fishing hole, Monotype of the Day #827

Day 95 of year 3

This project is about exploring the inner life of an artist, the issues that come up and the growth that occurs while working in the studio. It is a very public way of making art and it takes great discipline to keep the stream clear. By that I mean, listening and acting on inner impulses and messages alone, rather than viewer expectations. If a particular print gets a lot of likes, it's human nature to want to do more of what receives praise. It's also easy to worry about what people will think. But this is the short road to creative blockage and that I realized is what has been happening to me. In the back of my mind without even being conscious of it, I began censoring myself- I've used that symbol too often, people will be bored, they will think I'm lazy, etc. It kept me from fully embracing and letting go in my work. I know a wonderful artist, Jay Pingree (https://sixfootsixstudio.com/). He has been working the same topic, people walking, for quite a while. But I'm never bored when I see his work because it comes from a place of truth, his inner truth. Each piece unfolds an intimate and distinct experience and reveals something new though the subjects are the same. I am grateful for his example. Humans are addicted to judging especially self judgement. It is easy to fall into such an ingrained habit, but judgement has no place in the studio. It only narrows the stream and by releasing it, I feel fully present again in the studio. I don't know the purpose of my work, what energy is working through, or why, but that is not mine to know. It is for me to work with what the creative flow so generously offers.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

fishing, Monotype of the Day #825

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Day 93 of year 3

Sonnets to Orpheus, Book II, XX
By Rilke, Trans. Barrows and Macy

How far it is between the stars, how much farther
is what's right here. The distance, for example,
between a child and one who walks by—
oh, how inconceivably far.

Not only in measurable spans does Fate
move through our lives.
Think how great the distance between a young girl
and the boy she avoids and loves.

Everything is far, nowhere does the circle close.
See, on the plate upon the festive table
how strangely the fish is staring.

Fish are mute, we used to think. Who knows?
We may, in the end, find that their silence
says more to us than our words..

From In Praise of Mortality https://amzn.to/37euSXE

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

keyhole, Monotype of the Day #823

Day 91 of year 3

I feel more connected to this monotype than I have to one in a while. Some pieces have an inner meaning which is part of a tender correspondence between the artist and The Artist, a message to be unwrapped by its maker alone.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

congregation, Monotype of the Day #822

congregation. monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

congregation. monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 90 of year 3

I finally cleaned my studio up about halfway. Such a relief! Mess is good for creativity up to a point and I crossed that point long ago. 😊Art doesn't happen in a vacuum, everything in an artist's life is linked. Get out of balance in any area and it effects the studio.

Effortlessly
by Mechthild of Magdeburg, trans. Jane Hirshfield

Love flows from God into man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings --
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound. –

From Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Cebturies of Spiritual Poetry by Women: https://amzn.to/2GMmQuk

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

arrival & here, Monotypes of the Day #821

Day 89 of year 3

Another evening where things aren't flowing. It doesn't sound good (and it's not that much fun 😊), but actually it is good. It means some old way of doing things is crumbling so that something new can come through. The attachment to doing things in a certain way has to be broken. Habits are strongly ingrained and comforting. But change is the essence of art so, though I struggled tonight, I'm excited about what's coming down the pipeline.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

blessed and blessed ghost, Monotype of the Day #820

Day 88 of year 3

Tonight let's just say, this print is not my favorite. I do like the emptiness of the ghost print though. Part of this project is to show what an artist goes through while creating. Not every print can be the best print or even a good print and that's ok because that's the truth and has to be accepted. It doesn't matter that I don't like it, judging only ties up the creative process. The work is not for me to like or dislike, it's for me to make and to trust. I've written about this before, but sometimes I need to remind myself. So I let it go and look forward to tomorrow.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

going deep, Monotype of the Day #819

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Day 87 of year 3

“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” ― Thomas Merton , No Man Is an Island

The life of the studio has the same ebbs and flows as everywhere else. Some days or weeks are easy and joyful, some are difficult, and some can feel like trudging through mud. Right now I'm experiencing a bit of a malaise with my work. The darker more muddy colors this month seem to reflect that. When Matisse said "Creativity takes courage" he may have meant the courage to express yourself or to break norms, but there is another type of courage. I it see in my fellow artists, the courage to show up and do battle with the self, to create in the face of every self judgement, every moment of resistance, and painful or uncomfortable feeling that spills out in the work. I am grateful everyday for their example to guide me. More than anything else, to adapt Thomas Merton, being an artist is a journey of finding the self in order to lose the self. It is a journey of deep transformation leading the artist ever deeper to the loving arms of The Artist.

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

exchange, Monotype of the Day #818

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Day 86 of year 3

Some of the colors here are a bit muddy. That means it's time to clean my plate. I like to colors to build up over time but eventually it just gets to be too much. The studio needs a good clean too. Wish me luck!

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

burning, Monotype of the Day #817

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Day 85 of year 3

A Cloth of Fine Gold
By Dorothy Walters

You may think that first lit flame was the ultimate blaze, the holy fire entered at last.

What do you know of furnaces? This is a sun that returns again and again, refining, igniting, pouring your spirit through a cloth of delicate gold until all dross is taken and you are sweet as clarified butter in god's mouth.

From A Cloth of Fine Gold https://amzn.to/3iD4WHt

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.

reflection, Monotype of the Day #814

814-reflection.jpg

Day 82 of year 3

Tonight's poem is from a beautiful collection of Zen poetry. I ordered this book years ago from a used bookseller. It came dog-eared and stained. I love it, it feels like being a guest in a musty old library filled with ancient books. It takes me out of present time and place and immerses me in the experience of its poetry. Many artists hope their work will shift people's experience. This book shows that work doesn't have to be grand or perfect to do that, only an authentic expression of self.

Reflected
by Kobayashi Issa, Trans. Stryk and Ikemoto

Reflected
in the dragonfly’s eye —
mountains.

From Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter https://amzn.to/30wjse1

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.
You can purchase this monotype here.