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About the Artist & Author

Naomi C. Rose has immersed herself in Tibetan culture and wisdom for over ten years. During that time, one of her teachers passed on a book of Tibetan tales that he had published for adults and suggested she turn some of the tales into children's books. "I loved the idea," says Rose. "I wanted to do what I could to help preserve the precious Tibetan culture. And I believe our own culture can benefit by learning more about the peaceful and wise ways of the Tibetan people."

Rose studied the art of writing throughout her life by attending classes, workshops, and writing groups. She developed her fine art and graphic design skills at the Northwest College of Art culminating in a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1998. She has exhibited her artwork throughout the Pacific Northwest and in England.

She's happy to come to bookstores, schools, and libraries to give presentations. Her events may include a slide show, book reading, teaching of a Tibetan chant, and showing various Tibetan items.

To learn more about Rose, go to Articles.



About the Art

Creating children's books is a perfect art form for me. I love the interplay between words and images. And I love the opportunity to offer ideas of peaceful wisdom and joy to children and adults. When I put it all together into a meaningful book, it's very satisfying.

As with all my book projects, I worked on several paintings at a time. In this way, I allowed the paintings to inform each other. Whenever possible, I worked on the paintings in the midst of polishing the stories. At those times, I became immersed in the world of the book on numerous levels. To achieve another level of immersion for Tibetan Tale for Little Buddhas, I kept my studio full of books and images of places and people from Tibet. And I played Tibetan chants while I worked. In this way, I hoped the essence of Tibet would find it way into the paintings.

For each painting, I transferred rough sketches onto the canvas board using tracing paper or a projector. Then I painted a complimentary color scheme to map out the major areas of color and contrast. I used a lot of complimentary color combinations to create vibrancy and lighting. Many times the complimentary color may no longer be seen in the finished painting, but it's there underneath impacting the visible colors.

Working with acrylics allowed me to experiment as I paint, to let the painting lead me. I also used the wet-on-wet approach, mixing many colors on the canvas to invite interesting mark-making and a gestural look.

To keep the 64-page picture book interesting to readers, I varied the lighting, perspective, and composition from painting to painting and carefully planned the book's layout. I was fortunate to have a publisher that allowed me to design the layout and book cover, so I could fully express my vision for the final product.



About the Writing

The inspiration for Tibetan Tales for Little Buddhas began 10 years ago when I first became a student of Lama Surya Das, a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism.

In Tibet, wisdom tales have been passed down for centuries through the oral tradition from teacher to student. One of Lama Surya Das' teachers suggested that he write these tales in English so that they may be of benefit to students in the West. This resulted in a wonderful book of Tibetan tales for adults, called Snow Lion's Turquoise Mane.

In an early conversation with Lama Surya Das, I told him I wanted to create children's books. It was then that he passed the baton of the teaching tales to me. "Why don't you turn some of the tales from my book into tales for children?" he asked. "Then the stories could be of benefit to children as well as adults."

His suggestion fit perfectly with my personal motivation to be of benefit. I had become enamored with the Tibetan people and given the tragic situation in Tibet, I wanted to do what I could to help preserve and share what was left of their sweet and peaceful ways.

So happily, I read the stories from Lama Surya Das's book looking for ones that could provide entertainment and fun to children as well as a taste of Tibetan culture. I found wonderful tales with mystical beings, yaks, goats, and even a yeti. When I had a solid draft of the book, I sent it to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and was greatly honored when he wrote the foreword.

When working on the book, I had to modify the adult stories to make them understandable to children in our culture. And as I did so, I paid close attention to preserving the essence of each tale. This process took several years as my own understanding of the tales deepened.

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