Donna Rubin began her career as a dancer, singer, and actress. She later developed a second career as a successful yoga entrepreneur, founding Bikram Yoga NYC.

It was only recently that Ms. Rubin started to think about fine art. That interest came from her husband, Elliot Matlin, whom she married in August 2004. The couple’s East 72nd Street apartment is filled mostly with modern and contemporary art. A Marc Chagall lithograph hangs in the front hallway and Picasso pottery is displayed in the den.

One of the first pieces the Matlins bought together was a Wolf Kahn painting, “Orange Band” (2002). They purchased the painting at an auction in the summer of 2005 at the Vered Gallery in East Hampton. The Matlins first met at the train station in East Hampton, where Ms. Rubin had opened a Bikram Yoga studio.

Ms. Rubin said that usually she does not prefer very abstract, modern art. But she likes the Kahn painting because the subject is recognizable. “I find this a nice blend,” Ms. Rubin said. “It’s sort of abstract and sort of not — you can tell it’s of the woods in East Hampton.”

The colors in the painting are subdued neon. The trees are a vibrant shade of purple, the grass is electric green, and the sunset background is a deep orange. Ms. Rubin describes the painting as peaceful.

The painting is framed in plain gold and hangs over a piano that Ms. Rubin has had since she was 9. She has taken it with her every time she has moved.

Ms. Rubin was born in Montreal and trained in Toronto as a classical ballet dancer. She traveled to New York during her spring and summer high school breaks to train at the Joffrey School of Ballet. Then she danced for the National Ballet of Canada for four years.

After getting the role of Meg in “Phantom of the Opera” in the Toronto production of the musical, Ms. Rubin switched over to acting and singing. She had her sights set on moving to New York. “I always wanted to be in New York City,” Ms. Rubin said.

She eventually landed a swing position in a 1994 production of the musical “Carousel” at Lincoln Center. Ms. Rubin had finally made it to New York, but her career would soon change direction.

While visiting family in Florida, Ms. Rubin tried out a local Bikram yoga studio. Despite her years of training in dance, Ms. Rubin said it was the hardest thing she had ever done. “I went every day to the studio instead of taking a dance class to stay in shape, and I felt like I had been in the best shape ever,” she said.

Upon returning to New York, she searched for a Bikram studio and had difficulty finding one. (She did find Yoga Connections in TriBeCa, which has since closed.) Tiring from her stage career, she decided to open her own yoga studio. “I was ready to give up my dance career and start doing something where I could make some money,” Ms. Rubin said.

She went to Los Angeles to train with and be officially certified by Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury himself. Actress Shirley MacLaine had discovered him in India in the early 1970s and asked him to come teach his yoga in America.

Ms. Rubin has now opened up eight Bikram yoga studios in eight years. There are five in New York and three others in Montreal, Bridgehampton, and Baltimore. She eventually sold several studios, but she still owns four in Manhattan. Last month she opened a studio near her home on the Upper East Side.

It was around the same time that Ms. Rubin made her first solo purchase of art. She bought Paul Rafferty’s painting “Cherry Blossoms” (2005) for her husband’s 60th birthday. “I went to one of his showings at the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor and just thought this was really pretty,” she explained.

Ms. Rubin chose the painting in part because it complements some of the other older pieces Mr. Matlin owns that are hanging in the apartment. It hangs near a similarly colored painting in the living room, bought by his mother on a trip to Europe. “They blend well together,” Ms. Rubin said.

The couple’s next purchase might just be for their 8-week old son, Ari.