The Root Cause

Happy New Year. Well, almost.  

"Today has a good beet." - Monica Joy 12/30/2013

Earlier today I was reminded of an important belief: Doing it is much better than thinking about it. I had fallen out of my running routine and have been getting back to it over the last few days. This morning I decided that the only way I knew for sure that I would complete my cross-training workout was to get out of bed and do it. My partner Jeff always says, "I really regret going to the gym today...said no one ever." This is always a true statement.

When I arrived at work this morning I reflected on how much better I felt. I didn't have my daily goal on my mind, because I already completed it. I wasn't plagued by the fear that I would be too tired to do it after work. I just did it and felt great for the rest of the day. 

About five years ago I had an Experience that shifted my self-perception. I realized how important my word and commitment to myself is. I can do anything, as long as I GO FOR IT. Sure, some things will never come naturally but with intention and commitment, I can learn to do so many things. 

This belief is the "root" of my many endeavors over the last few years. I run because I once believed I couldn't. During my long runs (especially during marathon training) I have come across many of the reasons why I believe I can't do something. Here's the thing about that...

"Ode to World Run Day" - Monica Joy 11/10/13

I have a choice about whether I am going to believe those things or not. 

You have that choice too. If you are "thinking" about that goal you haven't started or that thing you have been putting off doing, STOP. Create a plan and start today. It will only get harder as time goes on. Don't waste your energy on the fear. Use your physical, emotional, and mental energy to complete your goal. 

I moved to Austin in April and knew there would a transition in my life where I couldn't focus on my art. I needed to champion my goal of building a wonderful life here.  I have had an amazing 8 months here. I love my job, the relationships I am developing, and the art classes I have been taking. I am obsessed with our year round farmer's market and all of the wonderful produce I get there. I am in love with beets, and this is reflected in the silkscreening and embroidery I have been focused on here.

"The Roots of a Crewel World" - Monica Joy 2013

About mid-day today I realized that I needed to take my own advice and re-examine my artistic goals. Setting aside my papercutting for other things was important, and has also set me back in my fears about pursing this passion. I took my own advice today and committed to a papercut and blog entry. You can't "beet" that!

Happy New Year.
Monica

p.s. If you need some support with your goal, feel free to contact me. If you haven't read it, "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz may be just what you need to read right now. 

I Feel Everything In My Heart

Today's Poppies II, Monica Joy, 2013

Adventures in papercutting continues. I have been committing to some studio time, and some goals to establish the business aspects of being an artist. Thank you again to all who have given me feedback in my recent work and even purchased a piece or two. 

My love of puppetry has not waned, and this song inspired ideas for my next endeavor while I was running yesterday. If you are listening to it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

It will be some time before I create my next show. For now, it's a papercutting frenzy at my desk. 

You can view some of my work at my Etsy store, Open Heart Papercuts. There are only handful of pieces there, thankfully because some work has sold and a few more are being prepared for exhibition. I plan to create an online portfolio and website by the end of March.

So why did I call it Open Heart Papercuts? Well, I recently created my artist statement, which explains a lot about my papercutting and the re-occurrence of the heart. 

Artist Statement

Have you ever done something or gone somewhere or met someone and thought, “Wow, this just feels right?” That is how I feel when I papercut and make shadow puppets. For me, every papercut and puppet is labor of love and a journey of learning to let go of control. It involves vision, planning, risk, adventure, and an unrelenting optimism that everything will work out as it needs to. If the results are not as I intended, I have no choice but to take the process as a learning experience. Unlike my dabbling work with clay or oil painting, I cannot repaint over or fix mistakes. Once a piece of paper is cut, it is cut. I can choose to proceed and let go of my expectations or vision, or I can choose to be frustrated. I choose to let go because I love the learning and creation process too much.

The choice to love and remain optimistic in the papercutting process reflects the way I choose to be in life. It is a struggle, but it lets light in dark moments and I know I inspire others to reflect on their choices to stay in a positive or negative space. I find this mirrored in my papercuts. I try to let the light in, while preserving the integrity and structure that the darkness brings to the story or shape. I cannot have the light without the dark.

I am learning how these concepts affect objects as well as figures and stories that I cut. Figures and people are and have always been prominent in my work. Human expression and form is an inherent passion. I pay homage to my influences (e.g. Modigliani, Matisse, and Frida Kahlo). I strive for my creative experience to be one of gratitude, as well as an opportunity for me to learn about an artist, anatomy, and concepts.

