the birds, Monotype of the Day #674

Day 304 of Year 2 (Actually Day 309)

This poem touched me today:

This Is the Dream
By Olav Hauge, Trans. Bly & Hedin

This is the dream we carry through the world
that something fantastic will happen
that it has to happen
that time will open by itself
that doors shall open by themselves
that the heart will find itself open
that mountain springs will jump up
that the dream will open by itself
that we one early morning
will slip into a harbor
that we have never known.

From The Dream We Carry: Selected and Last Poems from Olav Hauge
Found on http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2014/07/olav-hauge-this-is-dream.html

We all think like this poem and hope. But true change often comes in reverse from the inside out. When the outside world will not budge we can still transform inside.

the flock, Monotype of the Day #673

Day 303 of Year 2 (Actually Day 308)

Today I made eggs for breakfast and when I lifted the pan, something I have done many times, it was just too heavy and it slipped from my hand, broke my plate, and clattered to the floor tossing eggs everywhere. It's sometimes difficult for me to understand the limits of what I can and cannot do because they change from day to day. One day I can do something, the next day it's not possible, and then two days later it could be fine again. The hardest part is not the limitations, it's the uncertainty. Learning to live with this flux has been a wonderful lesson in detachment. I have adjusted to the unknown and learned to live and even thrive. There are a lot of unknowns in the world right now, I share my story hoping to show that it is possible to find a measure of peace even in the midst of a storm. My love to all those who are suffering or sick.

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 Go In and In: Poems from the Heart of Yoga https://amzn.to/2z4S7oD

knowledge tree (Monotype of the Day #670)

Day 300 of Year 2 (Actually Day 305)

I remember when I hit day 300 a year ago, it felt like such a milestone. Now in my second year of this project I've hit day 300 again and it feels good but like just like any other day. I've begun to look at these monotype as footprints. I make one each day, like one footprint following the other, and move forward. That's been my motto since I've been dealing with long-term illness, focus on the small steps, the rest is beyond our control. My love to all those suffering or dealing with illness.

"I" ["No, no, there is no going back"]
By Wendell Berry

No, no, there is no going back.
Less and less you are
that possibility you were.
More and more you have become
those lives and deaths
that have belonged to you.
You have become a sort of grave
containing much that was
and is no more in time, beloved
then, now, and always.
And so you have become a sort of tree
standing over the grave.
Now more than ever you can be
generous toward each day
that comes, young, to disappear
forever, and yet remain
unaging in the mind.
Every day you have less reason
not to give yourself away.

From A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems, 1979-1997 https://amzn.to/2YYJXsz. Such a wonderful book of poems!

floating, Monotype of the Day #667

Day 297 of Year 2 (Actually Day 302)

It seemed to me this piece wanted more symbols but I hit a snag in the studio. The shadowy images are made by removing ink with cut pieces of paper. My hands were too tired today to cut and I have come to the end of my stock pile. But I made it work anyway and fortunately, tomorrow is Mother's Day and my son has agreed to to cut for me. 🙂 I spent the day drawing shapes out for him. The real trick right now, at least for me, is keeping going. Normally, my studio assistant would cut for me but everyone's normals are broken. I don't want to get stuck because I'm attached to my old way of doing things. So I am embracing this print for what it is, an essential part of my process on this day. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring. My studio is a place of wonder and adventure for me.

The Painter
Robert Arthur Lewis

I put color on walls, then leave
and let light tell its own story. Strange
how our vague ambitions lead
to such particular situations, like these white overalls
with the brass clips, this collection of brushes
and buckets. It was never my intention
to join the order of caps and rags,
but here I am.

One summer evening I knelt in a shed
cleaning brushes. Light streamed through the splintered boards
and I was there to see how it landed, how it made
the shovel and the rake and the dirt floor
all count. I stopped and listened. Wind
swept dry grass against the dryer siding.
The sound was as close as my own breath
and my kneeling went deeper into thankfulness

for this strange and lonely craft
which makes me love so many things. "The Painter" by Robert Arthur Lewis. Published by The Atlanta Review, Spring/Summer 2005.

Found on http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2014/04/robert-arthur-lewis-painter.html

dusk, Monotype of the Day #666

Day 296 of Year 2 (Actually Day 301)

The Moor
by R. S. Thomas

It was like a church to me.
I entered it on soft foot,
Breath held like a cap in the hand.
It was quiet.
What God was there made himself felt,
Not listened to, in clean colours
That brought a moistening of the eye,
In movement of the wind over grass.

There were no prayers said. But stillness
Of the heart’s passions — that was praise
Enough; and the mind’s cession
Of its kingdom. I walked on,
Simple and poor, while the air crumbled
And broke on me generously as bread.

Found on https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/blog/2018/03/16/r-s-thomas-the-moor-3/
If you are interested in sacred poetry, Poetry Chaikhana is a wonderful resource!
I am ordering this book right away: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1401923879

eyes, Monotype of the Day #665

Day 295 of Year 2 (Actually Day 300)

It's been a month since we got our puppy and the house was an absolute wreck until this evening. Puppy shreddings everywhere. I have limited energy so I don't tidy up as much as I'd like. One day I looked and the piles had become too much. I literally couldn't think straight. Especially in my studio, I felt that mess bearing down on me like a weight. It's a good reminder that art isn't just what happens in the studio, it's the woven threads of the artist's whole life creating a framework for the universal creative flow to come through. If an artist is stuck in the studio, the answer often lies elsewhere. If we tend to our lives patiently, flow will return. This is the cyclical nature of life on earth, every ebb must be followed by a flow. Change is constant and nothing stays stuck forever. xo