studio is empty and I'm raring to go! Until tomorrow... xo

i'm here, Monotype of the Day #553

Day 183 of Year 2 (Actually Day 187)

I made this image this afternoon before I left for the opening of my show. The opening was wonderful! I am very grateful to all who came out. I will post pictures and more details soon. But now I've been on my feet for hours and I'm off to put them up! xoxo