Satyama Lasby Opens Exhibition of her work TOMORROW
Artist uses her intuition and a paintbrush
It was three years ago that Dawn Lasby, who now goes by the name “Satyama”, decided to leave the corporate world and follow her own path.
The former general manager of the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce says she wanted to focus on her artistic and creative talents and achieve a more blissful life, so she left her job to study and commit to meditation as well as art.
Lasby’s latest art exhibition is one of the results of that decision. Entitled Blissful Intuition, the show, which opens at Kalamalka Vertigo in Okanagan College’s Vernon campus Thursday, is a celebration of Lasby’s own journey into the mind.
“Intuitive painting assists in letting the emotional body be expressed through the artists’ medium, and what comes out is often helpful in knowing the workings of the mind and being able to express oneself in a different way,” explained Lasby.
After leaving the chamber, Lasby went to the Johnson’s Landing Retreat Centre, where she studied the art of intuitive painting with Kootenay Bay artist Ted Wallace.
She later travelled in India, Guatemala and Costa Rica, returning to Vernon to set up her Open to Bliss Productions, a massage, tantra and yoga retreat, which is now her full-time business.
A painter since she was a child, Lasby uses meditation to create her art, and says it is a tool to express emotion as well as to connect with one’s self.
She describes her intuitive paintings as having a rhythmical, patternized style.
Trusting the process rather than the outcome, she uses wet-on-wet techniques, drybrushing and multi-layer building for her paintings to take form, and says Kundalini (a form of yoga) energy is often portrayed in her work as an energetic explosion, or dance, without reservation on the canvas.
“Bright colours and soft bulbs assist in the expression of bodily movement, expressive dance and the true bliss of knowing one’s self and being able to both express and observe it,” said Lasby.
Lasby will talk about her intuitive methods at her exhibition opening. The reception will include some of her famous cacao shots, made with cacao, cashews donated by Rancho Vignola, honey and ginger, which she says are meant to energize and also relax the body.
There will also be an opportunity to throw paint on a community canvas, created by all attending the opening and the week leading up to it. Lasby will put her finishing touches on the piece and display it at the college once everyone has had a chance to explore the intuitive technique.
For those interested in learning more about intuitive painting, Lasby is also leading a workshop at the Vernon Community Arts Centre, May 8 to 29 on Tuesday evenings. (Call or visit the VCAC to register.)
“Of course, there will be some meditation during the workshop so you can also explore your own mind,” she said.
Thursday’s opening at Kalamalka Vertigo runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The artwork will be up for the month of April. For more information, visit www.opentobliss.com.
