Posts Tagged ‘artist’

Artist and writer Betsy Randel is featured in the Vancouver @TMwomen Centre Newsletter

May 10, 2017

Here is a self-reflective biographical introduction a friend of mine wrote that was published in the Vancouver TM for Women Centre Newsletter in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Each issue they introduce someone to the meditating community. Artist, writer and photographer Betsy Randel was featured in their May 2017 issue. Centre Director Deboragh Varnel said Betsy’s testimonial was really deep and authentic. I agree, which is why I reproduced it here with the accompanying photographs.

TM for Women logo

Swans Photo by Betsy Randel

Swans photo by Betsy Randel

Getting To Know You…Meet Betsy Randel

Betsy Randel at her artshow

Betsy Randel in front of her paintings at an art show

I was born in California to a middle class family but even as a child always found myself at odds with the interactions of people around me—the seeming superficiality of their concerns and lives. I found peace and solace in the beauty of nature—the skies, clouds, flowers and trees.

I left my family home to marry at the young age of 18 and by 20 found myself divorced, feeling adrift in my life. In the college I was halfheartedly attending, one teacher stood out for me and we became friends.

She suggested I start meditating with TM, which is what she had been practicing. I had never heard of it but found myself in the heart of L.A. being instructed in the practice in 1970 when I was 21.

I felt my life start to make sense for the first time from my first deep dive into consciousness through TM.

One month after being initiated, I was again guided by my friend to attend a one-month course with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at Humboldt State College in California.

There I experienced wisdom and great peace spoken of by Maharishi being lived by the many practitioners of all ages there. I was very moved to see and feel the harmony with many meditating together.

I became a teacher of TM in 1973 and continued my path of learning and experiencing more through advanced courses and attending MUM (Maharishi University of Management) in Iowa where I met my husband, a Canadian teacher of TM.

I went on to raise two children and to complete my Certificate in Fine Arts at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, B.C.

What I really want to let people know is that although the surface of my life hasn’t always been easy or smooth, having that underlying peace of twice a day meditation has kept me healthy and at peace through even the roughest times.

I have been meditating now for 47 years and I am so grateful for it and to Maharishi who made great efforts to bring this knowledge to the western world where the outer values are so strong and so focused on, but the inner value of life is mostly lost.

As one ages, if one’s attention is focused only on the outer body and life changes, one can feel regretful and despairing.

But if one has this technique that works like no other, to experience the deep peace within and eternal non-changing level of life, one feels safe with outer changes and more resilient. One also stays healthier and happier.

It is such a gift. The greatest gift one can give to oneself.

Best wishes,

Betsy

Betsy Randel is an artist and writer living in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Visit her website to see more of her beautiful artwork www.artthatheals.org.

Update: Visit Betsy’s new website, BetsyRandel.com, to see her cards, paintings, and poetry books. Her work can also be seen on fineartamerica.

Personal note: This is a longer version. When Betsy attended MUM it was known as MIU, Maharishi International University. See www.miu.edu.

Also see Cliffhouse and Arbutus blossoms inspire haiku by Ken Chawkin and paintings by Betsy Randel.

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Posted in Art, Articles, Maharishi University, Writing | 1 Comment »

Frances Knight shows paintings of Vedic Masters and Vedic Dieties at ArtFiftyTwo in Fairfield Iowa

June 29, 2015

I just ordered a print of a new painting of Guru Dev, Maharishi’s master, by Frances Knight. She is in Fairfield, Iowa with her paintings at ArtFiftyTwo in Fairfield, Iowa. The show: Vedic Masters, Vedic Dieties — Paintings and Pastels of Guru Dev, Maharishi, and Vedic Deities — started this weekend, Saturday, June 27, and will continue to Wednesday, July 1. Hours are 1:00 – 4:00  and  7:00 – 9:00.

