School for Tibetan Buddhist Art

Happy Diwali!The Festival of Lights -celebrated by Hindus and also by people of other faiths- started yesterday. It generally symbolizes the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance 🙏🏼 During Diwali, Rangoli is created at the entrance of a house -an art form of making temporary, decorative designs on the ground. They are created as an invitation to deities (especially Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth) and prosperity. Check out the beautiful pics that I...

Dear Reader, It's been a while since you last heard from me.Hope you had a wonderful summer and are enjoying the fall! 🍁 I certainly did. Besides the thangka painting retreat I gave in The Netherlands -where a TV crew came recording a full day to make a portrait of my work- I also enjoyed my free time in Amsterdam with festivals and friends. See the pics in this newsletter! A couple of weeks ago I taught in northern Portugal, where I offered a ten day Thangka and Meditation Intensive Retreat...

Thangka Art & Meditation Intensive Retreat 4th - 13th September 2025 PORTUGAL Brahma Vihara, North Portugal The Most Famous Tibetan Yogi and MysticThe Most Famous Tibetan Yogi and MysticThe Most Famous Tibetan Yogi and My Co-hosted by Burgs and Carmen Mensink, this 10 day retreat will be a very special and unique event giving students an immersive and nourishing experience while learning new skills whilst simultaneously working at your meditation practice. Learning to draw the Buddhas we will...

Dear Reader, Hope you're enjoying your Summer so far! ☀️I just got back to Amsterdam from the US, where I've been teaching in NYC and upstate NY, see the pics in this mail. It was great meeting so many of my long time students again (-and many new ones-and many new ones!)Currently I'm busy with all preparations for the Thangka Summer Retreat here in The Netherlands (full with waitlist), and I wanted to let you know that registration is now open for most thangka classes this Fall: Different...

Introduction to Thangka Art Jun 20 / Tibet House, NYCEvening class incl. drawing the face of the BuddhaIn this wonderful 6 or 8-day Thangka Retreat during Arts Week at Omega Institute you will learn to draw (and color or paint) a Buddha of Compassion (such as Chenrezig or Guan Yin), according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Suitable for everyone, from beginners to advanced. A comfortable stay with full board is included, or stay near in the sweet town of Rinebeck. and apart from the art...

Sign up for the upcoming lectures, workshops and retreats in the US Dear Reader, How are you? Hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of year.I just came back from Tuscany where I gave my annual thangka painting retreat -check out the pics below. Currently I'm preparing for the upcoming events at Tibet House in NYC, such as the Introduction to Thangka evening workshop, and the Lecture and Thangka Course on Milarepa, Tibet's fascinating Yogi, Mystic and Poet. After that, at the fabulous...

Join the upcoming Thangka Painting Retreats in ITALY or the US The Art of Thangka can be best learned and practiced in a retreat setting -a place where you'll also stay and where dinner is served to you so you can fully focus on your drawing/painting. In addition there's time to bond and socialize with other students, make long walks or do some sightseeing (Florence, anyone?). You can still sign up for the upcoming Thangka Art Retreats in Italy / May 10-17 and in the US / June 29-July 4 or 6...

Click here for Google Translate and use the orange button Dear Reader, Hope you enjoyed the Tibetan New Year celebrations online with me or with your family or sangha! In this email I'm letting you know who won the prizes that were in the Happy Losar 2025 Gift Pack. It may also be nice to know that you can still purchase online courses with discounts today. Winners of the Happy Losar 2025 prizes 🎉Losar -Tibetan New Tear- was celebrated on Feb 28 and it's the perfect time to exchange gifts. In...

For translation click here and use the Google Translate button Happy Losar to you dear Reader! Tibetan New Year is the perfect time to exchange gifts, and that's why the School for Tibetan Buddhist Art offers you the free course 'Happy Losar 2025' which is full of it!Read all about this year of the Wood Snake and what it entails for you, learn about serpents and nagas used in Tibetan art, explore a 17th century thangka and enjoy free lectures such as the one on Buddhas' birth, meditations,...