Dinara Chetyrova

http://www.dinarachetyrova.com

"I have been fascinated with flowers for a very long time. Seemingly fragile, they remain very strong: you can see flowers growing on the side of the mountains, at the highest altitudes; making their way through concrete in a steel jungles, which are our cities; they are striving in the harshest environments and still keep their ability to bloom. 

To me, a blooming flower symbolizes sheer life force, raw power of creation. There are many lessons we can take from it. The flower does not care if you (the beholder) think it is beautiful, the flower will bloom, no matter whether you watch it or not, the flower blooms simply because it is in its nature… I think we can try to be the same, we can learn to do things, without the need for validation from the outside world, we can be ourselves, simply because it is our nature. 

The idea that something can be both gentle and strong at the same time came through many of my tea ceremony practices, which I have been studying, under graceful guidance of Souheki-san, for past four years. Tea ceremony shows you that in order to make things look seamless and effortless, you need to have the strong “core", you need to be grounded and balanced. If you find your “tanden (丹田)” and trust in it, your practice will flourish.

Flower celebration and tea ceremony exploration are interconnected to me, which is why I am going to hold tea ceremony demonstrations in conjunction with my watercolor exhibition. I would be grateful and happy if you kindly share this experience with me."

Dinara Chetyrova was born and raised in Russia and has been living in NYC since 2009. She graduated from art school in Russia and after a long break returned to painting when she moved to NYC. Dinara is working as a model as well.