Artist Frances Knight stands in front of her latest painting of Guru Dev, Maharishi's master. Photo taken by Ken Chawkin at ArtFiftyTwo in Fairfield, Iowa

Vedic portrait artist Frances Knight stands by her latest painting of Guru Dev, Maharishi’s master, at a show of her work in ArtFiftyTwo, Fairfield, Iowa. Photo by Ken Chawkin (June 28, 2015)

FRANCES KNIGHT spent over 35 years creating paintings of Guru Dev under the direction, guidance, and inspiration of His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. She started work on the painting of The Holy Tradition in 1972 and continued to work on it and many other paintings for Maharishi over many years. Her paintings benefit from years of working directly with Maharishi, absorbing the knowledge of how exactly he wanted Guru Dev to be depicted and how Vedic Knowledge can be expressed in visual form. Her deep experience and unique knowledge of Maharishi’s vision for how Guru Dev should be portrayed, gives her paintings a profoundly devotional depth of feeling and lively consciousness. Her original paintings express a powerful darshan that people find deeply moving and inspiring.

Guru Dev represents the Vedic tradition in this age and in making these prints available Frances is inspired to contribute 20% of the net proceeds to support the Maharishi Vedic Pandits in India, who are creating world peace through Maharishi Yagya and Yoga. Visit the Maharishi Vedic Pandits website for more information.

ArtFiftyTwo specializes in creating and marketing archival quality fine art reproductions for artists. Frances has worked closely with ArtFiftyTwo to insure that her reproductions accurately represent the feeling and color balance of the originals. Reproductions are accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. All of the pieces on display, and more of Frances’ work are available in various sizes and media at her website VEDICART108.com.

Frances is also a highly accomplished landscape painter. She studied in Painting at Camberwell School of Art in London, and won a Commonwealth scholarship for an MFA in India, graduating with a 1st Class First. See her landscape paintings at FRANCES KNIGHT FINE ART.

See On every Guru Purnima Day, Maharishi always recalled the greatness of his teacher, Guru Dev.

I mention Frances’s painting in this entry, dated November 12, 2017: 1st anniversary of my India trip to spread Sali’s ashes on the Narmada River, visit Bijouri campus and Maharishi Vedic Pandits at the Brahmasthan.

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Posted in Art, Peace | 3 Comments »

Some Reports on @JimCarrey’s Commencement Speech at MUM @MaharishiU #mumgraduation

May 29, 2014

“I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which, was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

This was one of many profoundly wise things Jim Carrey told the graduating class of 2014 at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa on Saturday. He was referencing his father’s choice in life, who could have been a great comedian, but chose instead to play it safe and become an accountant, thinking it would be a secure profession. But after several years he lost his job and the family had to do what they could to survive. In Jim’s case that meant leaving school to work at something he didn’t like to help support the family. But he also realized his father’s humor and love made people laugh, feel happy and forget about their cares. He soon realized he wanted to do that too and decided to become a comedian to make people forget their concerns. And he certainly succeeded beyond his wildest dreams!

Gazette writer, Diana Nollen, attended the MUM Graduation and heard Jim Carrey deliver his amazingly funny and deeply insightful Commencement speech. Earlier, during his introductory remarks, President Bevan Morris mentioned Judd Apatow’s story of opening for Jim Carrey in his early days, and after seeing Jim perform, decided to quit standup comedy. He said Jim is the number one funniest person on the planet.

So when Donna Marie Jones, the class valedictorian, was walking up to the podium we all wondered how she could follow such an act! Diana opens her piece quoting Donna’s opening remark, and then comments:

“Wow! What an honor to have Jim Carrey as my opening act!”

It was the best opening line to a valedictory speech, following the best commencement address ever.

Both were delivered Saturday at Maharishi University of Management, where about 1,000 people filled every chair and space in the Golden Dome to see 285 students from 54 countries receive bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees — and to hear what the veteran Hollywood funnyman would have to say.

Everyone, including Carrey, laughed at valedictorian Donna Marie Jones’ opening line. The mathematics major had the unenviable task of following Carrey at the microphone.

