The Art of Terris Nguyen Temple

All of his Tibetan teachers, both artistic and spiritual, planted in him a respect for Buddhism, giving the enthusiasm and joy to sit, day after day, for decades, lost in  creating art. After all these years he still feel as if I riding a wave and every instant is one of discovery and excitement.  The early explorers felt this way.

"There is wisdom within the ancient Buddhist traditions that we have lost sight of in our modern world. It is the quality which brings us closer to nature and our true inner contentment. Through painting I enjoy the best of  these worlds by including aspects of a this rich tradition with my traditional and contemporary works."

Techniques and Materials

Mineral colors and botanical dyes hold a place within the ancient healing arts. Today color and light therapy have become popular. Learning the traditional practices of grinding stone colors connected him with both of these possibilities. The viewer of his works can enjoy a positive healing experience, just from the minerals. He began working with the materials in the 1960's and has found it impossible to use commercial colors. "I use sheer silk,  which feels like painting on air. Painting birds, what better element than air to inspire me." Silk and mineral pigments, with proper care, can last centuries. The Main colors in these paintings are cinnabar, orpiment, malachite, azurite, red lead, and mineral white. Earth colors also are used. Botanical pigments include: lac, indigo, safflower, and a Himalayan leaf known as shung kan.

His good fortune is having worked the last eighteen years for His Holiness the 17th Karmapa and Tsurphu Monastery.

They are  coordinating a new Tsurphu project, the Tsechur Drabje, a 40 mt. (120 ft) ceremonial applique, the companion piece of the Karma Gadri Thangka.

Thongdrol", the feature documentary about making the giant appliqué thangkas in Tibet, and the Karma Gadri School of painting with Living Films, Chiang Mai is ongoing. (See the Film section)

"My paintings are influenced by Tibet's great teachers and my love of nature. The tantric art of Tibet has been a life long study, and it just keeps getting more interesting."

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
Bird Painting Brochure	A collection of original paintings by Terris with calligraphy by HH the 17th Karmapa	11517 Kb