Atulya’s second gallery show on Osho News.
I was raised in a Catholic family; luckily we were given the freedom to go to church whenever we wanted and we did not have to go. Ever since then I have a love connection with Jesus and Mary.
When I started painting I felt a longing to paint Jesus, but how does Jesus look like? I did not know, so instead I painted a Buddha, as there are already numerous images of him. However, when I was working on a painting of a big whale’s tail plunging into the ocean, I gave the tail the colours of the rainbow. Unexpectedly the tail also looked like a standing figure with arms (or wings) spread out wide in a gesture of prayer and blessing. This figure touched my heart deeply and for me this was Jesus. So, after all, I did paint him in a whale’s tail (see ‘Prayer’).
I once bought some old icon paintings on a flee market and they inspired me to make a few myself. Mary, of course, was the leading figure. I am sure she knew what was going to happen to her son even while he was very young and sitting on her lap (see ‘Compassion’, ‘Surrender’ and ‘Love’).
When I discovered Vedic Art I found to my delight that in Hinduism there are very many different forms of deities to paint and this resulted in 2 Ganeshas (he is the one who takes obstacles away), a Gayatri (Goddess of the Gayatri mantra) and two Saraswaties (Goddess of creativity).
After this period I did a course in Holy Geometry and learned how to paint Metatrons (Archangels) (see ‘Abundance’, ‘Metatron Du Bonheur’ and ‘Miracle of Life’) and the flower of life. This I combined with footprints as a symbol of the Indian custom to bow down to the feet of the guru in surrender (see ‘Puja’). I am also happy to show in this series ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ which belongs to the Eastern tradition and two ‘Guardian Angels’ which are very dear to me.
Recently, after seeing a picture of a kingfisher with its vibrant colours, I made a big mandala with 12 kingfishers from which 4 birds are flying into the centre. The birds represent my brother, my 2 sisters and me, since we all have a passion to go to the centre! (see ‘Les oiseaux du Bonheur’ – ‘Lucky Birds’)
Text and paintings by Atulya
Our previous gallery show:
Tigers, Lions and Elephants
Atulya was born and raised in Amsterdam. She worked as a nurse in general and psychiatric hospitals and did the addiction therapy training with Veeresh. During a discourse, in 1977, she fell in love with Osho and took sannyas. From 1979-1980 she lived and worked as a nurse in the commune in Pune, the most beautiful nursing time of her life! Back in Holland she assisted Veeresh at the Humaniversity until she started giving her own groups in bioenergetics, encounter and tantra. When she discovered Vedic Art she started to paint and give painting courses. Atulya lives in Delft, Holland. www.vedic-art.nl
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