Tiger's Nest Monastery in Bhutan

It was a wet sort of day when we went to try and walk up the the Tiger's Nest Monastery during our trip to Bhutan last year. Its an incredible place, carved into the rock, an ancient Buddhist monastery where the monks also maintain a vow of silence. I twisted my ankle just as I got out of the car, so sat at the base while Viveck, Rat and Kanak made the hike up! I marveled at the strength and faith of those ancient monks, who must have laboured for long years to build this. It was amazing how the lights continued to change as the mist crept in and out and I spent an enjoyable few hours, just soaking in the cool and peace of this quiet and tranquil world around me. I thought what an amazing painting it would make, but wasn't sure how I would be able to get all the very dark colours that surrounded the very white stone monastery. I finally decided to take the challenge as the reference picture kept popping up everytime I looked into my album of pictures I have kept as painting references.

I have been painting now for almost 2 years. Its been an amazing experience of learning, sometimes frustrating, sometimes exhilarating....but never dull. Today is a day when I feel I am sailing on a very high wind of sheer joy at having completed a difficult bit of work, and being totally thrilled with what I have produced! I normally paint quickly and use little colour. In this picture I experimented by using both, very little pigment in the misty bits and lots of thick pigment in the dark rock faces! I also surprised myself by taking time to complete the picture slowly, waiting for washes to dry and actually spent time in doing the detail on the monastery.