Next Sunday we are proud to present the first showing of the work of Ruben Mendoza…
Ruben is very talented. He’s quite the character, I love the way he says ‘bonita.’ It’s like BO-nita!
He works with oils, and is showing 7 paintings at our little 22. The opening is next Sunday at 7, so, if you are in town…
And then…
Our first Open Mic!!! We are the only place in town that offers an open mic. There are HELLA talented people here, so it will be great to bring them out.
This work is my steady joy these days. Hours spent with lines, color, my thoughts, my world. Challenges come up and it’s to the wall…
In my childhood home, retribution for ill-acting children at times meant standing in a corner. My dad sent my youthful butt there one day. Lucky for me, I had crayons in my pocket, and the fifteen minute punishment passed by without a wince. And, lucky for me, I have a dad who cracked up when he came to tell me time was up.
Nowadays, I don’t need to be naughty to find my nose against a wall. I just need to be inspired.
I’ve been teaching yoga here for awhile, through word of mouth. People are definitely interested, I’ve had up to seven students at a time in class. Which is great, considering the studio space can fit eight.
The aerobicos, or aerobics classes, will be taught by Hector at the town gym. We be workin’ on our fitness.
Our studio is not the fanciest studio, but for now, its great. The wood panels on the floor are uneven, and getting yoga mats down here, is, well, colorful…
I like the one with the green and yellow flowers.
‘Typical’ yoga mats are difficult to find here. I did find one, it was forty dollars and came with a snazzy little DVD and yoga book. But here, forty dollars?? That’s 80,000 pesos in dinero down here. And as you can see on the poster, one yoga class is 5,000 pesos. That’s $2.50!!! With the money you save on yoga classes, you can spend it on airfare and come down here!
Ok, time to go to work. Gotta prep the lounge, cut some fruit, work on the mural. We are trying some new things in the business, I’ll keep you ‘posted.’
And, it’s a really nice day outside…
It takes a lot of happy hours to get the colour down. But who cares, it’s fun.
Back around June of 09, Hector and I were invited to participate in a little experiment. It was a blend of dance theatre and photography in a natural setting. Very natural, as all 20 (0r so) of us were nude.
I just got the photo’s from said shoot, and I am pleased with the results. I had my reservations, during and after, but having seen the shots, bravo. I’m glad I participated.
We shot at Folsom Lake, which is out near Sacramento. I’m posting one of my favourite shots below; don’t worry... it’s safe for work and any eyes that may want to see.
It’s been a full week, but hey, what week around here isn’t??
This one has been full of patient hours laying down black lines and paint.
This time around is a bit different from other paintings, as the paint markers I usually use don’t work with the watercolor pencils too well. But the watercolor pencils ROCK in laying down the basic sketch, and then there is no graphite coming through the paint after it’s done. I’ve avoided using a brush to get lines down, but this mural has me in a different mood. So, I’m down with how it goes down.
I know that there is a lot to be said for hella schooling. And there is a lot to be said for reading, studying, and that whole punk rock pathos DIY. My path hasn’t really been all-embracing of schooling. I’ve loved school when I was there for something I actually wanted to be there for, it’s a nice cushion. Luckily, learning and schooling are not mutually exclusive.
I see too many artists bogged down in the technical and lose their funk. You gotta work that funk. You gotta be willing to work. Cuz the funk feeds my desire to keep working, hence vice versa. Nachos help too.
Man, now I’m hungry.
Second day.
Ok.
I got Robert to do a yoga photo session before he left this past Friday. I’d never had my own full-on shoot before, just some random photos here and there, and some in particular taken in the snowy drifts of Alaska. Those were fun.
So the shoot…
Was eye-opening. It gave me a great mirror in terms of my own alignment.
I started practicing yoga almost 13 years ago. I had been a springboard diver through school and into college, and a gymnastics instructor for awhile after that. My dad started my brother and I out with light free-weights when we were about 11 or so. Exercise was/is a part of my life, and it’s a part I really enjoy.
Living in Denver, going to school, just working out with weights and running wasn’t cutting it. I could feel my body getting tighter. Not good. But just plain stretching bored me, I’d heard about yoga (this was right before it became insanely popular), and knew enough there were some forms that were exercise as well as stretching.
Well, I am a multi-tasker, so that fit me perfect. I wanted to work-out while I stretched. Did some research, and signed up for Bikram yoga classes. I practiced that system for about 8 months, until I graduated and hit the road, ending up back in Anchorage.
The only yoga school in Anchorage at the time was Inner Dance. I had the misconception that most yoga was overly easy, for old ladies in leotards. So I practiced resistance instead of yoga, working out and going along.
But my body missed the relief that yoga provided, and after a year of not having that relief, I broke down and signed up for classes with one Lynne Minton. That first class changed my world.
A big Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh after that class. It was challenging, and I found it much more profound than the Bikhram style, which is the same poses done in the same sequence each practice. In the decade I’ve studied with Lynne, I’ve yet to experience a ‘repeat’ class. It’s always different and insightful. I was so hooked. And any ‘old’ ladies in leotards in class are tough.
I immediately started signing up for workshops, heading to Bali for a ten-day retreat with Lynne. I was the class example for really tight hamstrings and hips. But after going through the year-long 200 hour teacher training with Lynne, and then moving to Portland for a year and a half, making my way as a full time yoga instructor (at times teaching up to 20 classes a week), my body changed.
The yoga boom was in full-swing by the time I was teaching, so there were a lot of teachers and classes out there. And though the hour/hour and a half teaching in itself paid well, it was hard to make a decent living by teaching enough classes consistently. Life was good though, I had this awesome studio apartment, with just a bed and a stereo in it for most of the time I was there. No TV; I got into the habit of practicing on my own. I’d come home from teaching and practice. It was my time of monk-ness (with a cocktail thrown in here and there).
I love yoga, I love what it can it do, I love it’s platitudes, that it lives up to. Yoga is for everybody. The first definition of what yoga is: Yoga citta vritti nirodaha, yoga stills the mind. And I will testify to that. It’s changed my body, too. It’s definitely my drug of choice. 
Those first few years of practicing, my friends and family got a little tired of me telling them every time they came to me with a problem, ‘Hey, yoga is good for that,’ but they knew I was speaking from an honest place and lots and lots of zeal.
It may not be for everybody. But if you want it, it’s for everybody, yo.
