the art of yoga and the yoga of art

There is a part of us that is inner and still, and there is a part of us that moves and takes action in the world. The quiet, still part is always there no matter what is going on in our busy lives.

It is just like the ocean... the surface can sometimes be wavy and turbulent, but if you dive down deep you can access that quiet, calm place.

Yoga means to unite. The goal of yoga is to connect body, mind and spirit. It is connecting you to your Self at a higher level.

The art of yoga then, is what brings you to this place.

The physical practice of yoga uses movement to find the stillness within. It is a moving meditation. Yoga could also be a walk in the woods, running, listening to music, gardening, taking a long, relaxing bath... whatever you do that helps you connect with the quiet, still place within.

When I paint or do any creative activity, I'm connecting with my spirit or my higher self. I'm able to connect with my true, authentic spirit and from here express out into the world. 

This is the yoga of art. 

When the ocean of life is tossing you about, how do you connect with your centre? How do you get to the bottom of the sea?

What is your yoga?

choreographing art

So many times I find myself saying, "Painting is like life..."

I had this realization again the other day as I was meticulously drawing an image on canvas. My artist friend next door had just shown me her new painting - a figurative expression on canvas that she completed in two or three hours. I was feeling a little envious as I went back to my drawing (I'd been working on it for a week!) - But as I worked and got back into my drawing, I thought about how much I love what I do. I love my own unique creative process.

I like a challenge. I need a challenge. A challenge keeps me focussed and engaged... otherwise I feel bored and a little impatient. 

Each painting begins with an overall vision that I create first in my mind and then map out onto canvas... It can be a long process. It can take months for a large canvas from beginning to end as I work through my step-by-step process.

I can compare it with dancing. There are many ways to dance. We can dance purely free-style, expressing through our bodies in the moment, or we can dance a choreographed sequence that is a much longer process to create. Both are expressions.

My paintings are choreographed works of art. For me this is a deeper process and involves much more of me. But it brings me so much satisfaction. 

So as in painting, as in life... I realized I'm a choreographer (and yes, I do love ballroom dancing).

What is your expression? What is your process?

finding beauty

Today I see beauty in the rain.

I'm sitting in my favourite cafe feeling warm and cozy as I look out the window....

The music is from another era. Edith Piaf sings, 'Non, Je ne regrette rien.'

Pure contentment.

The rain is falling and the sky is grey, but the cherry blossoms are in full bloom...

Where the Magic is...

The mind is like a bridge between the spirit and the body. When we are at work (and our minds are hard at work) we can feel disconnected from who we are. It's like we are living outside of ourselves.

When we bring our minds present, through art, nature, yoga or becoming still; we feel more whole and in alignment with who we really are.

Art allows us to go to that mystical space between worlds. Our imaginations are free to play and our minds are no longer captured in the hard 'reality' of day to day life.

It's a softer, gentler place - where you feel endless possibilities.

It's where magic happens.

When Life Gets Serious...

It's time to seriously get playful!

‘Heaven lies about us in our infancy,

Shades of the prison-house begin to close

Upon the growing Boy,

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,

He sees it in his joy.’ ~ William Wordsworth

‘To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play.' ~ Albert Einstein

Here are seven suggestions to ignite your creative spirit:

1. Call your most light-hearted friend and ask her if she can come out and play...
2. Find a set of swings, preferably with long ropes and high enough so your feet don't touch the ground... Go as high as you can!
3. Take a drive... anywhere. Just drive and see where you end up (it's called adventure).
4. Take yourself on a date. Visit a favourite cafe, a museum, an art gallery. Enjoy a leisurely lunch... buy yourself some beautiful flowers.
5. Pack a picnic and head to the beach for a blissful few hours of sun, sand and solitude...
6. Go skinny-dipping! (Especially fun with a friend!)
7. Write down your dreams. It's a whole other world of adventure... Dreamland is Playland!

I remember calling friends after school and saying, "Can you play?" (I'd wait while they asked their mom)... then off we'd go to build a fort, play Snow Queen or Ice Capades... or maybe just hang-out in the back garden and talk about what we were going to be when we grew up.

‘When I grow up I want to be a little boy.’ ~ Joseph Heller

What do you want to be when you grow up? Can you play?

daisies in black and white

Back to the Drawing Board

I love drawing.

When life gets busy and rushes all around me... and I feel OVERWHELMED... I sometimes say to myself, "I think I'll go draw a picture..." It is as if I suddenly realize what really matters...

And what matters is me.

Drawing is very basic. Just me, the canvas and a pencil... pure and simple. It is quiet and personal. There really isn't much between me and the drawing. It starts with my thoughts, flows through my arm, hand, and onto the canvas. In fact, it is how I get to know my painting. I like to draw it out, getting to know all the shapes and characters... light here and dark there... I even like the sound of the scratch, scratch, scratch of the pencil on canvas. And in the background I hear the tick, tick, tick of the clock. I hear the clock but I'm oblivious to time...

It is comforting. Just me.

I love drawing...

Inspired by a Wall

At this time of year I want to draw inward while the outside world seems to be in a flurry of activity. I need to be quiet and still. So easy it would be to just stay in bed and sleep...

As Christmas draws to a close, everything seems to slow down momentarily. How wonderful to have no agenda! I'm quite content to just lie in bed and stare at the wall...

Looking up to where the wall meets the ceiling, I let my eyes follow the lines and shapes created by the light and shadows. My mind begins to wander into little daydreams and stories... 

Hmmn... I see deserts and pyramids....

I do get excited about shapes! I reach for my camera and capture the image.

It feels good to stop and do nothing sometimes.

And you just never know when you might be inspired by a wall...

Dreaming

'I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.' ~ Vincent Van Gogh

I would also add, 'I dream my life, and then I live my dream.'

I dream a lot, both sleeping and waking. When I wake up from a sleeping dream I'm aware that I am not just the dreamer but also the dream. The dream is me (it does not exist outside of me); I am the dreamer and the dream. And when I am 'awake' I realize I am not just the experiencer of life, but also life itself. My life is a reflection of me. In the same way, all paintings are self portraits of the artist.

The essence of the artist is in each painting.

I love how painting is such a metaphor for life!

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream....

Abandonment

‘An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it.’ ~ Paul Valery

It's that time. I've abandoned my painting and it is up on my wall. Like a child that's all grown up, I'm sending her off to college. Oh, I might go visit now and then (add a touch here or there), afterall, she's still close to home. But I am SO ready... no empty nest for me. In fact, I am pregnant with ideas as it is; with another to be born any minute...