see me, Monotype of the Day #843

see me, monotype 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

see me, monotype 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 111 of year 3

We want the world to see us for who we are, but often we refuse to see ourselves and our fundamental goodness. We like to focus on our brokeness, but what of our light.

Oremus
By Pádraig Ó Tuama

So let us pick up the stones
over which we stumble, friends,
and build altars.

Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies.
Let us listen to the sounds of our own voices,
of our own names, of our own fears.

Let’s claw ourselves out from the graves we’ve dug.
Let’s lick the earth from our fingers.
Let us look up and out and around.

The world is big and wide and wild
and wonderful and wicked,
and our lives are murky, magnificent,
malleable, and full of meaning.

Oremus.
Let us pray.

From https://onbeing.org/programs/padraig-o-tuama-and-marilyn-nelson-a-new-imagination-of-prayer/ Also see Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community https://amzn.to/3mCfzN0

safe harbor, Monotype of the Day #842

safe harbor, monotype, 13 x14” Sybil Archibald

safe harbor, monotype, 13 x14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 110 of year 3

It was really tough to get the colors right in tonight's photo. It's close, but this is one of those prints that doesn't fully translate to digital. If you come to the SOMA Studio Tour: Outdoors Edition next weekend you'll get a chance to see the real color in person. I put the newest few months of prints into portfolio today for that event. I always find it so interesting how much my opinion of my prints changes. Almost without fail when I look at the prints I didn't like I think. "Hmm that's not so bad after all.. i actually like this!" And, it often happens that the ones I really liked fall flat. This is further evidence and support to my belief that artists should not judge their work as they are making. Let it flow and let the world do the judging. Of course as a human, it's nearly impossible not to judge but I don't grasp the judgements. I observe them, let them bounce by, and keep on working.

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

boat, Monotype of the Day #840

boat, monotyoe, 12” x14” Sybil Archibald

boat, monotyoe, 12” x14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 108 of year 3

I added ink directly onto the plate on top of the left over from last night’s print. I like the effect.

KEEPING OUR SMALL BOAT AFLOAT
By Robert Bly

So many blessings have been given to us
During the first distribution of light, that we are
Admired in a thousand galaxies for our grief.

Don't expect us to appreciate creation or to
Avoid mistakes. Each of us is a latecomer
To the earth, picking up wood for the fire.

Every night another beam of light slips out
From the oyster's closed eye. So don't give up hope
that the door of mercy may still be open.

Seth and Shem, tell me, are you still grieving
Over the spark of light that descended with no
Defender near into the Egypt of Mary's womb?

It's hard to grasp how much generosity
Is involved in letting us go on breathing,
When we contribute nothing valuable but our grief.

Each of us deserves to be forgiven, if only for
Our persistence in keeping our small boat afloat
When so many have gone down in the storm.

Source: Robert Bly's Facebook Page

the artist is empty, Monotype of the Day #839

the artist is empty, monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

the artist is empty, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 107 of year 3

Today Like Everyday, We Wake Up Empty
By Rumi, Trans. Moyne & Barks

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

From one of my favorite Rumi Books, Unseen Rain https://amzn.to/2G7FVXE

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

mystical journey, Monotype of the Day #837

mystical journey, 12 x 14”, Sybil Archibald

mystical journey, 12 x 14”, Sybil Archibald

Day 105 of year 3

Whatever happens in the outer world, we still have control of our inner world. The studio can be a kind of a fortress in times of distress. Working is a way to maintain connection to the fundamental goodness of the human spirit. I've often felt that is it the job of the spiritual artist to maintain a connection to the light and work to bring its energy into the world. There can be a lot of difficulty and darkness out there, but there is an inner wellspring of creative light which we can use to trace back to our source. When we can't change the outer world, it's time to turn inward and delve for the light.

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

Conversation, Monotype of the Day #836

836-conversation-sybilarchibald-monotype-printmaking-spiritual-art.jpg

Day 104 of year 3

I'm looking forward to some good conversation at the South Orange and Maplewood Studio Tour, Outdoor Edition. Grab your masks and join me Saturday November 7th and Sunday November 8th from 11-4pm. I'll have monotype from the Monotype of the DayProject and a new installation piece. We will have 6 artists on one block including jade carving demos, photography, painting, printmaking and more. Hope you can join me Warren Court, South Orange, NJ.

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

mystery, Monotype of the Day #834

mystery, monotype on paper, by Sybil Archibald

mystery, monotype on paper, by Sybil Archibald

Day 102 of year 3

The Moment By Dorothy Walters

And not once,
but many times over,
again and again,
how we disappeared
into that deep well
of darkness, shuddering beneath that load of silence,
clinging to our narrow ledge.

Yet the darkness, sometimes,
unfolded as light.
Our atoms dissolved in it,
each separate molecule opening
into a radiant disk of feeling.

How still we became,
witness and thing seen,
spectacle and observer,
each point admitting an untrammeled flood.

From Marrow of Flame https://amzn.to/3krhJOP

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

you are not alone, Monotype of the Day #833

you are not alone, monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

you are not alone, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 101 of year 3

One of the great gifts of the studio is a true sense of partnership. I never feel alone while working. Unseen energies are alway there supporting and healing, bringing peace and a deep sense of belonging to each moment.

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

what goes unseen, Monotype of the Day #831

what goes unseen. monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

what goes unseen. monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 99 of year 3

So much of making art happens outside the conscious mind. An artist can sometimes get a hint, like seeing the outline of an object against a bright sun. But even after a piece is made they may not be able to see its true meaning and content. Things take time to surface in the conscious mind. This is one of the reasons it's best not to judge a work when it's first complete. Trust in its value and let it marinate. Someday it may provide surprising revelations.

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

interior view, Monotype of the Day #830

interior view. monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

interior view. monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 98 of year 3

Tonight's poem is from a really lovely book of poetry, Iron String, and is a new discovery for me. I hope you enjoy. 

Enough

By Annie Lighthart

Sometimes the birds like the bare branch, and later
the cover of leaves. And so it goes: a day of sun, then two
of rain. We are easy with the world and then can no longer be.
And the space between — what lives there? In the middle
of the in-breath and out — where are we just then?
Is there more than silence between chorus and verse?
Is it a compressed galaxy? A pocket of time? Or perhaps
it is more like the comma, dark little hook
on which many things turn. Sometimes it’s enough
to slip into that darkness and just stand there, looking around.

 From Iron String https://amzn.to/3oinBMS

 For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.

You can purchase this monotype here.