Rising Stars: Meet Alexzandra R. Chandler of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexzandra R. Chandler.

Hi Alexzandra R., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Alexzandra R. Chandler of Canvas Imaginarium, a creative painting instruction company, and I am a unique visionary artist that utilizes the act of creation as a form of healing.
I turn shadow into light…. that is my superpower as an artist.
In other words, I “Paint Away the Pain©” so I can paint into my power. (And yes, I did trademark that term because that is how much I believe in what I do.)
I am a painter, film & digital photographer, and a sculpture artist that incorporates various mediums from metal to wood to found objects and everything in between. My collection includes over 3,000 pieces and 8 different bodies of work that embody a wide scope of styles, themes, and applications. I also construct advanced creations designed to take the viewer to another dimension of thought and into an even deeper realm of feeling.
Allow me to elaborate:
It all started the day I was born, with a paintbrush in hand. I won my first art competition at age four against kids three times my age. It was at that moment that I was pretty sure my destiny was to become an artist. My first green light if you will, little did my naive young self know that I would be embarking upon one of the hardest careers in terms of becoming truly successful. I had no idea how long the journey would take to get to this point, but my story actually does lead to success and has been rewarding in more ways than money can literally count. Through my “HBO series worthy” crazy life saga, and in combination with my constant need to create, I found my niche, my calling, and a dream job that is so fantastic it supersedes any words in the dictionary.
The next green signal along the way was at age 4 when my very first photo shoot was published on page 10 of National Geographic 2005. I captured lighting striking the Bank of America building (the tallest building in the southeast via video. I then rendered it down to roughly 37,200 miles per second to create a live-image photo timeline of the unseen events that occur when lightning strikes. That was when I was pretty sure I was also destined to be a photographer. Which later down the line has become an even more amazing blessing in disguise because a lot of my paintings and the classes/events I teach incorporate imagery into the painting to make a more dimensional and dynamic outcome.
But as the universe was giving me many green lights to go forward leading me to the path it was also training me to level up each with each crazy series of events that would begin at a very young age. My life has been strange, tumultuous and excruciatingly painful (both physically and mentally), but my art was ALWAYS there for me. ALWAYS there to pull me out of the mire. I always ask myself when the waves are seemingly too hard to ride, “Hey Alexzandra, how long do you want to be a victim and how much more do you want to become and remain victorious?”.
My story begins with my response to how I enabled the curve balls that were thrown at me back, to back, to back to elevate me even faster towards my mission. Between 2 years of suffering from undiagnosed mercury poisoning to a near-death experience being t-boned by a jet-ski going 75 miles per hour, I can honestly say I have dealt with quite some serious shadow that tried so hard to bring me down. But guess what? It failed. My art and my connection with the universe were not only the reasons I were able to survive…but also to full-on thrive. I love to say this to my haters (or the shadow as I like to say), “Keep throwing those bricks at me…because it’s only making it easier for me to build the foundation to my mutha-f***kin castle!”

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A smooth road? What does that look like? But in all seriousness, no, absolutely not but I wouldn’t change a single moment. It made me who I am. All of my road bumps, detours, accidents, mishaps, roadkill (I kid, I kid) just gave me a clearer perspective on not just the world but on the bigger picture. It led me to my calling, and the best part about all my struggles is that they only made me love and appreciate this crazy awesome human experiment we have all been gifted to be as participants. The world is a playground people so why not play?! Even when I was in a wheelchair for the first quarter of my masters program, I was playing. I might not have been able to walk, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t create.
The act of creation broke the opaque glass ceiling that had become the looming Grimm reaper in my pursuit towards true transcendentalism. Quite a line right? Allow me to give you some insight on why.
This is just a tiny glimpse into the many chapters that molded me into becoming the artist and teacher that I am today. This story is crazy but know this was actually one of the easiest challenges that I was destined to face.
Right before being accepted into my graduate degree, I was t-boned by a jet ski at 75 MPH.
Putting a dead stop to the incredible momentum I was generating. Right before I was hit, I was thinking to myself, “Dang girl, you just beat mercury poisoning after a two-year battle of doctors telling you were crazy while completing your undergraduate degree. You are finally healthy AND you are about to start your masters program, pain-free and kick butt by helping people in this world through art! Woot! I cannot wait!”.
Then BAM!
I got hit.
The results: snapped femur, torn ACL, and a 2-inch-thick scar from my ankle to my hip.
Those above mentioned thoughts that I had the split-second before my life flashed before my eyes are quite ironic. I had just battled an illness that took two years to diagnose, dozens of doctors to treat and two years to recover from all while completing my undergraduate degree from Savannah College of Art & Design. Now I am in a moment where I am literally thinking to myself how excited about my next chapter and how it will be a smooth ride because I finally got my health back and I know which direction my career is heading. But no, that was not the case. My undergrad was completed while battling an internal illness while during my graduate program I had to face the whole thing with incredibly painful external illnesses.
Here is a bit of back story regarding my mercury poisoning. When I was finally diagnosed with a very life-threatening illness, it turned out it wasn’t just mercury but also aluminum and copper poisoning. You want to talk about mad-hatter’s disease…well, it’s very much real, and until you rid the poisons in your system there is absolutely nothing you can do about it but just do everything in your power not to go crazy. Again, this is where my paintings and creations come in…they were a pivotal weapon to maintain my sanity especially since it was a very lonely place due to the fact that illness is not very common and if it is, it most certainly is not spoken about.
So back to the leg injury: the aftermath included 2.5 years of multiple physical therapies every SINGLE DAY (including Sundays all while completing my Masters in Fine Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design). Quite frequently I would have up to 12 different appointments in one day in FULL determination to reclaim my ability to walk…and hopefully one day dance again.

