Chair II, Monotype of the Day #776

Day 44 of year 3

I can't seem to edit the photo to get the proper colors. Then again, even if I had the exact color, monitor calibration varies from computer to computer. Digital showings require quite a bit of flexibility. It's good training. An artist's job is to make work and then let it go. The world will do with it as it will just as it does with everything else. The value of the work to an artist is not determined solely by its reception, it's determined by how the process of making the work effects and changes the artist.

rise, Monotype of the Day #774

774-rise.jpg

Day 42 of year 3

Last night I was unsatisfied by the process of making my print. Usually that happens when I'm in my head, when my mind and body are so disconnected that I can't access inner messages. I receive inner guidance as a flash, a combination of a brief image and a physical feeling that is like a drop of ink water, it expands as I physically move and work. Allowing it to naturally and fully unfold requires complete awareness of the body to sense the gentle nudges of guidance. So today I meditated for the first time in ages to get reconnected and almost immediately new images started dropping in. What a relief! Meditation is so essential to my art practice, it's amazing how often I forget that though! This print reminds me of the power available in the present moment.. Today's poem (below the title) is a haiku by the wonderful writer Cheryl Welch from her excellent new book Feather. You can order it here: https://www.welchdesignpublishing.com/

anything at all
can happen at anytime,
live without regret

By Cheryl Welch

From Feather https://www.welchdesignpublishing.com/

opening, Monotype of the Day, Day 773

opening.jpg

Day 41 of year 3

I've been going through all the photos of my older prints for days organizing for my book and the imagery is rubbing off. I feel like I'm covering old ground and it's not so interesting. This is what is coming out however and I will honor it and not resist and I do like this print. But I need to make it more exciting and experimenting with different techniques is just the thing. It brings back a sense of adventure, a critical component of my practice. If I knew what was going to happen each day in my studio, I wouldn't be able to continue. The immediacy of this medium allows the inner world to spill out like wine, it enables the mystery to bleed though. I cherish the surprise, the challenge, the intimacy of these messages to me the artist from The Artist, creative source. Everyday there are new things to learn and new ways to grow. I am grateful.

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.

reflection, Monotype of the Day #767

reflection1.jpg

Day 35 of year 3

This monotype is several days of ghosts printed on top of each other and a final layer made tonight. The photo doesn't capture all the subtlety, but gives you an idea. I love working with ghost prints because artist materials and ink in particular have purpose and desires of their own. A ghost print is one step removed from the hand of the artist and it allows the ink to express its own unique vision. The ghost is always a revelation and the ink usually behaves in unexpected ways.

The relationship between an artist and their materials is central to most art practices and similar to any relationship an artist might have with a person. It's taught me to listen, to curtail my desire to control, to support and respect another's vision, and to lay down my own ego. In general, artists have a deep, almost mystical, connection to the material world which is cultivated through this partnership. We have the ability to see the innate potential in the physical world, creative energy pulsing everywhere and divine purpose waiting to be expressed. It is thrilling, a grand adventure without ever leaving the studio. #gratitude

spotlight, Monotype of the Day #766

Day 34 of year 3

When the World Comes Clear
by Andrew Colliver

When the world comes clear,
changeless in its changing
and everywhere revealed,

the sun might be lighting
a rendered wall inscribed
by winter tree's shadow;

when the world comes clear
light might seem to shift
to show a morning free of any other time;

when the world comes clear
something pulling tight within
your mind might fall away

to leave a formless space,
a fathomless space in which
eternal life cannot be granted,

or even offered,
but only recognized, so simply,

as what you are.- From the unpublished manuscript A Day of Light, by Andrew Colliver
Found on https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/C/ColliverAndr/WhenWorld/index.html

touched, Monotype of the Day #765

touched1.jpg

Day 33 of year 3

When I moved my website this year, I had to move my blog as well. The written content carried over but not the pictures. I've been going through it fixing and reading before I make it live again. Right now I'm in 2009 and I was writing about art and creativity even then. In some ways though the change in me is pretty dramatic. In 2009 I was afraid to post artwork and especially any photos of myself. Clearly those things aren't a problem for me anymore! How to account for the change? I attribute it to two things. One, Illness forced me to sit still and deal with myself, and two, the work. Making art is such a deeply transformative process. I am endlessly grateful to both my illness and The Artist, source of all creativity, for feeding me. It has been a difficult and painful road at times, but though I am more limited physically now, I carried much more internal pain and struggle then. I prefer now. I'll let you know when the blog goes live. xo

journey, Monotype of the Day #764

journey with boat.jpg

Day 32 of year 3

The boat and tree make another appearance! I haven't figured this one out yet which usually means it holds an important message. It also means this symbol will be showing up again and again until I unlock its meaning. I'm looking forward to that. Sometimes it takes years for me to be able to listen deeply enough to get it. I've been making fish for 20 years or more and I finally understood them just last year. So one foot in front of the other and back to work! xo

the conversation, Monotype of the day #763

conversation1.jpg

I pull a ghost print everyday. This uses up the excess ink on the plate and provides a nice base for a future print. Sometimes I use one sheet of paper for several days of ghost prints. The more the merrier as they say! But sometimes, like tonight, you pull a ghost and you know it's a keeper. I couldn't decide which I liked best. What do you think?

the conversation & the conversation ghost (below this post)
Day 31 of year 3 (Total project days 761)

The Further You Go by Andrew Colliver

Mercy, there have been revelations. Grace, there has been realisation. Still, you must travel the path of time and circumstance.

The further you go, the more it comes back to paying attention. The rough skin of the tallowwood, the trade routes of lorikeets, a sky lifting behind afternoon clouds. Staying close to the texture of things.

People can go before you and talk all they want, but only one thing makes sense: the way the world enters and finds its voice in you: the place you are free.

From The Longing In Between https://amzn.to/3kLNv9I