the edge of night, Monotype of the Day #661

661.jpg

Day 291 of Year 2 (Actually Day 296)

I mixed a color tonight that has a good amount of white in it. The white seems to have blocked a lot of the under (ghost) layer and also doesn't have the depth of the inks without white mixed in. Lesson learned. Every image that fails in someway is a doorway. There are a lot of failures in studio practice, some true failures and some perceived by the artist alone. It is so important to understand that failure is a vital, beautiful part of the process. Understanding this is like grease for your gears. It keeps the creative spring flowing instead of stopped up by disappointment.

Quatrain 1115
By Rumi, Trans Colman Barks

The minute I am disappointed, I feel encouraged.
When I am ruined, I am healed.
When I am quiet and solid as the ground, then I talk
the low tines of thunder for everyone.

From Open Secret, Versions of Rumi https://amzn.to/2YvQsm8 (A really wonderful collection)

treescape ghost (plus 2nd print: treescape), Monotype of the Day #660

Day 290 of Year 2 (Actually Day 295)

I have completely abandoned cleaning my monotype plates! I love the depth the old (ghost) ink adds under the final image. Tonight I'm posting two prints. The first posted print (the one I am using as my daily print) is actually a ghost* of the second posted print. Printmaking (at least the way I practice it) is about giving up control. You never know exactly how ink will mate with paper. A ghost print is more of an adventure because even the way an artist lays ink down is altered. This method amplifies the ink's own special voice. Artist materials have voice and purpose if you listen. Even alone in the studio, an artist collaborates with the physical world through their materials. It is a constant back and forth, sometime a smooth collaboration, sometimes an epic battle. A good ghost print captures a precious moment of trust and harmony between an artist and the material world. *A ghost print is the a second print taken off of a monotype plate. Because it uses the leftover ink, the image is always different from the first print.

seascape again, Monotype of the Day #659

Day 289 of Year 2 (Actually Day 294)

I seem to return to this seascape over and over again. It's a strong reflection of my inner world. Sometimes it comes out calm and I can feel its energy easing and opening. But tonight it's a bit of a chaotic garble. This doesn't surprise me. It sometimes feels to me like we are each in an isolated boat at the whim of winds and waves, hoping for sight of land. The yellow on the horizon here seems strangely hopeful as do the veiled symbols throughout. Our inner lives are alive and ticking. Seeds are being planted and plots hatched. I often have to remind myself, patience Sybil, patience. My love to all those who are sick or suffering.

thought bubble, Monotype of the Day #658

Day 288 of Year 2 (Actually Day 293)

This piece and the yellow piece from two nights ago were both done using the ghost ink from the night before they were made. The ghost ink dried enough so when I rolled the fresh ink on top the next day, it kept its form instead of being mixed in. I like the delicate, ephemeral quality this technique brings to the image.
I am posting tonight's poem because we are all a little peckish here and the house feels worn out with our constant presence. We are in a time of ups and downs and I know it us only a matter of time until this passes and we, in our little quarantined world, are in harmony again. This poem reminds me of the beauty and possibility in home (both inner and outer).

The Work of Happiness
By May Sarton

I thought of happiness, how it is woven
Out of the silence in the empty house each day
And how it is not sudden and it is not given
But is creation itself like the growth of a tree.
No one has seen it happen, but inside the bark
Another circle is growing in the expanding ring.
No one has heard the root go deeper in the dark,
But the tree is lifted by this inward work
And its plumes shine, and its leaves are glittering.

So happiness is woven out of the peace of hours
And strikes its roots deep in the house alone:
The old chest in the corner, cool waxed floors,
White curtains softly and continually blown
As the free air moves quietly about the room;
A shelf of books, a table, and the white-washed wall --
These are the dear familiar gods of home,
And here the work of faith can best be done,
The growing tree is green and musical.

For what is happiness but growth in peace,
The timeless sense of time when furniture
Has stood a life's span in a single place,
And as the air moves, so the old dreams stir
The shining leaves of present happiness?
No one has heard thought or listened to a mind,
But where people have lived in inwardness
The air is charged with blessing and does bless;
Windows look out on mountains and the walls are kind.

From May Sarton: Collected Poems https://amzn.to/2zMRtfu A wonderful book! Shout out to https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/ where I

ponder, Monotype of the Day #657

Day 287 of Year 2 (Actually Day 292)

Today was a cleaning day so I am tired! How messy is your quarantine house on a scale of 1-10, 10 being a disaster area and 1 being clean? I expected that we would be a full 14 by now, but we have been keeping it a respectable 7-8. Cleaning is physically challenging for me and with the house in chaos from a new puppy and a teenager. I'd say we are doing pretty well. (Mainly because my husband is a saint!) The message here is it okay. We are all doing our best. Maybe it doesn't look as well as we'd like but this is what we can do right now. I accept that. I hope you are being kind to yourself too.

