About Us 

They are the artist to His Holiness Urgyan Trenle, the 17th Karmapa and Tsurphu Monastery, Tibet.

Leslie and Terris Nguyen Temple worked many years in Tibet creating large scale traditional appliques for Tsurphu. Following this time more years were spent in a studio in the jungle on Maui, Hawaii where their inspiration was often the natural beauty of the valley around them.

Temple Art Studios now also is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand to be near Tibet for new projects.

They are unique among Western artists in that their works reflect the knowledge and experience they have of Tibetan Buddhist art as well as the contemporary world.

 

Leslie and Terris have been working together for nearly two decades creating some extraordinary art work. Trained in Tibetan art, they completed two monumental Buddhist thangkas for HH Karmapa's Tsurphu monastery in Tibet, as well as last year a 40m applique with their team from the White Conch Factory, a traditional Tibetan festival tent factory in Lhasa. Now another 40m applique is in the planning. These works bring lost cultural heritage back to an important monastery.

Terris Temple is the first Westerner to be trained in the art of Tibetan thangka painting more than 40 years ago. He is a disciple of the H.H. the Gyalwa Karmpa since 1969. His focused enthusiasm for this art form led him to teach first at Naropa Institute, then at Buddhist centers across Hawaii, and Arizona.

As well as creating thangkas, he paints birds, flowers and landscapes on silks with mineral pigments and is now making, a feature Tibetan documentary called Thongdrol, about the Giant Buddha Thangka for Tsurphu Monastery, and experiences during these times.

Leslie Nguyen's creative background and study of psychology led her to work in art therapy in a psychiatric setting. After traveling, working and sketching in Asia, she met Terris Temple and began the study of Tibetan thangka painting. Leslie uses silks and brocades blended with painting to create fresh imagery based on techniques found in Eastern Tibet. Silk and brocade appliqué thangkas, enviornmental works and potraits are among the these art creations. Recently she has added abstracts to her interests. She is a disciple of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa since His discovery in Tibet, 1992.

Temple Art Studios accepts commissioned work in both traditional and contemporary forms in sizes ranging from small to monumental.

Leslie and Terris express their individual styles in their personal work while continuing to make significant contributions in the field of Tibetan art.