March Studio Notes

“You have to assemble your life yourself—action by action."

― Marcus Aurelius
Meditations

STUDIO NOTES

A print comes into being the same way our lives do: action by action. Not all at once, and never through control alone, but through attention, response, and a willingness to keep meeting what appears.

Here are a few cameraless images that come to mind when I think about this. Made entirely by hand without a camera, they emerge through different processes and methods, yet all are rooted in the same attention to the sacred act of making.

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”

— Mary Oliver
White Pine: Poems and Prose Poems

“In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.”

― Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

INFLUENCES

Otto Piene (Germany, 1928–2014)
Otto Piene’s practice moved through light, fire, air, movement, and space, never settling into one fixed way of seeing the world. I’m deeply drawn to that expansiveness, and to how his work feels shaped by many forms of attention at once: material, atmosphere, experimentation, perception, and research.

Image: Lightroom with Mönchengladbach Wall, 1963–2013
Cardboard, wood, metal, motor, light

REFLECTIONS

How do we meet the present moment with humility in the face of so much suffering in the world? Where I place my attention matters. I am guided by presence, compassion, and whatever small ways peace can still be made, without turning away from suffering or what is difficult to face.

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”
— Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

Reflection/Journal prompt
Research suggests that handwriting activates broad sensory, motor, and cognitive networks simultaneously, which may be part of why it feels so grounding. Writing is one of the most immediate ways to return to the present. It slows the mind, organizes thought, and asks for attention.

Journal prompt:
What is here, in this moment, asking for my attention?

Until next time… Protect your inner life and let the kindness you extend to others be your measure.

In presence and wonder,

Debora

Thank you for reading.

deborafrancis.com

This letter reaches you because our paths have crossed. May we keep learning the power of acceptance, the grace of forgiveness, and the meaning of being of service
— creating in progress, not perfection.