Read more: Jim Carrey wise beyond his wiseguy ways: Hollywood funnyman gives commencement address in Fairfield.

Sunday’s Hawk Eye cover story on Jim Carrey delivering the commencement address at Maharishi University in Fairfield was written by Bob Saar. He captured the joyful mood of Carrey’s wit and wisdom as he delivered a funny yet deeply powerful message of insight and encouragement to the graduates. Dr. Carrey (he received a doctorate in Fine Arts) touched the hearts and minds of the over 1000 people there in the dome with his understanding, humility and humor. Brilliant! To read this article, just click on it once, and then again after it opens larger. Other articles are available below as well. Maharishi U. grads celebrate with funnyman Jim CarreyOther Iowa media that reported on the MUM 2014 Graduation with Jim Carrey are: The Des Moines Register, Jim Carrey mixes laughs with advice at Iowa college graduation; The Gazette/KCRG, Jim Carrey wise beyond his wise guy ways, which is another excellent article, but with a slideshow and voice-over; The Fairfield Ledger: Carrey infuses graduation speech with humor; The Iowa Source article with photos and quotes: Jim Carrey Gives Heartfelt, Laugh-Filled Commencement Speech; and The Fairfield Weekly Reader for a personal glimpse from Michael Sternfeld of what it was like to see Jim Carrey work with the MUM and DLF crew to get his presentation in place: The True-man Show: Behind the Scenes with Jim Carrey.

FWR-Jim Carrey

Michael Sternfeld later had a longer version of this article published as a cover story in Australia’s largest holistic magazine, Living Now, on pages 12+13, with a mention by the editor in the middle of page 3: http://bit.ly/1rmUTXE.

National news coverage was by The Hollywood Reporter: Jim Carrey Delivers Commencement Speech, Receives Honorary Doctorate, NY Daily News: Jim Carrey gives emotional commencement speech at Maharishi University of Management, CNN: Jim Carrey’s inspiring commencement speech, USA TODAY: Hear what advice Jim Carrey has for college graduates; The Wrap: Jim Carrey’s Commencement Speech Warns Students of His Own Father’s Failure (Video); Time: Jim Carrey’s Commencement Speech Warns Against Playing It Safe; and many TV news shows like Today: Jim Carrey delivers life lessons in commencement speech, Good Morning America: Jim Carrey Reveals His Father’s Failure Inspired His Comedic Dreams; PEOPLE Magazine, June 9, 2014, page 8, under StarTracks; and many major publications running the story. WPTV 5 included a comprehensive review of highlights from various media in the Newsy report: Jim Carrey Maharishi University of Management graduation speech; Tells graduates don’t fail at what you don’t want. The international press ran the news all over the place. The Hindu later came out with, Choose between fear and love, including many highlights from Jim’s inspiring talk.

Also visit the TM Blog for some more good quotes: Jim Carrey in Iowa? University Featuring Transcendental Meditation Scores Big with Commencement Speaker. KTVO posted two reports: Jim Carrey Gives Memorable Speech at MUM Graduation and Inaugural David Lynch MA in Film class graduates. Visit http://filmschool.mum.edu to submit your work for a chance at a scholarship.

Here is a sample of the highlights on a b-roll sent to the media. It is included in the Washington Post article: Jim Carrey gives commencement speech at Maharishi University of Management, which seems to be one of the best articles so far. And CNN just posted a second news report: Carrey Gets Serious at Graduation, Says His Dad Paved The Way For Him. The news anchor was surprised at how serious he was and what he shared with the MUM graduates: “That’s Jim Carrey. Wow! Jim Carrey told the crowed that he got into comedy to free people from concern.” More to come. This just in: Paresh David of The LA Times just published Could these be the best commencement speeches of 2014? and Jim’s address is 7th in the top 10! This is followed by TakePart, which listed quotes from Jim Carrey’s commencement address 2nd out of the top 6 commencement speech quotes of 2014: Six Commencement Speech Quotes That Got It Perfectly Right. Jim’s was listed after Colin Powell’s!

