From the Creative Side...

Blue Ridge, 2012, oil and wax on canvas, 38 x 34 in

"Know then that art is: a path toward freedom.  We have all been born in chains.  A few forget their chains: they have them silver-plated or gilded.  But we want to rend them; not through ugly brute force; our desire is to grow out of them."

- R. M. Rilke

Is that not the path of the yogi?

My latest exhibition opens this week at the Old Spouter Gallery, Nantucket.  I am writing statements and putting the last few wires on this Summer's crop of paintings.  Two things I have done every day for the last few months here in my Summer residency on the Island: a long yoga practice and painted in my studio.  More and more the two practices merge - at least in the intention behind them: freedom.

(More of my work can be viewed at www.michael-rich.com.)

Maha Yogis

I am heading to the Ashtanga Yoga Mela at Kripalu later this month where David Williams, David Swenson and Danny Paradise will be leading the festivities and a wonderful week of practice.  I love these guys.  You will not meet many teachers or practitioners at their level.  David Williams is largely credited with being among the first Westerners to study with Guruji and then to bring him to the West in the early 1970's.  He has been practicing yoga daily for at least 40 years - daily - wow!  He has a way of conveying how to go about practicing in a safe and steady way that will allow you to practice for life with a warmth that is genuine and comes from real lifelong experience on the mat.  David Swenson is, in my opinion, one of the best teachers I have ever met - of any discipline and one of the funniest guys you will ever meet.  The three are non-dogmatic, seasoned practitioners and teachers who share the essence of what this practice is all about.  For me, it is a chance to check in, to recommit to my practice and feel supported by the loose tribe of Ashtangis from the world over.  I don't go to many classes any more but subsist on a daily regimen of asana practice in my own home spaces.  Being around these great teachers helps to put me on track and inspire me in the months ahead.  I'll add quotes and thoughts to this page from these guys as I gather them.

David Williams, early 1970's

David, David and Danny at the last Mela, 2010

The tall guy in the middle is me, August 2010