The Tsering Art School principal and painting Master is Konchog Lhadrepa. He is among the last authentic holders of the Karma Gadri School of painting, which originated in Eastern Tibet and is famous for the beauty of its spacious landscapes, combined with a minute attention to detail and accuracy to the text.

Konchog became a disciple of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche at the age of ten and from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two he served Khyentse Rinpoche as his personal attendant. When Konchog was 17 years old, he was sent by Khyentse Rinpoche to Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim to learn thangka painting from a renowned master named Lhadre Tragyel. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche specially favoured the Karma Gadri tradition of painting and was concerned that it be continued. He gave instructions to the painting master to teach Konchog the Karma Gadri tradition thoroughly and well. Lhadre Tragyel was a strict teacher, favouring no one, but Konchog proceeded in his studies with remarkable swiftness and after only a relatively short period of time Lhadre Tragyel announced to Khyentse Rinpoche that Konchog had completed his studies with him.

Since this time Konchog has continued to paint primarily for Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and other eminent lamas. Much of Konchog's vast knowledge has been acquired through his close training with Khyentse Rinpoche. Over the years he painted many works for Rinpoche, who advised him on the details of iconography. One of Konchogs’ major projects was to design and oversee the painting of the murals on the walls of the Shechen Monastery temple in Nepal and India (Bodhgaya), which took him more than four years to complete each. He also painted thangkas and temples in Europe for five years, under the instruction of Khyentse Rinpoche.

At the present moment, Konchog is overseeing a Shechen Monastery Project in Darjeeling, India, in order to paint a set of 20 large thangkas, 11 mandalas and a set of accompanying tsaglis (small painted initiation cards) from the terma tradition of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and other rare Tibetan terma traditions that have not been properly documented. Once the monastery thangkas are complete, the studio may continue, if it seems helpful, to provide the graduates with a place from which they can earn their livelihood and help fulfill commissions from around the world, while still under the auspices of Tsering Art School.

 

The best of the Tsering Art School artists (graduated students), under the direct supervision of both Rabjam Rinpoche and Konchog Ladrepa, are executing the paintings. The finished work will hang permanently in the Main Temple of the Shechen Monastery in Nepal. The Monastery’s Temple is one of the largest and most beautiful in the Kathmandu area and has many visitors from the community and abroad. The project will serve both the local community and, through the web, be available internationally. Matthieu Ricard will photograph each one so that the complete set will be available on the Himalayan Art website.