What I have been up to ...art classes , art classes and art classes and an occasional swim
Hello everyone! I realized that I have not made a post in about a week. Since coming back from the elephant adventure I have been immersed in my Thangka Art Classes. For those of you unfamiliar with Thangka you can read more HERE.
I walk each morning to the Thangka shop about 30 min from my apartment ( one of 16 here in Pokhara each run by different owners). I settle into my mat on the floor in front of my work in progress and get absorbed in tradition and ancient Tibetan Buddhist symbolism.
I am currently working on paper with watercolor but in a couple of weeks I hope to graduate to cotton canvas. As you notice, I am reserving my work on Buddha himself for the final stages. Mostly because my skills with the brush are still developing. I don't really have much art background except in Art History and some dabbling in sketching and calligraphy- so my work is not that sophisticated and I hope to improve.
The figures in Thangka such as White Tara, Green Tara, Buddha, Manjushi, the Bodhisattvas, etc must be geometrically correct according to ancient Tibetan scripture. The types of objects that you embellish the painting with are dependant to some extent on the figure and the symbols typically associated with him/her. But there is leeway for imagination and your own feelings of devotion can have full reign within the set boundaries.
My teacher, 18 year Bibek Gising likes to joke with me that I am making my own new version of Thangka- American Thangka. But there is truth in the statement as Tibetan Thangka has been adapted and made its own by many countries such as China, Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, India. I honestly did not put much planning into my current work and I must do this next time.
After a day in the hot one room Thangka studio with no fan, I tend to gravitate to one of the local swimming pools. I go to the pools of the nicer hotels and for about $5 I can swim as long as I want. Most of the time I have the pool almost to myself. The other day I tried out a new pool. On entering the hotel grounds, I glanced in the direction of the pool and between the foliage and patio chairs I ascertained that the pool was empty and quite large. I paid at the reception desk and made my way to the pool.
What I did not see when I glanced at the pool, was that there were about 10 men working on one of the pool changing rooms- on the roof no less. Now I have a very modest one piece bathing suit but entering a swimming pool with 10 Nepali men of various ages and definitely bored with their work and hoping for a show was quite daunting. Most Nepali women, if they swim, do so in what looks like one of our 1850's suits or they go in in their street clothes. Not to be daunted, I bit the bullet and got in the pool and started my laps.
After about 30 minutes of gawking, chuckling and straight out staring I finally became part of the background and the guys went about their work and I could enjoy myself. PS I almost forgot to mention that one other thing added to my feelings of unease - some quite ancient electrical equipment was poolside with bare wires trailing near the pool edge-part of a welding operation going on on the roof. Ha ha just part of the usual daily adventure here.
I walk each morning to the Thangka shop about 30 min from my apartment ( one of 16 here in Pokhara each run by different owners). I settle into my mat on the floor in front of my work in progress and get absorbed in tradition and ancient Tibetan Buddhist symbolism.
My work in progress of the Buddha in meditation. I have been working on it for several weeks now. Tomorrow it should be done...
I am currently working on paper with watercolor but in a couple of weeks I hope to graduate to cotton canvas. As you notice, I am reserving my work on Buddha himself for the final stages. Mostly because my skills with the brush are still developing. I don't really have much art background except in Art History and some dabbling in sketching and calligraphy- so my work is not that sophisticated and I hope to improve.
The figures in Thangka such as White Tara, Green Tara, Buddha, Manjushi, the Bodhisattvas, etc must be geometrically correct according to ancient Tibetan scripture. The types of objects that you embellish the painting with are dependant to some extent on the figure and the symbols typically associated with him/her. But there is leeway for imagination and your own feelings of devotion can have full reign within the set boundaries.
My teacher, 18 year Bibek Gising likes to joke with me that I am making my own new version of Thangka- American Thangka. But there is truth in the statement as Tibetan Thangka has been adapted and made its own by many countries such as China, Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, India. I honestly did not put much planning into my current work and I must do this next time.
After a day in the hot one room Thangka studio with no fan, I tend to gravitate to one of the local swimming pools. I go to the pools of the nicer hotels and for about $5 I can swim as long as I want. Most of the time I have the pool almost to myself. The other day I tried out a new pool. On entering the hotel grounds, I glanced in the direction of the pool and between the foliage and patio chairs I ascertained that the pool was empty and quite large. I paid at the reception desk and made my way to the pool.
What I did not see when I glanced at the pool, was that there were about 10 men working on one of the pool changing rooms- on the roof no less. Now I have a very modest one piece bathing suit but entering a swimming pool with 10 Nepali men of various ages and definitely bored with their work and hoping for a show was quite daunting. Most Nepali women, if they swim, do so in what looks like one of our 1850's suits or they go in in their street clothes. Not to be daunted, I bit the bullet and got in the pool and started my laps.
After about 30 minutes of gawking, chuckling and straight out staring I finally became part of the background and the guys went about their work and I could enjoy myself. PS I almost forgot to mention that one other thing added to my feelings of unease - some quite ancient electrical equipment was poolside with bare wires trailing near the pool edge-part of a welding operation going on on the roof. Ha ha just part of the usual daily adventure here.
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