I’m taking the Studio on a Road Trip

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I’m heading out on Monday for the east coast to spend a bit of the summer with my family and my studio is coming with me!

I’ve packed all my paints in the utility box and tackle box that you see here in the picture. Tackle boxes make for great mobile studios! I’m also bringing all of my printing supplies too, so the shop will stay open even while I’m in Vermont.

If you place an order in the shop between now and June 23rd, I will ship it out to you on Monday June 24th. In the meantime, I will be driving across the country, with the studio and Tulsi dog in toe!

Take care everyone!

xo,

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Please Pardon the Mess

Hi there. If you’ve been to my site before, you are probably looking around going “woah! This looks different.”

Yup, I’m in the middle of a remodel.

There were things about the old site that just weren’t working anymore and parts of it that were being glitchy, so I decided it was time for a change!

Last winter, I took Jo Kilma’s “Your Darling Blog” ecourse and have been working the past couple of months at putting together my new design in photoshop. Now, the time has come to move it from photoshop onto the web.

I’ve dabbled in web design in previous evolutions of this website, but this evolution will by far be the most difficult to put together.

So please bear with me as things shift and change around here over the next couple of weeks! Hopefully, the end result will be worth it!

 

Thank you for your patience!

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Welcome to Idaho!

I thought it might be fun to show you around where I live this week! I’ve lived in Idaho for about 10 months now and I really am loving it here.

Idaho is one of those places that I really knew virtually nothing about before I lived here.

Growing up in Vermont, I couldn’t imagine ever living anywhere other than the green mountains and if you’d told me I’d live in Idaho when I grew up, I would probably found that hilarious.

But yet, here I am, working and playing in this beautiful state that I previously knew nothing about. Before moving here, I thought Idaho was just plains and potatoes. In a way, I wasn’t wrong, they do have those things here.

There is so much more to Idaho than plains and potatoes, and today I thought I’d give you a pictorial tour of some of the cool places that I’ve explored since living here!

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{The mountains above Hailey (the town where I live) in March}

 

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{Cross country skiing on a snow mobile trail below the Boulder Mountains, north of Ketchum, ID}

 

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{Looking North into the Boulder Mountains from a mountain side full of Arrow Leaf Balsam Root and Sage brush}

 

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{Distant view of the Sun Valley Ski Resort in the springtime}

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{covered wagons representing the rich history of pioneer movement across the west}

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{A pioneer traveling the California Trail in 1850, stopped to write his signature in axel grease at “Register Rock” in City of Rocks}

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{City of Rocks entrance with ever changing weather above}

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{from the dirt road up and over Trail Creek Pass, looking west into the valley towards Ketchum}

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{The Salmon river, famous for incredible fly fishing, with the Sawtooth Range in the background}

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{On the shore of Redfish Lake in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area}

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{Tulsi at little Redfish Lake. She loves Idaho too!}

That’s it for now! Thanks for coming on this short visual journey of Idaho!

There is so much more to explore in see this state, I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface!

xo,

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Round here

Round here we always stand up straight. Round here something radiates.

~The Counting Crows

Not sure why, but the lyrics from this Counting Crows song has been stuck in my head as I’ve thought about what to share with you here on the blog today.

I took the lyrics as a directive to let you know what’s been going on round here!

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The lilacs have been blooming around here lately, though sadly I think they are starting to go by. Lilacs are among of my favorite flowers and I’ve been cutting a few from our lilac bush for the house. I love how fragrant these beauties are. I’ll have to do some sketches of lilacs soon!

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In the studio, I’ve started a new big painting. So far it’s just a bubble gum colored mess, but it seems like they all go through an “ugly phase.” Hopefully it will come together soon!

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I’ve also started a few new smaller floral pieces. I love doing this drippy, splashy layer of my paintings.

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On another front, I’ve begun the redesign of this website. It’s going to have a whole new look. The above image is a screenshot of what the home page will look like. It may be awhile before it comes to life here online, but I wanted to give you a sneak peak! What do you think?

Those are just a few of the fun happening here in my Idaho home this week! Have a great weekend!

xo,

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Choose your own adventure {a yoga sequence + playlist}

I love the feeling that summer has almost arrived. Here in Idaho we are starting to see more and more of these warm summer days and it has totally stoked my desire for some fun summer adventures.

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Last weekend, my husband and I packed up our truck and drove out into the pioneer mountains for a spontaneous camping adventure. It was wonderful to be outdoors and we fell asleep to the sounds of the river and the silent stars overhead. The next day we went for a hike into the mountains, with breathtaking peaks at our back and ended up at an incredible waterfall. It was almost magical.

Today’s yoga sequence is inspired by the adventure of summer, the endless choices that we have to get out and experience our sense of freedom and aliveness.

So as you embark on the sequence, choosing your own path as you go, try to feel into that sense of adventure and have fun! Here is a playlist to accompany you on your journey.

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Centering

Start by tuning into your breath. Note where you are at the beginning of this practice. Without judgement, notice how you are feeling. Perhaps you are excited or bored or anxious or happy. What ever you are feeling, allow it to be part of your experience. This allowance is the first step to enjoying any adventure. Allowing what is to be as it is, lets you enjoy the journey without expectations. Keep this intention with you as you move through the following sequence.

