the fire within, Monotype of the Day #885

Day 153 of year 3

Quatrain 359
By Rumi, Trans. Moyne & Barks

Do you think I know what I am doing?
That for one breath or half-breath I belong to myself?
As much as a pen knows what it's writing,
or a ball can guess where it's going next.

From Open Secret https://amzn.to/3gJYnmX

the fire within, monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

the fire within, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

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

burning, Monotype of the Day #817

817-burning.jpg

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.

fire, Monotype of the Day #798

fire, monotype, 12 x 14” Sybil Archibald

fire, monotype, 12 x 14”
Sybil Archibald

Day 66 of year 3

My printing plate is just about out of gas. I've been using it every day for a couple of years. The paper is sticking to it and the ink is rebelling. I can't get a solid field of black. It's an interesting texture but I think I'll be replacing this plate soon. To be an artist often means being at the mercy of the physical world. The push and pull of materials is an active force during creation. Materials have purpose and desire, they have moods. Sometimes you get along with them and sometimes you fight. Tonight I fought a bit but in the end I let the ink and plate have their way. This evening, one of my favorite all time poems below. I've posted several time before and used as inspiration for my solo show last winter. I never get tired of reading it and the fire in this print is a good excuse!

This work is paired with "A Fish Cannot Drown in Water" by Mechthild de Magdeberg translated by Jane Hirshfield from The Enlightened Heart https://amzn.to/3hGQDRQ

worship & worship ghost print, Monotype of the Day $784

.Day 53 of year 3

Yesterday when we walked in the forest I saw the first colorful leaves of fall on the ground. I had that wistful end of summer feeling and today fall colors have shown up in my prints. Change is inevitable. The seasons turn by. Some change is easy and some is difficult, even unacceptable like illness or death. I have spent a good deal of my life learning to accept the unacceptable. I have been ill since my early 20s and I've missed a lot of things. I've struggled and almost died. But everything that I had to go through changed me for the better and opened my heart. This experience has grown in me a deep and abiding trust in my journey. Through everything I've experienced, there has been a greater purpose. I've learned to do what I can to the best of my abilities and trust that what needs to happen will. What needs to happen and what I want to happen are not always the same thing. Trust goes hand in hand with releasing control. This is a lesson that is also learned in the studio. the artist trusts in their own process, the artist surrenders to The Artist.

glow, Monotype of the Day #771

Day 39 of year 3

In going through the images for my book, I noticed I double counted a couple days. This means I've actually done more days than I thought. The numbering for project days in now correct and I know this doesn't matter to anyone but me! :) Strange what we hold onto as important. There are so many distractions everyday, many of our own making, to keep an artist from their studio and their most important and sacred work. Resistance is part of the process though. It's important to accept it and let it go. There's no use being mad at yourself for wasted time. The studio is filled with intimate sacred moments and there is only so much of that our limited selves can handle without a break. So if you've been resisting, take a breath, let your self judgement go and when you can, however long that maybe, head back in.

the artist forgets the present, Monotype of the Day #746

Day 15 of Year 3

I am grateful for the way having a long term illness has prepared me for this moment of sweeping change and unrest in the world. I've written before about learning to give things up and dealing with disappointments, but it's more than that. When you are faced with a complex illness, you literally don't know from day to day how you will feel, if something major will go wrong or if it will be business as usual. Very quickly on, I learned not to think about the future. I doubt I would even be able to get out of bed if I thought about all the negative possibilities- most completely out of my control. So I get up in the morning and with whatever energy I have, I do what I can to care for myself and then squeeze the most life I can out of each day regardless of my circumstances. Some days this is easy, the sun is shining and all is well, but some days it requires active listening for the good in an otherwise trying situation. I'm applying this same muscle to the pandemic and the political state of our country. I'm doing my best not to let possible futures (which may never come to pass) steal my present moment. Looking at tonight's print, I feel the damage and weight of dwelling on what might be but how deeply that is woven into the fabric of our humanity. Those future worries may always be there but with practice, it is possible for them to maintain a respectful distance.

the artist forgets the present
#monotypeoftheday
Day 15 of year 3
(Total project days 745)