When people ask me how I became a painter, the answer always goes back to a single experience: my first painting, a portrait of Green Tara, one of the most revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism.
Who is Green Tara?
Green Tara, known as the “Mother of Liberation,” is a goddess of compassion and fearless action. In Buddhist philosophy, she is called upon to remove obstacles, protect from fear, and bring courage to those who feel paralyzed by doubt or hardship. Unlike deities who remain in quiet meditation, Tara leans forward, ready to step into the world to help. Her green color represents vitality and active compassion, while the lotus flower she holds symbolizes purity and wisdom blossoming from even the muddiest waters.
Collectors of Buddhist art or even students of Buddhism often turn to Tara paintings/art for her healing presence, as she embodies both beauty and spiritual depth.
One of my main Buddhist Bodhisattvas is Avalokitvara. She/He is the Bodhisatva of Compassion. I struggled finding much info on her/him, but it seems that Green Tara came from one of Avalokitsvara’s tears in one story and so I started looking into Green Tara. Then I found a 21-day painting class to paint her and had to learn more about her and started reading some books about her.
How Green Tara Called Me to Paint
I had never thought of myself as a painter. I had 1 or 2 painting classes in college and although I enjoyed them, I was never really that good so I never painted after school.
When I first felt called to paint Green Tara, I hesitated. I worried about spending money on art supplies, trying something new, and possibly failing. What if I wasn’t good enough? What if painting wasn’t for me?
So I put off taking the class for like a year or so due to fear really.
But I kept feeling this calling. I felt like this might help me learn more about Buddhism and compassion and maybe this would be a way to be mindful and who knows I might be good at it or it might be fun.
Then I remembered who Green Tara is. She is the liberator from fear… the one who guides us through doubts and obstacles. In a way, she was already working through me. So I leaned in, bought the paints, and began.
Each brushstroke felt like an act of courage. Each day of the 21-day challenge had me doing a little bit of the painting, maybe 20 minutes per session. I enjoyed setting aside time to be mindful, extra time to study a little about Tara and a new way to be mindful.
And by the time I finished this canvas, I was blown away. So I started another one. Then another one. Then I realized something profound: I was no longer someone “trying out painting.” I had become a painter. I didn’t want to stop. Green Tara has 21 manifestations and I wanted to paint them all. In the process I became an artist. A Fine Artist.
This painting of Green Tara is not for sale, but it holds a special place in my collection as the turning point that started everything.
The Vulture Symbolism
In this first painting of Green Tara, she is accompanied by a vulture. This might seem unexpected, but in the class we had prompts at different layers. It was not meant to be in the final painting but the choice to keep it was intentional.
I was about 80-90% done with the painting and I just finished the vulture. I had to stop because I was leaving town to attend a Buddhist Meditation Retreat in Houston. On the way I was almost to the retreat space and driving along a wooded road leading to the retreat center.
On the righthand side of the road there were like 6 vultures eating a deer. Then a mile or two up the road there were another 5-7 vultures eating another deer alongside the road. What are the odds of me just finishing a vulture painting that day and then seeing two group of vultures right before I entered the retreat center?
It felt like a sign. I knew I had to keep the vulture.
In Tibetan culture, vultures are sacred. They appear in sky burial rituals, symbolizing impermanence, transformation, and generosity, the ultimate act of giving one’s body back to nature. The vulture also lead me to learn about Vulture Peak, one of Buddhism’s most sacred sites, where the Buddha delivered profound teachings like the Lotus Sutra and Heart Sutra.
By keeping the vulture beside Green Tara, I wanted to honor the sign I saw on my retreat and both the truth of impermanence and the wisdom of the Dharma. Together, Tara and the vulture remind us that courage and compassion are what carry us through fear, death, and rebirth.
A Painting that Changed Everything
This first painting was more than an experiment, it was a liberation. Green Tara freed me from the fear of failure and opened a new path for my life. Today, I continue to paint in a modern impressionistic style, creating works that blend bold color, spiritual depth, and emotional resonance.
While this Green Tara painting is not available for purchase, it marks the beginning of my career as a Fine Artist and continues to inspire the body of work I share with collectors today.
If you’re a collector of Buddhist art, or simply someone who appreciates bold, soulful paintings, I invite you to follow my journey. Each canvas I create is an offering… born from that same act of courage Green Tara first taught me.
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