It was quite taxing and torturous to say the least and it took everything to prevent me from looking down on the darkness that my
body indiscreetly showed me every day (my 2-foot-long scar).
So what did do?
How did keep my head above waters amidst darkness that literally and visually shrouded me with pain?
I CREATED
The act of creation prevented the suffering that I refused to allow myself to endure. As insanely painful as the journey was towards full rehabilitation, I would not consent to this event becoming a traumatic experience that would haunt me for the rest of my life. Even though I knew that scar would never leave my body and neither would the memory, I also knew I always had my paintbrush to generate a weapon to help fight off the mental and physical pain I was enduring. Oh, how the brush can be far mightier than the sword.
Don’t let pain take your power, instead make it empower you.
This is just one story of how one can turn shadow into light. This is a true-life example of the dichotomy that occurs when the ugliness of pain meets the power to overcome it with the beautiful act of creation.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an artist but also a teacher that specializes in PERSONALIZED painting events and classes. What sets my company, Canvas Imaginarium, apart from the rest is that anything you want to learn how to paint we cater to your specific interest and taste. We offer the typical “Paint and Sip” parties and corporate events, but we also offer small
gatherings for families and friends to get together and paint as one. This can be done on separate canvases, or the group can make one giant piece as a whole. The options are endless and so is creativity and we love bringing that out of people and onto the canvas.
Another event/class we offer is how to “Paint Your Pet”. We will individualize each canvas to each person’s choice of their pet or favorite animal. We have many unique techniques to ensure that the outcome is a masterpiece and a memory they can’t wait to hang on their wall.
The event/classes that makes my company so unique is a teaching technique that I invented called “Paint Away the Pain©”. The individualistic healing purpose of “Paint Away the Pain©” is to help people transmute any negative pent up emotions into a beautiful extension of their inner being and higher selves. This activity is designed to help raise one’s energy on a vibrational scale and transform one from feeling like a victim to a becoming victorious.
It is time the world knows how to mend the heart more than anything particularly during these perilous times.
At the end of the day, you cannot spell HeART without ART and it is an honor and privilege to have the capabilities to help shine that light through the act of creation.
I have a remarkable metaphor to drive home this theory that has been the zenith of my existence:
How can you see through the blinds of your window if you don’t open them? It takes physical strength and willingness to get up and pull the shades open. So what I am trying to inspire in my message is to help people to muster up the energy, pick up a “light-as-feather” paintbrush or any creative tool, and open the metaphorical blinds that have been darkening their potentially amazing lives.

If this resonates as you read this I encourage you to check out the different painting styles and creative opportunities my company, Canvas Imaginarium, has to offer.
The mantra of Paint Away the Pain©
How do you extinguish shadow? Shine a light on it.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I believe there are three different forms of success. The first being is to accomplish the task at hand. The second that is that you not only finished the task but your outcome far exceeds our initial outcome. And third, my personal favorite success is when you achieve a goal that generates more benefits than our own personal ones. I absolutely LOVE working with people for so man different reasons but also having that symbiotic relationship when I teach people how to paint or create is a feeling that is nothing shy of divine. When I teach and share my gracious gifts of talents and knowledge, in return, I get the humble experience of witnessing people tap into their creative side and transmute any pent-up energy (good or bad) into a visual lasting memory that they themselves created. Only to continue to remind them of the creative courageous step that the took to help bring more beauty into their personal lives. My favorite, and also most common reaction after teaching a creative class or event, is “I didn’t know I could do that?!” Well guess what beautiful you just, you just did So yes the third type of success is my favorite when the the outcome far outweighs the benefits of ones self. Especially, if you get laugh along the way.

Pricing:

• 45-90 per person depending on the service
• 1200 a group
• its all really personalized at the of the day

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.CanvasImagiarium.com
• Instagram: CanvasImaginarium
• Facebook: canvasimaginarium by ARC Photography
• Youtube: alexzandrachandler6881

Image Credits
All images were taken by me. I have the super power to be in two places at once. I am in the model and photographer
…or avatar so to speek.