Tatjana’s paintings have always inspired me with their boundless playfulness. She lives and breathes art, carrying an artistic mind and spirit with her every hour of every day. All that she encounters—landscapes, oceans, skies, cities, cafés, and people—are expressed in her work with her immaculate sense of humor and unique way of seeing the world. For Tatjana, art and life are inseparable. Such people are rare, and I feel deeply grateful that her work is being exhibited in the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan—surely one of the most beautiful and inspiring countries in the world.
~ Venerable Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Artist’s Introduction
To create the works for Echoes of a Kingdom has been to walk a path of devotion. Beyond the year it took to create this body of work, it is a flowering of a much longer pilgrimage—an inward and outward journey that has carried me through monasteries, over mountain passes, and into the stillness of meditation where brush and breath move as one. Each canvas I painted over the past year felt like a prayer. …. read the full artist’s introduction
We are grateful to our friends and supporters
Wangduechhoeling Palace Museum and Cultural Centre, Bhutan Echoes-Drukyul’s Literary and Arts Festival, Bhutan Foundation, Judith Brown Meyers Charitable Fund, Owsley Brown III Philanthropic Foundation, Lawrence Shainberg, Naropa University Center for Bhutan Partnerships
Castles in the Sky Tharpa Ling, Bumthang, oil on panel, 24” X 18”, 2024/25
At nearly 4,000 meters, where the air thins and thoughts settle, Tharpa Ling emerges—nestled among cypress trees and wild grasses, where clouds pass close and prayer flags carry wishes into the sky. These simple retreat cabins, brushed in soft ochres, deep reds and an occasional turquoise, hold a stillness that belies the wind’s constant motion. It is here, in the highlands of Bhutan, that the great Dzogchen master Longchenpa wrote The Seven Treasuries, his vast vision grounded in the vastness of this place. To paint Tharpa Ling is to touch the edge of something beyond form: a place where sky and mind are not two.
Confluence of Harmony oil and gold ink on canvas, 62" X 37", 2025
At the heart of this piece lies Punakha Dzong, a sacred Bhutanese fortress set at the confluence of the Pho Chhu and Mo Chhu rivers. This site, where two rivers meet in fluid embrace, stirred a deep reflection on the harmony I felt all around me—harmony between people and land, government and heritage, spirit and nature.
Often called the "Land of Happiness," Bhutan, to me, revealed itself more profoundly as a "Land of Harmony." This harmony is not passive but dynamic—rooted in intentional balance, in the interwoven rhythms of culture, environment, and identity.
Sacred Step (LamaDance), oil on birchwood panel, 24" X 18", 2025
This painting is rooted in my deep and enduring response to Bhutan’s Cham dances. The moment I first encountered monk‑dancers I was captivated by their ritual grace—especially this individual, a monk in whose gaze, I witnessed moments of pure transcendence. My intention in creating this work is to honor both the visual intensity of the ritual and the invisible threads of continuity that sustain it.
Coronation Day oil and gold ink on canvas, 62" X 37", 2025
Coronation Day captures a fleeting yet eternal moment: the seventeen-year-old Fourth King of Bhutan, newly crowned, standing alone before the vastness of the Himalayas. The clouds swirl like ancestral blessings, the mountains rise like guardians, and a vase of white flowers speaks of purity, renewal, and the offering of service to his people.
This work is also a deeply personal meditation. As a child in former Yugoslavia, I first encountered the story of this king in the pages of National Geographic. His life and reign left an indelible impression on me — the image of a young monarch stepping into immense responsibility with grace and quiet strength. Painting this scene decades later, I sought not only to honor his journey.
Valley of the Cranes oil on canvas, triptych, 30" X 120", 2025
This triptych captures the sweeping majesty of Bhutan’s Phobjikha Valley — a sacred landscape where rare black-necked cranes return each year, gliding in from the Tibetan Plateau. The valley's vastness, its spiritual resonance, and its quiet grace left an indelible impression on me. Its breadth could not be contained in a single frame. Only through three canvases could I begin to echo the experience — an expansive, layered panorama that reveals itself gradually, like the valley itself. In the rightmost panel, two small figures — nuns in maroon robes — ascend a narrow path toward the Shechen Nunnery, high on the hillside. Their presence is quiet but powerful, a gesture of the sacred woven into the everyday. Valley of the Cranes is both homage and testimony — a visual expression of reverence for a place where nature, spirit, and stillness converge.