Always in My Heart, Monica Joy, 2012

The human heart has particular significance to me. Many experience butterflies in their stomach when nervous or emotional. I experience butterflies in my heart. Whether I experience the lighthearted or heavy, I feel a physical sensation in my heart region. It feels light in loving moments and heavy and painful in more difficult moments. I feel everything in my heart: the rejection of friends or lovers, the moments I choose to forgive, falling in love and being smitten, and when I need to make difficult choices. I feel everything in my heart. One might say that exhibiting a nude or being naked is a vulnerable experience, but to me, exposing my heart is the most vulnerable experience.

I open my heart to share these ideas with you in dialogue and in my papercuts. It is my hope that my work inspires you to consider the relationship of the positive and negative, and the choices one has to create light from darkness.

Monica Joy
February 2013

Reunited and it feels so good!

Self-Portrait with Cupcake, 2012

Something very meaningful happened this week. I was reunited with my first paper cut...and yes, it feels so good.

Many months ago I reflected on my new adventures with paper cutting and how eloquently it compliments my love of shadow puppetry. I admit that while puppetry is a true joy, I am finding my artist identity as a paper cutter. I am thankful for the feedback and support I have received from friends, family, and community arts leaders. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to show my work in the community. I feel honored that 4/5 pieces I have shown that were for sale have sold. That's 80% for you data geeks out there.

So let's start out this blog with the big thank you's that have been on my mind for some time.

• Thank you, Bridget, for lending me your self-healing mat so I could experiment with cutting on a better work surface. Thank you for your friendship and your inspiration. 
• Thank you, Bridget (again), Levi, and Jen for being my creative companions in puppetry.
• Thank you, Jeff and John for for being the supportive partners that you are. 
• Thank you, Jennifer, Noel, and Amelia for Beulahland (our first puppet show venue).
• Thank you, Ginnie. You have fostered a safe and beautiful space for local artists to show their work at The Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes. Thank you for seeing my work on Facebook and encouraging me to show my work there. In addition, thank you for adopting my first few pieces in your very own home.
• Thank you, Alex and Raghav for inspiring and supporting more ridiculous adventures in puppetry.
• Thank you to those I know and do not know that have inspired, followed and offered feedback on these pursuits.
• Thank you to those I know and do not know that have purchased my paper cuts for yourselves and/or your loved ones. I am not sure if you wish to be publicly acknowledged, but you know who you are.
• Thank you all for being.

Reawakening as an artist this year has been an amazing journey, and I have not felt this "at home" with myself since I was 16. It is much more fun and powerful being an adult artist with patience and peacefulness than it is being an angsty teenage artist.

As I mentioned, this week I reunited with my first paper cut, The Intricate Mistake. So here's the story.

In my early attempts at college (studying art therapy, circa 1998), I attended Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, WI. I took a 2D design class with Sister X. I am not covering up her name. I honestly can't remember her name, but I remember her curly, gray permed hair. She looked like a typical nun. "Uh hmmm," was the sound she made every few seconds. At first, I thought she was expressing interest in listening or looking at some one's work. I realized soon after that "Uh hmmm" was a tic. "Uh hmmm, Uh hmmm, Uh hmmm," she sounded every few seconds. She taught me silk-screening and I remember falling in love with the Ben Shahn alphabet in her class.

Early in the semester we were handed two square pieces of paper, one black and one white. Armed with my exact-o, I felt inspired to paper cut a primitive woman. I remember cutting on my dorm room floor like it was yesterday. I remember feeling proud of what I did and thinking I would be able to make some cool silkscreen from it.

I returned to class and discovered immediately that  I did the assignment incorrectly. I had made a mistake, an intricate one. I do not even know what the assignment was, but it was far simpler than what I had started to work on. She never intended to shut me down from paper cutting. Her feedback was that I did the assignment wrong. I can not 100% affirm that I swore off paper cutting due to that incident, but I can confirm that I never did a paper cut until 14 years later.

My friend, Matthew saw the paper cut and framed it in his apartment for many years. At my request, Matthew looked through his archives and found the Intricate Mistake this week. So here it is. A simple and very meaningful piece. Thank you for finding this, Matthew!

The Intricate Mistake (my first paper cut!), circa 1998

When I started paper cutting in June, I shared some of those initial paper cuts. The first one shown in this blog entry was originally drawing from what I remembered of The Intricate Mistake. I'm sure you can see the similarities.

First 2012 Paper Cut

Heart you all!