seek and you will find, Monotype of the Day #486

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Day 120 of Year 2 (Actually Day 121)

We all have a certain amount of life force, an allotted time to work our magic in this world. When I leave this earth, I want to go having spent every drop of my life force. We are here to evolve and leave this earth more expanded and loving than we came in. The hard work of growing and opening our hearts, is so important. To grow is challenging, but with this goal in mind every imperfect footprint we leave behind is filled with love. Tonight I feel such sweet gratitude for my many imperfections and for my chance to try again tomorrow to seek my better self. This is a thing I will do everyday until my days are no more. Perhaps I will make progress, but that is not for me to judge. My job is to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep seeking the Light. I hope you give yourself credit for how difficult this journey can be and how many times you have triumphed in the face of challenge. Your journey matters and I salute your courage. xoxo

If You Want
By Dorothy Walters

If you want to feel
the sweet light
flow over your body,
then give yourself to light.

If you want
to taste the secret honey
you must allow your throat
to open.

Moth to candle,
straw to flame,
you are nothing but
materials for burning.

From: The Ley Lines of the Soul: Poems of Ecstasy and Ascension https://amzn.to/33BrBx8

Light, Monotype of the Day #485

Day 119 of Year 2 (Actually Day 120)

This project has become a habit for me, I could no more go to sleep without making my print than I could without brushing my teeth. It makes me think of all the destructive habits I have and gives me hope that new more supportive ones can be formed. The most destructive habit I have right now is going to bed too late. How much more work could I accomplish with a well-rested form? I think it would be considerable. In my mind, staying up will allow me to accomplish more work but in truth I am unconsciously stealing from tomorrow's work energy. This monotype project is slowly waking me up from my unconscious state. I am being schooled and changed each night by the images that come through. I have tried so many things to shift my bad sleep habit, for now I will take the guidance in tonight's image to stop trying and learn to receive. I will set my intention, continue my work, and trust in the Light.

XXXVI, II, 126
By Kabir, Trans. Tagore
Oh Friend, awake and sleep no more!
The night is over and gone, would you . lose you day also?

From Songs of Kabir https://amzn.to/2CrUa48

the artist takes a direction, the artist takes a message, Monotype of the Day #484

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Day 118 of Year 2 (Actually Day 119)

A Voice
By May Sarton

Blurred as though it has been woken
From an underground and secret river,
This voice itself and not the language spoken
Has made the air around me shiver.

Seductive sound, mysterious chord
That speaks its message in the very timbre
And not in a to be deciphered word
That I might hunt down or remember.

It wanders through my dreams and there I learn
I have to make the journey, have to go,
Whatever I must change or overturn
To reach the source, so strong this undertow.

Like a tapped glass the shivered air
Echoes and echoes a single poignant note.
That voice, where does it live? I must go there,
Comfort, entreat, and bless the magic throat.

From May Sarton, Collected Poems: https://amzn.to/32sHPXR

the rescue, Monotype of the Day #482

Day 118 of Year 2 (Actually Day 119)

I am rescued everyday by my work. Especially on a day like today when most of my time was spent sleeping, making my print brought meaning. Hopefully I will be fully recovered soon because there is so much to do for my show in January. I also need more time in the print studio to develop my ideas. Once again my mantra must be patience. It's easier to accept that than it used to be. Small movements forward do add up. Trust, faith, hope- I never understood the dearness of those words until recently. They are not just concepts, they are salve to the heart and grease to cogs that keep me working everyday. I am grateful for their gifts.

the keyhole, Monotype of the Day #481

Day 115 of Year 2 (Actually Day 116)

Now that I see this image photographed, I would like to go downstairs to my studio and change something! It's too late at night though, so maybe I will try again tomorrow. One thing about my monotype of the day project is that individual pieces don't sit and marinate. If I am painting, I can go back the next day to change and adjust. Here, all the marination goes on inside me during the 24 hours between each print. If it's an off day, I move on instead of rework. It's an interesting and different way of working and it's really influencing my work in other mediums. This process is very freeing because it teaches detachment. Each day I am forced to let one image go so another can grow.

the view from inside the cave, Monotype of the Day #480

Day 114 of Year 2 (Actually Day 115)

