Tibetan Contemporary Painting workshop

Tashi Norbu  in Hilversum , The Netherlands, gives tutorials on Tibetan Contemporary Art;

Depicting Buddha’s wisdom on canvases. 
Creating our own Buddhas, surrounded by Tibetan motives,
Mandalas, Angels and flying monks.
There was tibetan chanting ritual at the beginning of the session facilitated by Tashi and 
his Team, to invoke wellness, happiness and prosperity in  the whole environment and in the art works and to the participants of this beautiful Inspiring workshop. That we may learn and be inspired  of the buddha and bodhisatva nature in us.

I chose to draw a Pregnant bodhisatva with the Help of Tashi Norbu and His team.  The Pregnant Bodhisatva depicts on my recent experience, I was pregnant for 19 weeks and 5 days.  I had a Trisomy 18- edwards syndrome Pregnancy.  The baby's cells are affected with trisomy and most specially the  major organs of her body such as her brain and her heart ( Not to mention the rest of the organs) are heavily affected. The doctor told me and my husband, that babies who have trisomy 18 has a very low survival rate and if they survive they will be bound to machine that will help them keep alive and so much suffering from the child. When we found out, we were so devastated and dont know at first how to go from there after learning the diagnosis. It was not easy to be in the situation.  Then on Feb. 24, 2018 my beautiful Angele Lalitha Grace Tribaco Halleux was still born. She joined with the cosmos.  A lesson and experience of Letting go, Non Attachments, Unconditional and Genuine love. 
About my Trisomy pregnancy (Check my blog : http://www.chitantraflow.com/blog--articles/a-visitor-from-heavens)
 
In the drawing a pregnant Bodhisatva. flying monks and a meditating person in the astral world are depicted, Because we have that Bodhisatva and Buddha  in us pregnant with Infinite  possibilities, that is inherently loving, peaceful.

A visitor from Heavens

A Visitor from heavens, if only for a while A gift of love to be returned. We think of you and smile.
A Visitor from heavens, Accompanied by grace. Reminding of a better love and a better place. With Aching hearts and empty arms. We send you Angèle Lalitha Grace. It hurts so much to let you go, but we're so glad you came. We thank the divine for the short time was given, and now its time to say, we trust you to the Divine tender care. Held in the everlasting arms. With breaking Hearts and open hands, It hurts so much to let you go but we're so glad you came. You gave us a lot of joy even if it lasted so short. We want to spare you from suffering and pain. We are sending you to Angels, Fairies and Good Spirit of our Ancestors. You won't be alone. We will always remember your sweet, gentle energy and never forget your soul. Our hearts are joined together. 


"Everything is possible in the art work of Tashi Norbu. The modern thangkas and Buddhas of Tashi Norbu are often full of humor and very entertaining. Probably, more traditional ‘believers’ will not appreciate this artwork nor the modern icons that are part of it, because it’s not serious enough. The Dalai Lama as spiritual leader, however, often showed us that humor in Buddhism - in contrast to most other "religions"- is appreciated and is maybe even part of the Tibetan culture.
Tashi Norbu constantly seeks to explore the ways of western art that inspire him, in combination with Tibetan motifs and patterns. He tries to bring the energy of abstract expressionism in harmony with the meditative and reflective spirit of Buddhism." - www.tashinorbu.com

​Tashi Norbu is an independent -Tibetan born- contemporary artist with the Belgian citizenship and who lives and works in The Netherlands. He is educated as a traditional Tibetan thangka painter at the offices of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. He completed his art studies in the western world at the Saint Lucas Academy of Visual Arts in Ghent, Belgium.
In the mean time, Tashi Norbu, has developed into an all round and versatile contemporary artist. His art, however, still shows the fundamentals/basics of his background - Tibet and Buddhism - combined with strong influences from western art forms, western ideas and modern time's icons

The art of Tashi Norbu 
www.tashinorbu.com
Originally educated at the ‘court’ of the Dalai Lama as traditional thangka painter, the principles of thangka painting are still visible in the contemporary art of Tashi Norbu.
Tibetan thangkas - developed in 11th century in an oral culture - were used to teach and spread the Buddhist philosophy among the people and at the same time as an aid for meditation.
Thangkas visualized in an iconic way the story of Buddha and his enlightenment and stories about the gods. In modern times, probably a comic strip would be used to tell these stories.
Traveling lamas used these thangkas -which were most of the time scrolled paintings on cotton - to teach about Buddhism. When they arrived at a village, they unrolled a thangka and used it to illustrate their teachings.
Thangkas, Buddha paintings and -sculptures are following an exact grid of measurements and proportions to establish continuity and the correct transmission of figures. In original thangkas, the expression of the painter stayed invisible, because not the painter but the story needed to be in the center of the attention. That’s the reason that traditional thangkas are all anonymous.
In modern art however that is completely the opposite; the individual expression and signature of the artist is explicitly present and important, which can be seen on the art works of Tashi Norbu also.
Tashi Norbu tells in his contemporary paintings and collages the stories of Buddha and the Buddhist philosophy, but he also tells stories of modern life from a Buddhist point of view. His icons are modern icons in combination with traditional icons. Because he lives in Holland now, many Dutch icons are used in his paintings as well.
Many of his paintings and collages can be read as comic strips. The longer you look, the more you will discover: wooden shoes, tulips, windmills, traditional costumes, dolls, "Dear Kitty", cars, mobile phones, airplanes and laptops. Everything is possible in the art work of Tashi Norbu.
However, no matter how ‘wild’ the art work is, it is clear that it’s made by an artist who has learned the fundamentals of painting.
The modern thangkas and Buddhas of Tashi Norbu are often full of humor and very entertaining. Probably, more traditional ‘believers’ will not appreciate this artwork nor the modern icons that are part of it, because it’s not serious enough. The Dalai Lama as spiritual leader, however, often showed us that humor in Buddhism - in contrast to most other "religions"- is appreciated and is maybe even part of the Tibetan culture.
Tashi Norbu constantly seeks to explore the ways of western art that inspire him, in combination with Tibetan motifs and patterns. He tries to bring the energy of abstract expressionism in harmony with the meditative and reflective spirit of Buddhism.
Since 2007, Tashi Norbu lives in The Netherlands and has a studio in Wormer (9Pillars Contemporary Art Studio), close to Amsterdam. In 2008 he co-founded Tibet House Holland, an organization for Tibetan art and culture. In cooperation with the International Tibet Art Movement he organized in 2009 the Tibet Art Now exhibition in Amsterdam during the visit of the Dalai Lama. Tibet Art Now was an international art exhibition in which the Dalai Lama himself was also present in a subsection. The contemporary art works of Tashi Norbu formed the background at the Dalai Lama's lecture.

Thank you for the photos and Organizing this event by; dekoningin Team Hilversum
www.gebouwdekoningin.nl
There will be more workshops like this again happening in www.gebouwdekoningin.nl- Check for Updates