Meeting of the artists

When I arrived back at my guest house after the wedding last Friday, I found a few friends in the dining room. I went in to show them my kurta, over which they oohed and ahhed, before they introduced me to a man in the dining room I hadn't yet met, someone who had that day just arrived from India. “This is Jeff,” they said to him. To me, “He's interested in thangka.”

Bart is a primary school teacher from Belgium on sabbatical and traveling across India and Nepal. He plays music and paints and has created his own thangka with a theme designed for his students. If you have a close look you'll see at the center of the painting the baby St Nickolas, who Bart described as perhaps the most important and powerful god of children. He is surrounded by toys, which he delivers to children at Christmas, and is protected by his guardian dogs and two black dragons.


Saturday we had a chance to take a photo together with our respective thangkas. Bart's leaving soon again for India to continue his travels through June. You can keep up with his adventures at Spiritual Eastern Journey.

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