Triratna News
New portrait of Sangharakshita unveiled in Australia
On Mon, 19 August, 2013 - 06:05
lokabandhu
Following Saturday’s story on the 2013 ‘Triratna Artists catalogue’, Aaron Matheson, a mitra from Triratna’s Sydney Buddhist Centre, writes saying - “I have some news which would be great to see on The Buddhist Centre’s website: we have a new portrait of Sangharakshita. It was painted by Misha (Enrique del Val), a fellow mitra, who was recently commissioned to do it by Beth Sherlock. The painting is large, measuring 1.5 x 1.5 metres, and is a warmly engaged and very beautiful depiction of Bhante which says much about Misha’s path as an artist and Buddhist in the Triratna Community. We are in Australia, but he currently works in a studio in the basement of the Berlin Buddhist Centre”.
Misha himself says of the painting: “I did Bhante’s portrait from a variety of photos that Beth and I found on the internet. I did some sketches before attempting the painting to study the composition, pose etc. I was interested in integrating the 3 colours of the Triratna emblem in the painting: yellow for the mind and upper realms, red for the Heart-Mind, and blue for the instinctive and the physical. Bhante himself suggested that he wished to be holding a mala in his hands, a simple one. I started the painting on canvas that was already partially worked, and so some of those marks stayed until the end adding to its dynamism and ‘casualness’. I worked on it for many many sessions over 5 months. I got to develop a relationship if not with the man, who unfortunately I haven’t met yet in person, with what Sangharakshita means to so many people”.
Click here for a link to the painting.
Misha himself says of the painting: “I did Bhante’s portrait from a variety of photos that Beth and I found on the internet. I did some sketches before attempting the painting to study the composition, pose etc. I was interested in integrating the 3 colours of the Triratna emblem in the painting: yellow for the mind and upper realms, red for the Heart-Mind, and blue for the instinctive and the physical. Bhante himself suggested that he wished to be holding a mala in his hands, a simple one. I started the painting on canvas that was already partially worked, and so some of those marks stayed until the end adding to its dynamism and ‘casualness’. I worked on it for many many sessions over 5 months. I got to develop a relationship if not with the man, who unfortunately I haven’t met yet in person, with what Sangharakshita means to so many people”.
Click here for a link to the painting.
