Last weekend I had a wonderful experience with my monoprinting workshop sponsored by the Rogue Gallery. It was a full class and they kept me very busy. I began the monoprint above as a demonstration in the class but put it in a drawer to work on later as I had no time during class to give it my full attention. It wasn't until the next day when I was ready to print that I remembered a dream that I had on January 13th.   

In this dream I am in a crowd of people and I hear a telephone ringing. Someone answers the phone and hands it to me and says "Its for you". I say "hello" and the person on the other end is a woman and she says. "I am calling from the Hopi nation. The ember is in the canoe. The time is now."   

I printed the monoprint by running it through my press. I then hung the print on my art wall. I began to dialog with the art to see what I could find out. This monoprint and the writing is still a work in progress but, this is what I have so far:

The canoe travels as the crow flies carrying the friends through flood high waters.

They are guided by helpers who send clues ahead.

It is a feeling of resonance that they follow.  

The friends are guardians of the precious  

ember that glows and is growing.

What is the ember? 

It is the ember that will spark the imagination, allowing the slow burn of ideas to ignite and become clear harbingers of creative solutions.

I still need to tighten up the writing but I wanted to get this newsletter out before another month went by.  It is part of my process with all of my work to sit down and dialog or write down what the art is has to say to me.  This is how the titles and the stories come about in all my work.

I am always fascinated by the connection between my dreams and my art. It is amazing to me that while attempting a demonstration in a class that the shape of a canoe will suddenly appear with a random stroke of an inked palette knife. I have enough experience with my process to trust the things that come through my art and my dreams. I know enough to pay attention.  

Lately I have been thinking a lot about creativity. I think being creative is a human birthright and when we humans lose our ability to be creative, for what ever reason. I believe something starts to die in our human spirit. If we do not create. We and our planet become sick. Doing something creative is vital to our well being. Its good for our immune system. Its good for our heart. It makes us focus and pay attention. It keeps our imagination alive.

"The keepers of the ember" makes me wonder how as a teacher can I keep the creative spark of imagination alive in my students? How can I ignite that fragile ember?

Dreams and art are my allies. They help me navigate my life. They can be multi-leveled. The monoprint is just one story for the dream statement, "the ember is in the canoe." If you have any thoughts or ideas about this statement, let me know.  

Take Care and If you know anyone in Seattle send them to my presentation. Thanks.

Denise