PS I found a few more sheets of torn paper!

gestation, Monotype of the Day #656

Day 286 of Year 2 (Actually Day 291)

I've been spoiled by having a studio assistant for many years to help me with things that are difficult for my hands to do like tearing paper, making paper clay, and cutting mat chips. I believe I used my last piece of torn paper tonight and all my studio-made materials are running low. I've been working one way for a long time. Obviously, no one can come to my studio for a while so here is a chance to get out of my easy comfort zone and see what happens. I'm looking at this as an opportunity instead of a reason to be cranky. I hope my brain and mood will cooperate! 😊 My love to all those who are sick or suffering. xo

at home, Monotype of the Day #651

Day 281 of Year 2 (Actually Day 286)

I'm really tired today and I barely got this print out, but it feels good to have it done. Life is so different right now, I'm sure you feel this too. Many regular maintenance activities that keep me going, like acupuncture and bodywork, are out and I feel the difference. I also miss my large art studio which is being used for my son's online dance classes. So I am working on embracing and accepting what is actually happening rather than fighting it. Many things are occurring in my house that we all thought could never work, like choreography in the living room, and yet they are. It makes it very clear how deeply the rigidity of our minds has limited us. I am grateful for this lesson. It is one of things I plan to hold onto when we resume life outside of the house once again. My love to all those who are sick or suffering.

The Thirsty Fish
By Kabir, Trans. Robert 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: Poems from Europe, Asia, and the Americas Robert Bly https://amzn.to/2VyRaNK

the key to life, Monotype of the Day #650

Day 280 of Year 2 (Actually Day 285)

I'm really enjoying playing with this new technique so much. This is another double print but with a much subtler underlayer.

What's Inside the Ground
By Rumi, Trans Barks

Whatever gives pleasure is the fragrance
of the Friend. Whatever makes us wonder

comes from that light. What's inside the
ground begins to sprout because you spilled

wine there. What dies in autumn comes up
in spring because this way of saying no

becomes in spring your praise song yes.

From The Soul of Rumi https://amzn.to/2RXUjof
A terrific collection, I highly recommend it!

the key to sleep, Monotype of the Day #649

Day 279 of Year 2 (Actually Day 284)

This image is the reverse of the image from two nights ago. It is yellow ink over blue ink where the older print was blue over yellow. There is definitely more depth in this one, but it still isn't the effect I was hoping for. There will be more experimenting tomorrow I'm sure. By the way, the blue under image here is the ghost print from last night.

restless night, Monotype of the Day #648

Day 278 of Year 2 (Actually Day 283)

Last night I tried doing a print overlaying a dark blue as a face onto a bed of ochre images like the piece above. It didn't turn out as I expected. I thought that since the ochre ink was wet it would bleed through the blue. No such luck, but it did provide an interesting varied subtlety to the piece which a flat underlayer of color does not. Lesson learned. So tonight I decided to do that process in reverse, ochre on top of blue. This piece was supposed to be the blue underlayer but I liked it too much to print on top of it 🙂. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a ghost print and try it with the ochre face as an overlayer as planned. We shall see! This is one of the things that makes art such an adventure. Art materials have plans of their own, they dream and actively partner with the artist. Sometimes our plans sync, sometimes materials will fight us all the way. This complex relationship is a subtext in all material works of art and is essential in grounding the artist. It is the earth calling us back. Our materials silently chant, "though your vision soars high above. you are clay and bound by the frailty of the world."

the key to listening, Monotype of the Day #647

Day 277 of Year 2 (Actually Day 282)

This print has beautiful subtle color but you can't see much of it in this picture. Not every work is internet friendly. So my mind automatically goes to, should I post it? Is my goal to succeed at social media or remain true to my monotype of the day project? My first allegiance is to art and I will not let an outside force dictate or change my work. A large part of this project is to capture whatever happens each day without judgment and help reveal the ups and downs (both inner and outer) that are part of the process of being an artist. It would be easy to augment this piece to look better on screen but it would suffer and I would be changing to the work to please someone else. The act of dulling artistic vision has an insidious effect on an artist. Slowly, change after change, and an artist begins to lose the uniqueness of their voice. This monotype a day project has forced me to learn to stand my ground. So many times photos have not done justice to the work. But, like so many other things in life, I have learned this is just a spiritual muscle that must be built. So I post this image today and hope that sometime you might see the original in person. My love to all those who are sick or suffering. xo