Warm Up

To begin your adventure, do a couple of warm-up poses to get the body warm and moving. Try some of these possibilities:

Standing Poses

After your body has warmed up, do some of your favorite standing poses. To decide which ones to do, follow your intuition. What pose is calling your name?  What does your body want to experience? Here are some possibilities:

Hip-Openers

Now that your body is revved up and your legs are nice and warm, take some time to open your hips. Open hips help you feel more freedom in your body and isn’t that the fun of being on an adventure? Freely choose which hip poses you’d like to do:

Backbends

Time to celebrate this adventure. Backbends are often like being at the top of a mountain, the pinnacle to which you’ve worked hard to reach. You are warm and you are ready and you have arrived. Pick a backbend will help you celebrate that the most.

Twists and Forward Folds
Cool down

Your yoga adventure has almost come to a close. How do you want to cool down today? What poses would most honor this journey you’ve been on?

Savasana or Seated Meditation

Take a moment as you wind down from your practice to tune in and see if its a savasana you need or if sitting in meditation for a few moments is the best way to honor the adventure you’ve just been on.

 

Happy trails,

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The Spring 2013 Yoga Art Collection

I just finished a few new yoga pieces and they are now available in my etsy shop as both 8×10 and 6×8 prints! So here it is,

The Spring 2013 Yoga Art Collection:

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“Expression”

There are thousands of ways to express yourself. There is a playful pulsing within you that sparkles differently in every single moment. Allow it to move through you and feel who you are, here in this moment.

 

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“Blossoming Heart”

Extend your arm back, towards your past, towards who you were and where once you came. Let your knees will find grounding in the now. Let your heart lift to the future, bright and blossoming.

 

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“The Gift”

Connected to the earth below and reaching to the sky above, feel the gift of your body in-between. Feel breath streaming through your veins, strength illuminating your arms and sweetness on your skin.

 

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“Reach”

Reach up for the stars, glistening in the sky as they do in your heart. Find the blinking light within you, aglow with your power, with your twinkling soul.

 

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“Thousand Petals”

Open the cage of collarbones. Expose the lotus of your heart. Let it emerge flowering, opening it’s thousands of petals. 

 

Happy Friday!

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More Mandalas!

With only a few more days left in the month of May, I’m sharing a few more mandalas sent to me as part of the The May Mandala Challenge.

The following incredible mandalas have been created by Nicole Raftery.

mine!!

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I am so inspired by Nicole’s use of lines, textures and shapes. She also sent along this beautiful elephant, and even though it’s not a mandala, I wanted to include it along with her other awesome pieces!

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Aren’t these fantastic!? Thanks again for sharing these creations with us, Nicole!

The May Mandala Challenge will go on for three more days and if you still want the opportunity to join in, send me pictures of your Mandala creations at eliza.lynn.tobin@gmail.com and I will feature them here on the blog!

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Mandala Challenge Round-up

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These beautiful mandalas were sent over by the lovely Kristen Fagan.

She shared them with me as part of this month’s May Mandala Challenge and so I’m sharing them here with you!

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They are just gorgeous, thanks so much for sharing them Kristen!

You can check out more of Kristen’s work here:

{website} http://www.creativestash.com

{Facebook} http://www.facebook.com/CreativeStash

Want to join in on the challenge too? Send me pictures of your Mandala creations at eliza.lynn.tobin@gmail.com and I will feature them here on the blog!

xo,

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Colors of the Tibetan Mandala {Oh Color, My Color}

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{photo credit from left to right: Tibetan Monks | Sand Bowls by Dale Reagan | Sand Mandala Detail}

I have loved the bright, primary colors of the Tibetan Sand Mandalas since the first time that I saw them being created. Maybe it’s the fact that colors are made up of colored sand. Maybe it’s the fact that several monks come together for hours and days on end to gently sift these sands into elaborate patterns. Maybe it’s the heartbreakingly beautiful gesture of sweeping all the sands together after the Mandala is complete, so that they can be taken to a nearby water source and tossed in, completing the cycle of impermanence.

Whatever the reason, these intricate and colorful Tibetan Sand Mandalas always take my breath away.

Have you ever seen one of these being created? If you ever get a chance to, I highly recommend it!

 

Happy Monday!
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Book Love: Mandala by Judith Cornell


In keeping with this month’s Mandala theme, I thought I’d share with you one of my all time favorite books on Mandalas.

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Mandala: Luminous Symbols for Healing by Judith Cornell is a wonderful resource for learning more about Mandalas and their healing powers.

Combining the philosophy and psychology of Mandalas with Mandala-making exercises, this book offers a full scope of what it is to experience the Mandala.

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In several of the hands-on exercises, the author invites the reader to use black paper and colored pencils to bring light and the color spectrum to life within the Mandala. I’ve done several of these exercises myself and shared them with others in my art and yoga workshops. I found the Mandala-making exercises to be powerful forms of expression, that allow you to dive into deeper levels of consciousness in a pretty cool and profound way.

 

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At the beginning of the book, Cornell lays out some reasons for creating a Mandala:

Why create a Mandala? Because it has the regenerative and curative power to activate the latent powers of the mind… Because it has a calming and relaxing effect on the mind and body, thus focusing and strengthening the will to heal…Because it can make the invisible visible–expressing paradoxical situations or patterns of ultimate reality that can be expressed in no other way…Because it can give form and expression to an intuitive insight into spiritual truth by releasing the inner light of the soul.

 

Those are reasons enough for me to keep creating Mandalas! What about you?

 

Happy Mandala Making,

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