Drawing Sitatārā (White Tara)
All meetings, including the concluding celebratory showing, are from 9–11 a.m. (Pacific).
Presentation with studio time:
Tuesday, Nov. 22
Dedicated studio sessions:
Wednesday, Nov. 23
Saturday, Nov. 26
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Gallery of Compassion: Celebratory Showing and Sharing:
Saturday, Dec. 17
REGISTER
With the approach of the 2022 Sitatārā (White Tārā) Ceremony Day, we are pleased to offer a series that includes a presentation on White Tara iconography and studio sessions allowing students to connect with the image of Sitatārā, or White Tara, in a fresh and deeper way.
Stephanie Johnston and Julia Linderova will guide students in the contemplation of drawing Sitatārā based on her traditional iconometrics (tikse) and symbolism. This is a method of drawing that follows a clear set of rules governing proportion and composition. The rules draw from the Buddha’s life and manifest in the geometric proportions of a drawing. The image used in these classes will be Sitatārā.
The series opens on Tuesday, Nov. 22 with a presentation by Stephanie Johnston that will also include studio time. Subsequent studio sessions will include progressive instruction and guided instruction on the practice of drawing Sitatārā. Studio sessions are an opportunity to ask specific questions about your drawing and receive individual instruction. Tikse(s), iconometric graphs used for drawing the deity, will be provided for your use.
Lectures will be recorded and available until Dec. 31.
White Tara practice is a practice dedicated to longevity, health, and well-being. Contemplating White Tara through drawing her image offers another entry into this profound practice.
The Science of Creativity is one of the Five Sciences that was taught at the historic Nalanda University and is currently taught at Nitartha Institute. Through this Science of Creativity, we use thangka painting with its foundations of tikse and tikchö to draw out representations of the awakened state as a support for our own and others practices, especially those involving visualization.
Stephanie Johnston, a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner since 1985 and student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche’s since 1996, is a Nitartha Institute faculty member and developed its Science of Creativity and the Arts courses. As a graphic designer and avid practitioner, she trains and supports practice instructors for Nalandabodhi. An alumni of Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and certified in museum studies, Renaissance art techniques, and graphic design, she loves digging into the symbolic and its applied meaning in art and everyday life.
Julia Linderova has studied under Stephanie Johnston and RD Salga, a renowned master of the Karma Gadri tradition of thangka painting at Nitartha Summer Institute. She has studied visual arts at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Julia’s aspiration is to help preserve the ancient technique of thangka painting and iconometrics while making it accessible for westerners to connect with these sacred practices.
Upon registration, you will receive an email with Zoom links for all sessions, a materials list, as well as information and links to the program Resource page. On the Drawing Sitatara Resource page, you will find a list of supplies as well as tikse grids and black and white image of White Tara that you will need to print before beginning to draw.