Dreams of Lingzhi oil on panel, 24" X 18", 2025
This painting was Inspired by a vivid dream of a remote Buddhist fortress in Bhutan. Though I have visited Bhutan several times, this apparition of a monastery amidst high Himalayan folds led me to Lingzhi Yügyal Dzong—a real place at 4,150 m above sea level, hidden in the far north of Thimphu District. After I had painted I went to search for a remote monastery in Bhutan and discovered Lingzhi Dzong which looked surprisingly similar to the place in my dreams.
Where Tigers Fly oil, acrylic and gold ink on canvas, 40" X 30", 2025
Flight of the Dakini oil on canvas, 40" X 30", 2025
Painted from a pilgrimage memory in Paro Valley, this work traces the ascent through lush forest toward Chumphu Nye, the sacred site where legend holds that the Dakini Dorje Phagmo flew from Tibet and manifested as a floating statue revered across Bhutan.
I hiked this path in 2011 with a friend who grew up in Paro. We followed the river’s melody through dense oak and bamboo forest, winding past meditation caves and hidden shrines. After a full day’s journey, we arrived at the temple perched above a cliff and waterfall. Its remote sanctity and the miraculous levitating goddess left an imprint on my mind that endures. Flight of the Dakini evokes the transformative power of pilgrimage—a merging of terrain and awakened presence.
Pilgrim's Pause oil on linen, 28" X 32", 2025
This painting is a recollection of roadside pause, high on a winding Himalayan road above Haa Valley. At a moment when body, breath, and landscape aligned, I stepped out onto the hillside and encountered silence in motion. The valley spread before me like a living mandala—golden terraces bathed in light, framed by towering peaks and forest, alive with the presence of ancient guardians.
Unburdened oil on canvas, 62" X 37", 2025
Set in a secluded valley along a highland trekking path, Unburdened captures a moment of deep stillness and harmony—horses, relieved of their saddles, drink and graze in freedom beside a mirror-like pond.
Mountain Puja oil on linen, 24" X 16", 2025
Waterfall Retreat oil on canvas, 40" X 30", 2025
In the painting, the waterfall becomes a living mandala—light refracting through falling water, soft mist drifting upward, and monks ascending in single file toward spiritual ascent. The cliffs cradle hidden cave retreats, echoing Bhutan’s sacred geography: remote hermitages and high cliff sanctuaries said to have been blessed by Padmasambhava himself.
Longchenpa's Gaze oil, acrylic and gold ink on canvas, 60" X 39", Tharpa Ling, 2025
In the 14th century, Longchen Rabjampa composed his seminal Seven Treasuries from a rock-throne high above these valley slopes. The luminous quiet between mountain and sky, between scholar and disciple—felt in the stillness of Tharpaling—became the seed from which this oil painting emerged.
More than a landscape, this work is a reversal—a reflection from within—of place and presence, of transmitted lineage made visible and felt. It is dedicated to the unseen continuity that courses from teacher to practitioner, from stone to scripture, from land to heart.
Burning Lake - In the Presence of the Treasure Revealer oil on canvas, 36" X 24", 2025
This painting depicts the sacred site of Mebar Tsho—“Burning Lake”—in Bhutan’s Bumthang Valley. Tucked away into the wooded hills and cradled by rock and sky, this place is steeped in reverence and legend. It is here that the great treasure revealer Pema Lingpa performed a miraculous act: diving into the depths of the lake with a burning butter lamp and returning not only unharmed, but with hidden spiritual texts and the lamp still alight. My painting seeks to hold the stillness and honor this site not only of legend but of living spiritual transmission.The felt presence of something beyond what can be seen. A lake that remembers. A flame that does not die. A place where the boundaries between worlds grow thin, and the spirit of the treasure revealer remains.
Morning Offering oil on linen, 28" X 32", 2025
On a crisp autumn morning in Gangtey, I watched a few villagers walk toward the fields to harvest potatoes, passing beneath the monastery that rises like a blessing over the valley. The morning light bathed the land in quiet radiance, blurring the line between sacred and everyday life. That quiet moment stayed with me—the way work and spirit move together in Bhutan. With tender color and rhythmic form, this painting is my offering of devotion to that moment. My hope is that exudes that sense of devotion - not only in ritual, but in work, beauty, and belonging to place.
Fields of Promise oil on canvas, 62" X 37", 2025
Golden terraces unfold beneath watchful mountains as the Fourth King stands among his people—planting seeds not just of rice, but of democracy. In this imagined moment, legend and truth entwine: a monarch walking village to village, inviting the people into their future. Through gentle reform, he gave away power to cultivate something greater—freedom rooted in trust, and a nation reborn.
