the reach, Monotype of the Day #577

Day 207 of Year 2 (Actually Day 212)

The Ocean Moving All Night
By Rumi Trans. Coleman Barks & John Moyne

Stay with us. Don't sink to the bottom
like a fish going to sleep.
Be with the ocean moving steadily all night,
not scattered like a rainstorm.

The spring we're looking for
is somewhere in this murkiness.
See the night-lights up there traveling together,
the candle awake in its gold dish.

Don't slide into the cracks of the ground like spilled mercury.
When the full moon comes out, look around.

From Open Secret https://amzn.to/31EwLZ2

stigmata, Monotype of the Day #575

Day 205 of Year 2 (Actually Day 210)

Making last night's bird felt like talking with an old friend so I brought him back tonight. I found tonight's poem on the internet. It is attributed to Rumi but I can't find any citation of where it came from so that may or may not be true. However, it's a beautiful thought so I share it here tonight below the title.

Attributed to Rumi
I said: what about my eyes?
He said: Keep them on the road.

I said: What about my passion?
He said: Keep it burning.

I said: What about my heart?
He said: Tell me what you hold inside it?

I said: Pain and sorrow.
He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1299504-i-said-what-about-my-eyes-he-said-keep-them

bird rise, Monotype of the Day #574

Day 204 of Year 2 (Actually Day 209)

I struggled to make this tonight. I really did NOT feel like it. But I forced myself into the studio and after awhile things started to cook. It feels good to know I stuck with it. One of the big life changing discoveries from doing this project is finding that so many actions are shaped by the way we frame them in our minds. At the top of the stairs I was saying I don't want to. As I walked down the stairs I chose to say I want to make a monotype, I love making monotypes, this is a necessary part of my day. By the time I was in my studio I was ready to work.

dream of life, Monotype of the Day #573

Day 203 of Year 2 (Actually Day 208)

Tonight was the sacred poetry reading in conjunction with my show. It was wonderful and I am grateful to everyone who came out. Hearing some of my favorite poems read out loud was amazing. The experience filled me up. It's important for artists to explore other forms of creativity- dance, music, poetry, etc. It stretches the mind and makes you think in different ways. It breaks you out of ruts and refills your creative tank.


Whatever this is
By Dorothy Walters

What is it,
this channeling god,
these words pouring through
like love strokes of light,
these syllables taking over
becoming flesh, my flowing veins,
I cannot remember
when it was not this way,
when my blood did not ache
for whatever this is.

From a Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/375k9eu

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

red handed, Monotype of the Day #569

Day 199 of Year 2 (Actually Day 204)

I am starting a large hand piece and I'm really excited about it. The hand print I made two nights ago has been sitting around in my brain nagging me. Too tight, too controlled. I feel much relieved after making tonight's print. It's so strange and amazing how much these print impact me energetically.

I often choose a poem from a book and then search the internet for it so I don't have to type the whole thing from scratch. This poem has a first part not typed below. Interestingly almost everyplace online left it off and I actually think for this time of year, it's better this way. I'll post it again in summer in it's full form.

Excerpt from Wild Geese
By Wendell Berry

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

From The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry https://amzn.to/2OluBYW

something's afoot, Monotype of the Day #568

Day 198 of Year 2 (Actually Day 203)

I guess I've completely fallen back into my bad habit of posting late at night. I feel confident it can be corrected though. 🙂 My head is brimming over with new ideas which is good because I have a lot of blank walls! After a big show it's common for an artist to hit a lull. I anticipated this and strategically planned projects not part of the show. These projects have me excited enough to carry me right through that lull. A lot of this lies in the framing. In my head I cast the show as part of my larger goal, not the end in itself. This way even though the work for the show is done, I'm still moving forward. It is so necessary to have a big dream, one that is so large it would seem like a miracle to fulfill. It could be a status goal like receiving recognition, it could an energetic goal like loving deeply, or anything that lights you up. The point is to create the climate of excitement that feeds the creative process and pulls you forward.

ready to turn, Monotype of the Day #567

567.jpg

Day 197 of Year 2 (Actually Day 202)

I feel was too careful with this one. Tomorrow I am going to do a number of smaller sketches to loosen up again. I wanted this image too much and my need curtailed my flow. It's exciting though, this is the first time a key has actually gone into a keyhole in my work.
The poem is just one stanza from a poem that is too long to post here, though I encourage you to look it up and read the whole thing. (You can find it here: https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/O/OliverMary/HaveYouEverT/index.html) xo

Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches (excerpt)
By Mary Oliver ".....
Who can open the door who does not reach for the latch?
Who can travel the miles who does not put one foot
in front of the other, all attentive to what presents itself
continually?
Who will behold the inner chamber who has not observed
with admiration, even with rapture, the outer stone?
......"
From West Wind https://amzn.to/2Ua2qjm

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