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| The Original Yoga Girl acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 SOLD |
This week I thought I'd share my latest little painting series; "Yoga Girl" that all got started while teaching a and demonstrating techiques using thick acrylics and mixed medias at my last Thick, Layered & Encaustic-like Abstract Paintings: How to Build Transparent, Translucent and Opaque layers with Acrylic Mediums
workshop.
I've been placing these artwork images on facebook over the last few months but I thought it would be nice to showcase them all in one place, here also on my blog. They are also on my website in the Portfolio section entitled Yoga Girl Series: http://www.debchaney.com/debchaney/Art_Portfolio/Pages/Yoga_Girl.html.
So, a bit behind this series and what it means to me...
After dreaming of it for 10 years I finally signed up and committed to an eight month yoga instructor course. It's with Rizze Yoga Studio here in East Vancouver and led by Lana Marie. Lana teaches quite a number of classes at Open Door Yoga and if you are in the neighbourhood, I highly suggest you experience one of her classes. They are truly the embodiment of somatic style yoga.
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| Tree Pose Yoga Girl Series 16 x 20" Acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 Original Available
So far this yoga teacher training has been quite a roller coaster and inward journey. Often, when you get into your body somatically a lot of emotions and old stored memories re-surface. It can be quite unfortable and/or even painful to start to feel things we've pushed away for so long so that we did not have to feel them.
On the upside, the thing about getting moving and sweaty through yoga is that in this process we get the opportuniy to then process and release a lot of this old stuff and so de-toxificaiton and transformation can occur. Processing emotions is definitly the more challenging part of the journey. However, afterwards you get all the benefits of yoga - which could be a whole blog, if not a book, in itself. To name a few; you feel more joyful, happier, lighter, more flexible, fitter, sleep better, breathe easier, stand up taller, and look better.
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| Dancer, Yoga Girl Series 16 x 20" Acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 SOLD |
The fun part and wonderful benefit of this training is connecting with the other beautiful and amazing participants during our intensive weekend sessions. At some point I need to get some pictures of us and some fun and crazy things we've been doing as a group!
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| Namaste, Yoga Girl Series 16 x 20" Acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 Original Available |
So, to be truly honest, this series of paintings shown here were all created before the yoga teacher training class began. Painting these pieces was my way of dedicating and getting into to my yoga practice beacause truthfully at the very start of all this ( four months ago now) it was so much easier for me to paint then to make it to a yoga class. So I painted instead of doing yoga.
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| Reverse Warrior, Yoga Girl Series 16 x 20" Acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 Original Available |
There will be more paintings I'm sure, as there are 6 more in my studio still waiting to be completed. But things have shifted for me and now that I am actually doing yoga more frequently and embodying the practice much more than at the start, it'll also be interesting to see how the work evolves! Perhaps when the next handful of paintings are completed I'll do another follow up post like this and we'll see if we can spot any differences!
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| Dancer in the Snow, Yoga Girl Series 16 x 20" Acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 Original Available |
It's funny how people around us see things about us that we don't see because we're in ourselves busy living our lives doing our thing and can't see our own blindspots. This is natural and why it's great to have a few people around that we trust that can point out things we may not have seen. My friend Jeanne Krabbendam, was visiting for tea a few months ago and we were talking about this series of paintings and she commented on there was a separation between the abstract painting and the yoga girls themselves. I realized that at this point in time, my painting and my yoga were two different separate entities.
My hope and dream with yoga and abstract painting are slowly but surely brought together, unified synergistically within me so I can share these two practices with you in the Illuminate the Artist Within(TM) retreats that are now being offered internationally.
By the way, if you fall in love with one or more of these Yoga Girl Paintings and aren't able to purchase an original, they are all available as small gift cards ( blank inside), small prints, posters and fridge magnets at http://www.cafepress.com/yogagirlpaintings. To purchase an original you can contact me at info@debchaney.com or come to my next Open Studio Event during the East End Culture Crawl this November 16, 17 & 18th 2012 at the ARC Live/Work STudios 1701 Powell Street, East Vancouver, BC. If you'd like a reminder for this event, pls subscribe to my free monthly newsletter.
Namaste, Deb
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| One legged Stretch, Yoga Girl Series 16 x 20" Acrylics & mixed media on panel (c) Deb Chaney 2012 Original Available |
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