Long Way Home oil on linen, 24” X 16”, 2025
High in the rare air of the Bhutanese Himalayas, where monasteries crown remote ridges and the sky brushes the soul, three monastics make their quiet return home. Bathed in the glow of a full moon, the path ahead is long, yet familiar—a sacred journey woven into daily life.
Where Dragons Play oil and acrylic on canvas, 37" X 108", 2025
Bhutan—Druk Yul, “Land of the Thunder Dragon”—is a place where land and spirit are inseparable. Rivers are not only sources of life, but expressions of the sacred; the sky, alive with shifting clouds and wind, is seen as a vast, animate presence. In this painting, I’ve tried to capture something of that living essence—the way water and sky speak to one another, how clouds curl like dragons above luminous, breathing land.
This piece was born from my time in Bhutan, where I traveled with my son and visited sacred sites and remote monasteries. The landscape entered me deeply, not only in its physical beauty but in the way it reflects and supports a spiritual worldview—one that recognizes the interdependence of all things and honors the unseen forces moving through nature.
The title, Where Dragons Play speaks to that quiet, powerful presence—those subtle transmissions from water, wind, mountain, and memory. It is a visual prayer, an offering, and a reminder to listen.
Weaver in Her Paradise oil on panel, 24" X 18", 2025
I have long admired the intricate woven textiles of Bhutan—their patience, complexity, and beauty reveal a culture where craft is both daily practice and sacred inheritance. In this painting, I sought to honor that artistry through the image of a serene weaver at her loom, surrounded by radiant fabrics that echo the rushing river and the Himalayas beyond her window.
As part of Echoes of a Kingdom, this work also reflects a wider tribute to His Majesty the Fourth King, whose steadfast support for Bhutan’s traditional arts and crafts has ensured their vitality for future generations. The weaver’s calm devotion becomes a symbol of continuity—threads of heritage woven into the fabric of a nation.
Weavers oil on linen, 20" X 16", 2025
This painting celebrates the collective spirit of Bhutanese weaving. In a sunlit hall framed by traditional windows, a circle of women sit at their looms, each absorbed in the creation of long, vibrant cloths. Their quiet concentration, side by side, speaks to a heritage of patience, skill, and community that has endured for generations. Painted as part of Echoes of a Kingdom, the work is also a tribute to His Majesty the Fourth King, whose vision has safeguarded Bhutan’s traditional arts and crafts, allowing them to flourish not only as symbols of cultural identity but as living practices that bind people together, thread by thread.
Windhorse Chorus Over Tiger's Nest oil on linen, 24" X 32", 2025
As part of the body of work in Echoes of a Kingdom exhibit, this work evokes the dynamic dialogue between physical space and sacred memory. The flags in the foreground transform the Himalayan breeze into a carrier of intention; the monastery in the background stands as ancestral testimony. Viewers are invited into an immersive vision of Paro—not just a place seen, but one felt.
Sanctuary oil on canvas, 12" X 16", 2025
Set in Bhutan’s ethereal Phobjikha Valley, this painting captures the quiet magic of a crane sanctuary—a haven where wounded black-necked cranes find healing among cosmos flowers, pine trees, and mountain air. Under the visionary stewardship of Bhutan’s Fourth King, this valley became not just a wintering ground but a refuge of compassion and care. Each year, these near-extinct cranes return from the Tibetan Plateau, and those who cannot fly are tended to in a small “crane hospital,” a living testament to Bhutan’s deep environmental ethics and the legacy of harmonious coexistence. Here, in the dappled light and bloom, hope takes wing.
Light Offering oil on canvas, 24" X 16", 2025
Morning Kora oil on linen, 24” X 16”, 2025
New Day at Tharpaling oil on linen, 24” X 16”, 2025
Coronation Day II oil on canvas, 18” X 24”, 2025
Farmhouse, Lunch oil on panel 18” X 24”, 2025
Inside a traditional farmhouse in Paro, dishes are laid directly on the polished wooden floor—steaming ema datshi, fresh vegetables from the farm, red rice, and spicy ezay. Around them, painted walls bloom with traditional motifs, and antique spoons, ladles, and farm tools hang like quiet witnesses to countless meals before. This painting captures the warmth of Bhutanese hospitality, where food, friendship, and history come together in a single shared circle.
New Gho oil on canvas, 20” X 16”, 2025
This painting captures a joyful moment in a Paro textile shop, where two Bhutanese men help a young Westerner into his first gho. Surrounded by shelves of richly colored fabrics, they laugh and adjust the folds, perhaps admiring their reflection in a mirror.
