vision, Monotype of the Day #872

Day 139 of year 3

Sort of a dreary rainy day today and it came out a bit in tonight's print. The veil between worlds is thin and if we only we look deeply enough we can glimpse another realms. This is the job of the artist, to look intently through the layers of the world, the physical, mental, and emotional, to find in the present moment that place where the veil grows thin, where deep truth resides.

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.  

the chariot, Monotype of the Day #871

Day 138 of year 3

I liked the ghost print from last night so much, I kept the over layer simple. Ghost prints are magical. They are the perfect partnership between artist and materials. The artist controls the ink more fully on the first pull. On the ghost image, the artist's intent is still there but the ink has space to make its own voice heard. 

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.  

emanation, Monotype of the Day #870

Day 137 of year 3

The image of the fish descending from the sky is kind of obsessing me right now. I feel something when I look at it. I can't articulate what it is and that is good. Much of life happens outside of language and often we are unaware. Art has the rare ability to make us conscious of the unsayable. That is a gift. On this busy shopping weekend, remember all that art gives to the world and consider supporting living artists with your purchases. xo

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.  

stream of life, Monotype of the Day #869

Day 136 of year 3

The image to the side is the plate inked up just before printing.

Plate just before printing

In the stream,
Rushing past
To the dusty world,
My fleeting form
Casts no reflection.

-Dogen, Trans. Heine

Poem found on http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/D/DogenEihei/Instream/index.html

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.  

becalmed, Monotype of the day #868

Day 135 of year 3

“Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.”
― Mary Oliver from Evidence: Poems

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.  

between, Monotype of the Day #867

ghost ink left over from last night print used for today’s print

Day 134 of year 3
Double ghost print from yesterday's monotype. The image to the side is of the ghost ink left on the plate before I started tonight's print.

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.  

it goes both ways, Monotype of the Day #866

Day 134 of year 3

Something more simple today. When I printed this layer on top of the ghost print from a couple days back, I fully intended more layers. But this feel complete so I am listening to that instead of continuing on. I've switched up my studio time in an effort to keep growing. I'm trying to knock myself out of any unconscious ruts. So I'm working in the morning instead of the dead of night and I've replaced my usual audiobooks with music. It feels very different. I'll keep you updated as this experiment unfolds.

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
By Rumi, Trans Barks & Moyne

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 collections, Open Secret https://amzn.to/39dqjy8

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.  

expedition, Monotype of the Day #865

Day 133 of year 3

We are all part of a great stream that moves inexorably forward. We are not the best, we are not the worst, we are part of something much bigger than we can ever know. In the studio, my work is about trust, learning to loosen my grip so this stream can carry me on. So many times I have run the rapids only to find myself in this beautiful place. Sometimes I feel like I'm teetering on the edge and yet unseen hands hold me safe. I am grateful.

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.  

rooted, Monotype of the Day #864

Day 132 of year 3

Here we have several layers of ghost prints completed by a fresh layer today. The composition is a bit off-kilter but I like that. I'm feeling a bit off-kilter today myself and looking at this piece makes me feel better. Lately I am responding more deeply to the energetic imprint of the work than to the visual content though the two are inextricably linked.

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.  

beach visit, Monotype of the Day #863

Day 131 of year 3

I worked all day on administrative tasks, bills, packing up prints for mail, etc, and my brain was buzzing by the evening. In someways, art is like medicine. I needed to calm my brain. This peaceful monotype, full of open space, came as a treatment for a frenetic day. Most days in the studio, the creative energy comes into the world through the artist. But some prints, like this one, are a direct transfer of energy from Artist to artist, an intimate message or connection. The energy given tonight was gratefully received. Also, I printed on top of the ghost ink from yesterday which is always enjoyable. So a good night in the studio all around. Wishing you peace. xo

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.  

sunrise dream, Monotype of the Day #862

Day 130 of year 3

Tonight's poem may or may not fit this print but I've noticed sometimes the space between two different things can become something important on its own. Artists call this expanse "negative space." The air between two bodies, the emptiness between the two hands can define so much. I look for these empty spaces visually and within myself. I believe they are where the real truth lies.

Heartbeat
By Rilke, Trans. Albert Ernest Flemming

Only mouths are we. Who sings the distant heart
which safely exists in the center of all things?
His giant heartbeat is diverted in us
into little pulses. And his giant grief
is, like his giant jubilation, far too
great for us. And so we tear ourselves away
from him time after time, remaining only
mouths. But unexpectedly and secretly
the giant heartbeat enters our being,
so that we scream ——,
and are transformed in being and in countenance.

From Rainer Maria Rilke Selected Poems https://amzn.to/3lSjOUT

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

the conference, Monotype of the Day #861

Day 129 of year 3

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

the clearing, Monotype of the Day #860

Day 128 of year 3

More internal dialogue

——————

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

conference at sea, Monotype of the Day #859

TDay 127 of year 3

onight's print is a number of ghost prints built up over time with a couple new layers printed on top. I like the adventure of printing ghost ink upon ghost ink. What will happen is a mystery. The results are always a surprise, not always a good surprise, but a surprise none the less! This print captures some of my internal landscape right now. I have a feeling, like in this print, much internal discussion is happening just outside of my consciousness. There is a yearning in me to go deeper, capture more in my work. How? I do not know but part of me that is not constrained by my conscious mind is working on it just the same. As sculptor Henry Moore says: 

"The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do."

I would amend this quote to say, "And the most important thing is, it must be something you THINK you cannot possibly do." In my experience, The Artist gives the artist the seed of an idea that often seems impossible or impossibly difficult. It is the artist's job to take the leap of faith to grow that seed anyway. The results may not be what was initially envisioned, but it will be worthwhile. Patience, trust, & perseverance will win the day. 

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.

rising, Monotype of the Day #858

Day 126 of year 3

Sonnets to Orpheus Book II, 1
By Rilke, Trans Barrows and Macey

Breath, you invisible poem!
Pure, continuous exchange
with all that is, flow and counterflow
where rhythmically I come to be.

Each time a wave that occurs just once
in a sea I discover I am.
You, innermost of oceans,
you, infinitude of space.

How many far places were once
within me. Some winds
are like my own child.

When I breathe them now, do they know me again?
Air, you silken surround,
completion and seed of my words.

From In Praise of Mortality https://amzn.to/3f9QeYu 

For more information about the process of monotype and the Monotype of the Day project click here.  For the first 24 hours after posting, this piece is 10% off and can be purchased here.