MUM has now posted a report with this video and photos at https://www.mum.edu/whats-happening/graduation-2014. From there you can also access Jim Carrey’s Commencement Address, his honorary degree award, as well as the Valedictorian and Salutatorian Addresses here. See MUM Valedictorian Shines Alongside Jim Carrey. See some Videos of MUM 2014 Graduation with Jim Carrey. Six months later, Jim Carrey appeared on Ellen. She asked him about his giving a commencement speech, and to date, over 60 million people worldwide have seen Jim’s inspiring talk. I later found a transcript of Jim’s talk.

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Posted in Articles, Education, Maharishi University | 5 Comments »

Article on the multi-talented Lanny Shuler: artist, consultant, surfboard designer, and TM instructor

June 9, 2013

What’s going on in that purple building?

You might have noticed Shuler Surfboards before – it’s located in a purple building south of Seaside at milepost 24 on U.S. Highway 101.

Lanny Shuler, owner of Shuler Surfboards, rides the waves of creativity in business and in life

Thursday, June 6, 2013 8:00 am

Article and photos by DWIGHT CASWELL for COAST WEEKEND: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: COASTAL LIFE.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven by that purple building just south of Seaside. The sign by the side of U.S. Highway 101 says “Shuler,” and the windows are lined with surfboards. I always wonder, “A surfboard factory in Seaside?”

My curiosity finally got the best of me, and I stopped by. What I found surprised me. Yes, there are surfboards being made here – custom-made, state-of-the-art boards – but there’s a lot more going on. There’s an artist, a materials consultant to Corning and Dow, a creativity consultant to Nike, a Transcendental Meditation (TM) instructor.

From the outside, the building doesn’t seem large enough to house all those people, and it couldn’t if not for the fact that all those people are one: Lanny Shuler, who has been doing all those things on the North Coast since relocating here in 1983.

Shuler grew up in West Long Beach and Huntington Beach, Calif., where he learned to surf at the age of 7 and built his first surfboard 10 years later. “We were water kids,” he says of his childhood friends, “so surfing was a natural thing to pursue, and I was never attracted to organized sports. It was easier to just go surfing, to have fun even if I wasn’t with friends.” Surfing was, at the time, an outsider sport. “This was before the Beach Boys,” he says, “and before ‘Gidget,’” the first surfing movie, made in 1959. “That was the beginning of cultural awareness of surfing,” he continues, “but I was never interested in surfing culture.”

As a young man in 1972, Shuler moved to Astoria to help his father, Don, build a commercial fishing boat, eventually moving back to southern California to make and lose a fortune in real estate. He studied art and architecture in school and began to practice TM, a mantra-based meditation technique that is practiced twice daily for 15 to 20 minutes. Through TM, Shuler found an inner peace and wakefulness, and he left formal education to study under TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, eventually becoming a certified TM teacher.

In 1983, having discovered that “a simpler life was more to my liking,” he returned to Oregon, just in time to catch the wave of windsurfing tourism in the Columbia Gorge. In addition to his surfboard business in Seaside, Shuler opened Shuler Sailboards in the Gorge and discovered that building both sailboards and surfboards gave him a more diverse outlet for innovation and creativity, as he constantly modified and reinvented his cutting edge board designs.

Shuler’s innovations with resins, fiberglass and foam led to consultancy work with Dow Chemical and Owens Corning. Word of Shuler’s creativity also got around to Nike’s product development team, called the “Innovation Kitchen,” prompting their visit to the purple building for inspiration on long-term maintenance of creativity. Shuler credits TM for his daily charge of inspiration and enthusiasm in new ideas, and his capacity to incorporate them into his career. Since that first meeting he has been invited to the Nike Campus to bolster employee creativity through lectures and TM lessons.

Shuler stresses that “It is a challenge for everyone to have many dimensions and diversities to integrate into one’s life, many demands into one combined fulfilling experience.”