The gho, Bhutan’s national dress for men, is more than attire—it embodies cultural pride and continuity. Many of the textiles behind them are masterpieces of Thagzo, the Bhutanese art of weaving. Some patterns, painstakingly created on backstrap looms, can take months or even years to complete, each thread carrying centuries of knowledge.
On the Road to Bumthang Yaks Rule oil on canvas, 16” X 12”, 2025
Palace Secrets oil on linen 20” X 16”, 2025
A passage within Punakha Dzong—the winter palace of Bhutanese kings, where history breathes through color and shadow. Built in 1637, it has witnessed coronations, councils, and the 1974 enthronement of the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, whose vision of Gross National Happiness reshaped Bhutan’s future. Walking here feels like moving through memory itself, where every step carries whispers of the past.
Ascent to the Expanse of Liberation oil on canvas, 16” X 12”, 2025
Willows on the Road Near Paro oil on panel, 18” X 24”, 2025
Along the road that winds through Paro, great willows rise like silent companions, their branches pared back but still reaching toward the autumn sky. A solitary figure walks beneath their long shadows, following the curve of the river as it carries light through the valley. This place holds a kind of quiet where memory and landscape meet. The milky glow of autumn softens every edge, and the play of shadow and light recalls the brushwork of the European masters—an echo of my own heritage brought into dialogue with Bhutan’s timeless land. It’s a meditation on solitude, belonging, and the poetry found in the simplest of paths.
Valley of the Bridge Builder - After the Rain, ink and gouache on paper, 16” X 22”
Valley of the Bridge Builder - Green Morning, ink and gouache on paper, 16” X 22”
Valley of the Bridge Builder - Summer, ink and gouache on paper, 16” X 22”
Palace Courtyard, Punakha Dzong, oil on canvas, 9.5” X 7”
At the heart of Punakha Dzong, Bhutan’s grand fortress-monastery, lies a serene courtyard where silence and sunlight intermingle. This intimate canvas captures the stillness of a sacred space, its great Bodhi tree casting shade across the stone ground, while the monastery’s painted balconies glow warmly with tradition. A pair of crimson-robed monks lingers in the distance, their quiet presence amplifying the contemplative atmosphere. Though modest in scale, the painting invites the viewer into a moment of spiritual pause — a glimpse of timeless life unfolding within walls that have borne centuries of prayer and ritual.
Valley of the Bridge Builder - Waterfall, ink and gouache on paper, 16” X 22”
Valley of the Bridge Builder - Autumn, ink and gouache on paper, 16” X 22”
Valley of the Bridge Builder - Spring, ink and gouache on paper, 16” X 22”
Ready to Fly, oil on panel, 12” X 12”
High above the valleys of Bhutan, at the monastery of Tharpaling, a young novice monk lifts his crimson robe to the mountain winds. It was his first month at the monastery, having recently been orphaned, and the wide expanse of sky and valley became his teacher as much as the monks around him.
Tharpaling is a place of deep lineage—where the great 14th-century master Longchen Rabjam composed his Seven Treasuries, works that continue to illuminate the path of wisdom and compassion. Here, in this sanctuary of clouds and ridges, the boy’s solitary figure stands in quiet dialogue with the vastness around him.
The red cloth he raises catches the wind like wings, a gesture both playful and profound: a symbol of resilience, of a new life beginning, and of the timeless human longing for freedom of spirit.
Where Silence Sings, oil on panel, 11” X 14”
In a remote village of northeastern Bhutan, the early morning mist begins to lift, revealing a valley bathed in quiet light. The clustered roofs of village homes glow gently against the dark folds of the mountains, while golden fields stir awake below. Here, silence carries its own music—the soft rhythm of dawn, the promise of a new day, and the timeless harmony between land and life.
Potato Harvest (Phobjika Morning), oil on canvas, 7” X 9.5”
Bathed in autumn light, Phobjika Valley unfurls in shades of green and gold, alive with the rhythms of rural life. Farmers make their way along a winding path, heading to harvest potatoes beneath the vast mountain backdrop. Cosmos flowers brighten the foreground, and a solitary cypress rises near a farmhouse, anchoring the landscape with its vertical grace. In this painting I wanted to recall a beautiful moment and I hope it radiates the same warmth and abundance, a celebration of the earth’s generosity and the quiet dignity of agrarian life that i experienced on that brilliant October day. In its compact form, this painting distills the essence of Bhutanese countryside into a vivid memory of light, color, and livelihood.