I actually fell asleep twice during dinner! I guess I'm still recovering from the studio tour this weekend. 😊 Somehow though I managed to get up and made my print. It was tough physically, but mentally I'm raring to go. Something about doing all those demos reinvigorated my excitement for printmaking. We shall see how this unfolds. In the meantime, after making tonight's image, Plato's allegory of the cave immediately came to mind. The idea that we are trapped in a cave just seeing shadows of ideal forms always struck me deeply. In the past, I thought of these shadows as somehow dark or broken, lacking beauty. Now I see them as beautiful reflections of Light. I guess that's a fundamental shift in my perspective on the world. It's brought about by the healing nature of illness, like a water carving away stone, it has washed away so many darker emotions. In some medieval texts, forms in the world are described as vestiges or footprints of the divine. I like that more than shadows. All forms in the world are like keyholes, we can look through them and get a peak beyond the veil. It takes the right mindset, but it's a beautiful world and the veil can be very thin.

arrival, Monotype of the Day #478

Day 112 of Year 2 (Actually Day 113)

Today was the first day of my annual two day open studio. It was great! I love meeting new people, seeing my wonderful return visitors, and discussing art. People's comments always make me see my work in a different, more expanded way. It's a real gift and I am grateful to leave these conversation feeling enriched and energized. I am also grateful that several monotypes found new homes!
During the tour, I did a large number of monotype demos, mostly quick sketches. Tonight's print is from a demo. It's really freeing to do a lot of sketches in a row, gets the creative juices flowing. I'll be doing more tomorrow and then we will see what changes this process brings on Monday 🙂
I hope to see you at my studio tomorrow! www.studiotoursoma.com

the echo, Monotype of the Day #477

Day 111 of Year 2 (Actually Day 112)

Something very simple tonight. I've been setting up for my yearly studio tour all day. I am grateful for this project because without it, it might have been easier to just skip my studio practice. But even being really tired from setup, I feel refreshed from making this print. If you are in the area, I hope you will stop by my studio. All the info is here: www.studiotoursoma.com. If you're not in the area, I'll be posting some video of the event soon. xoxo  Sybil

the artist at night, Monotype of the Day #476

Day 110 of Year 2 (Actually Day 111)

I slept most of the day except for when some of my wonderful friends came to help setup for the studio tour. I am hopeful my arm will be more usable by tomorrow. It's been great the past two nights to use only one arm in making my print. I am forced to examine my habits and look at things with fresh eyes. Once I'm back in full gear, I think it will have a positive effect on my work. Wishing you all good things! xoxo

sketch, Monotype of the Day #475

Day 109 of Year 2 (Actually Day 110)

Just a quick sketch tonight. I'm busy setting up for the studio tour this weekend and I guess I overdid it. I cant lift my left arm. I'm not too concerned, it happens, but I am a little put out. 🙂 However, I've learned to just surrender. This too shall pass. The less I get caught up in the mental suffering the easier it is. Sometimes there's nothing you can do to ease physical pain, but you can always shift your mind to change the experience of what you have to undergo. I've posted this poem before, but it always helps me. I do not feel as wretched as this poem at all but the point it makes is a good one. The inner world has a profound effect on the outer world.

Invictus
By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus

the passage, Monotype of the Day #474

Day 108 of Year 2 (Actually Day 109)

When I went to start my print tonight, the remnants of last night's print, specifically the sky and mountains shapes were still there. Something in me couldn't wipe it away so I used it again to very different effect. It made me think of how much is given and how much we willfully refuse to see. It would have been so easy to wipe this ink away instead of allowing it voice. So much of studio practice comes down to listening.


Listen!
By Wendell Berry

How fine to have a radio
and beautiful music playing
while I sit at rest in the evening.
How fine to hear through the music
the cries of wild geese on the river.

From Given: https://amzn.to/2PsMnuv

interested parties, Monotype of the Day #473

Day 107 of Year 2 (Actually Day 108)

I'm getting quite interested in these three figures. I want to know them better. There is an air of something important but it's a complete mystery for now. This is the kind of thing that really gets me going. Some sort of intrigue to warm the blood. It's a happy coincidence that it's finally cold enough to pull out my favorite Sherlock Holmes hat. 🙂 The game is afoot!

the beacon at night, Monotype of the Day #472

Day 106 of Year 2 (Actually Day 107)

Yesterday was interesting. Despite my extreme dislike of the print bubbles, it received a positive response proving once again, an artist is not meant to judge the value of their own work. Work flows through and out. Radical trust is required, trust that though an artist may not learn the true purpose of an individual piece, there is purpose. Tonight I needed this red, I felt it warming my chest, giving me life force. It changed me. But I will never know if it has a purpose after it goes out into the world. That has to be okay because the fastest way to block up creative flow is to become attached to certain outcomes. Creative freedom comes from detachment especially detachment from making a "good" work of art. Every work has a purpose whether it is to change the artist, its viewers, or both. Yesterday was a great reminder to trust, turn off the judgement, and turn on the flow.

ALL
by Wendell Berry
All bend in
one wind.
From Given https://amzn.to/2NgLN0dg