rising, Monotype of the Day #797

Day 65 of year 3

Lately I've been making a real effort to get out into nature on a regular basis. It's something I haven't done consistently since I was a child and it's changing me. Each trip feels like dust falling from my eyes. My vision is clearer and I definitely feel more grounded. Sometimes when you feel a little blocked up like I have this last week, the best thing to do is get out of your head and clear the mind. One of the things that has been frustrating me is the small size of my printing plate. My experiments at going larger have all been failures. Today it dawned on me that I need to make my own plates out of gelatin. I'll start with small-sized tests but I'm hoping to be able to get really large with it. We shall see, I've ordered the supplies. It's at times like these that I really do miss my studio assistant because some things are challenging because of my physical limitations. I've learned to have patience though. I do what I can and try to find creative workarounds for the rest. If I absolutely can't figure out how to do something, I remind myself that all things have their proper time. I trust that time will come and, while I am waiting, I turn my process to something else. One foot in front of the other and eventually all will be done.

Click here to purchase this Monotype or use “Buy Art” in the menu above.

annunciation, the window, Monotype of the Day #759

Day 27 of Year 3

This is the ghost print from yesterday with a few layers printed on top. Yesterday felt like an important print in my spiritual development, a moment of absence and emptying. Consciously adding into that image today feels transformational.

What Else?
By Carolyn Locke

The way the trees empty themselves of leaves,
let drop their ponderous fruit,
the way the turtle abandons the sun-warmed log,
the way even the late-blooming aster
succumbs to the power of frost—

this is not a new story.
Still, on this morning, the hollowness
of the season startles, filling
the rooms of your house, filling the world
with impossible light, improbable hope.

And so, what else can you do
but let yourself be broken
and emptied? What else is there
but waiting in the autumn sun?

From The Place We Become https://amzn.to/3iC9rmb
Found on http://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2015/10/carolyn-locke-what-else.html

angel, Monotype of the Day #721

Day 351 of Year 2 (Actually Day 356)

Just to clarify last night's post, I am not stopping my daily posts when I hit day 730 (2 years). I'm reexamining the project as a whole to see what it has meant to me, my process, and my growth as an artist and person. I'm considering if I want to continue it as is or if I want to change the scope or restructure. Yesterday someone suggested taking one day a week to focus on a different type of art, could be interesting. It's brainstorming time right now and I may or may not change a thing. I'm open to suggestions and in the end I will see what inner nudges I get on year 3, day 1 and proceed from there.
xo

Your Boat, Your Words
by Pat Schneider

Your boat, they will tell you,
cannot leave the harbor
without discipline.

But they will neglect to mention
that discipline has a vanishing point,
an invisible horizon where belief takes over.

They will not whisper to you the secret
that they themselves have not fully understood: that
belief is the only wind with breath enough

to take you past the deadly calms, the stopped motion
toward that place you have imagined,
the existence of which you cannot prove

except by going there.

From Writing Alone and With Others https://amzn.to/2BBli3V
Found on Poetry Chaikhana http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/S/SchneiderPat/YourBoatYour/index.html

Annunciation 3, Monotype of the Day #720

Day 350 of Year 2 (Actually Day 355)

“And now I understand something so frightening & wonderful-
how the mind clings to the road it knows,
rushing through crossroads, sticking
like lint to the familiar.” --- Mary Oliver, Blue Pastures (found on Good Reads)

Only 15 days to two years of this monotype of the day project! It's time to reassess. Where do I go from here? Continue, stop, or reimagine? Some days I think of expanding this project to include other types of work like painting or sculpture, more of a daily art post. Other days, I want to keep the stream to monotypes because this project is like a daily journal and I enjoy seeing my progression over time. A few months ago, I was looking forward to stopping at two years, I felt frustrated and blocked. But I stayed through that intensely uncomfortable feeling and now I know I must go on. The idea of stopping feels like tearing a piece of my life force away. I would love to hear your suggestions / thoughts on how to proceed from here. Continue with monotypes or expand to more types of art? xoxo

angel moon, Monotype of the Day #711

Day 341 of Year 2 (Actually Day 346)

This is the ghost from last night with several layers on top. In addition to this print, I did some experimenting today. I want to work larger so i tried to print off my plexiglass table and it was a miserable failure! :) I suspected it might be. In order to print off a hard surface, you really need a printing press. Discovering Gelli plates ( a soft plate I used to make today's print) changed my life because I could finally print at home. But of course, I now want to expand. I am keeping my ears open. I know would not have this calling if it were not possible. There is a way, I just have to discover it. Wish me luck! xo

agent of change, Monotype of the Day #705

Day 335 of Year 2 (Actually Day 340)

Touched by an Angel
By Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight,
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

From Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou https://amzn.to/3ftENJW

through the keyhole, Monotype of the Day #700

Day 330 of Year 2 (Actually Day 335)

Day 700! This feels like an accomplishment and I want to take moment to acknowledge that. It's hard for many people, myself included, to take in accomplishments. We tend to focus on what we've done wrong rather than what we've done right. Taking a more balanced view is profoundly healing. This monotype of the day project has helped me tremendously with being more balanced. Putting something out everyday to be judged slowly washes away my attachment to my own judgements about my work. And, even more, the work has been transformative in ways I do not fully understand. I only know that I am not the same person who started this project 700 days ago and for that I am deeply grateful.

This work is paired with “Termites : An Assay” by Jane Hirshfield

from After Poems https://amzn.to/3hkPNet

windows, Monotype of the Day #697

Day 327 of Year 2 (Actually Day 332)

I haven't been spending as much time in my studio lately between the puppy and just trying to manage a lot of the things I usually have help with. Even though I'm in the studio everyday I still miss it. There are lots of ideas I'd like to explore. So, I'm just being patient and trusting that this limited working time is allowing more energy to cook below the surface. Already I feel the tendrils of new work pushing up through the soil, wanting to see the light.
windows
#monotypeoftheday
Year 2, Day 327
(Total project days 697)

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!

keyhole, Monotype of the Day #662

Day 292 of Year 2 (Actually Day 297)

This is, again, ink rolled over last night's left over (ghost) ink. I got lucky and found some more torn paper in a drawer. It was too thin for my old ink so it put it away and forgotten. But I've since change my ink, the paper works just fine. In fact, it seems to pickup more of the subtleties. Hopefully I can figure out what kind of paper it is because I like it. Last week was a bit rough outside of the studio, everyone here was peckish. Understandable under these circumstances. But in keeping with the cyclical nature of the world, things have eased and the week is starting on better footing. Part of life is staying through the downs and trusting in the cycle. Nature teaches us that for every winter there is a spring. My love to those who are sick or suffering.

come
by Rumi, Trans by Nader Khalili

come
let's fall
in love
again
let's turn
all the dirt
in this world
to shiny gold

come
let's be
a new spring
a love reborn
find our aroma

from the essence
of all who
emit heavenly fragrance
like a fresh tree

bloom and spread
all the blessings
right from inside

From Rumi: Fountain of Fire https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889625035

Found on the truly wonderful website PoetryChaikhana.com https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/R/RumiMevlanaJ/come/index.html