The latest aspect of Shuler’s diversity is his return to art. “My art interests have often fallen aside to other priorities,” says Shuler. “Regardless, whenever I applied artwork on my surfboards, people would take notice.”

Lanny Shuler with a sample of his surfboard art.As an art student Shuler was uninspired painting on flat surfaces, but his enthusiasm returned when he began painting the sculptural form of his surfboards. “I found inseparability between my color interests and the three dimensionality of the surfboards I was painting on. Without my intending it, my art had become more challenging and engaging.”

Shuler’s “relationship with the aesthetic of the three dimensional form” also resulted in his art becoming more abstract. “It’s much less calculated and more intuitive, and there is a more intimate relationship with the creative silence of my daily meditation, with inner restful alertness and more abstract consciousness.”

Shuler is now working on a gallery show of paintings on what he calls “nonfunctional painted sculptures that can’t be surfed on.” He explains, “My surfboards have always been painted sculptures, but because they were functional, their value was mostly perceived in the terms of sporting equipment rather than higher valued art. That’s changing now.”

Which is not to say that he is abandoning functional surfboards. In fact, he is introducing an entirely new type of board designed to allow novices and experienced surfers alike to more easily develop their surfing skills and have more fun surfing in a variety of conditions.

The new boards and Shuler’s art will soon make an appearance on a redesigned website, www.shulersurfboards.com, and stay tuned for the next dimension of Lanny Shuler’s multifaceted life.

© 2013 Coast Weekend.

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Canadian artist Greg Thatcher goes to Painswick every summer to paint its famous yew trees

August 23, 2012

Stroud News and Journal, 4:00pm Tuesday 7th August 2012 in News Canadian artist travels to Painswick every year to paint its famous yew trees by Hayley Mortimer, Reporter. Includes a galley of 5 photos.

A CANADIAN artist has travelled to Painswick to paint its famous yew trees.

Greg Thatcher, 63, who lives in Iowa, has been painting the trees at St Mary’s Church for more than 20 years and works on location from June to August every year.

The yew trees were planted in the Middle Ages and Mr Thatcher says they form the most beautiful yew tree avenues in the world.

He first saw them in a travel brochure while working in Lancashire in 1991.

At first, he worked from photographs but after visiting the churchyard he was inspired by the different shapes and intricate details.

Mr Thatcher said: “I have been drawn to them. I just keep seeing deeper and deeper levels of where I can start. It is an ongoing relationship.

“The process is very stimulating and nourishing to my creativity and imagination.

“Even after 20 years I am still finding more angles and more information to work with.

“I love Painswick and enjoy coming back each year. My trips have been pivotal to my career. It has given me access to a unique and inspiring landscape.”

Mr Thatcher spends between six and eight hours a day working on the drawings and many take more than 350 hours to complete.

He and his wife stay a mile away from the churchyard so Mr Thatcher can cycle to and from the site every day.

Mr Thatcher teaches art and art history to children aged 13 to 17 in a small school in Iowa.

He has a bachelor of fine art from the University of Victoria and a masters in painting and drawing from the University of Saskatchewan.

A series of drawings of the yew trees has been exhibited in the United States, Canada, England and France and his work hangs in corporate and private collections across the world.

For more information go to www.gregthatchergallery.com.

You can see photos of Greg, the trees, and his drawings in the online article bit.ly/Rg2k25, and in a pdf of Inspiration found under the boughs.

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Later Additions

Canadian artist returns to Painswick.

Artist inspired by Painswick yew trees will share his skills at class.

February 25, 2020: Iowa Public Radio News: New Exhibit Explores The “Sacred” Beauty Of Yew Trees. On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe is joined by Fairfield-based artist Greg Thatcher, who has been making art inspired by yew trees for more than 30 years. Thatcher talks about his “Sacred Yew” exhibit at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden and his multi-decade relationship with a single grove of yew trees in a small English town. (Listen: 17 minutes)

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