Above is Amar Shrestha's studio in Kathmandu, Nepal. These are works in progress of Flick the Golden Retreiver, Moose the Rottweiller, Dexter the Coton de Tulear, Chester the Basset Hound, and Veera the Boston Terrier.
Flick and Dexter have been sold, but the others are available. Amar's studio is on the second floor, he works in natural light, sitting on the floor. That's a silk screening apparatus on the right bottom, where they make business cards the old fashioned way, on hand made Lokti paper. Lokti paper, a specialty of Nepal, is also made the old fashioned way.
This studio is NK's and is located in Beni, a small but thriving town in the Myagdi province in Nepal. The town supports at least 3 signboard painters. Above is Jack the French Bulldog (looking like a pig dog), Gigi the puppy, Yoko the French Bulldog, and the last is another of Jack the French Bulldog. The first two are still available. NK finished the pieces with a dark blue background in the finished pieces.
Dilip Niroj at work on his Folk Art Obama commission in November of 2008. The finished portrait was spectacular and sold immediately.
Here is Hari Prasad's work drying in the sun. Many of these have been sold, the four portraits of the Great Dane's are in my personal collection, but the Collie and the Westie are available.
Hari's studio is in Kathmandu.
This is Lal Karki's Studio in Pokhara, a lakeside resort town in Nepal. I liked this photo so much that it is the cover of my book 'Danger Dogs from Nepal Volume 2'. I really like Lal's work, but his pieces have never sold, so the Dalmation, Fox-like Dog and the Spitz are all still available.
You can see how close Megh Raj works to the street in this one! Megh Raj works in Kathmandu, and recently he redid his studio completely, so it was very spiffy the last time I saw it this past November.
Prem's studio in Pokhara no longer exists. This studio was torn down and is now a bank. The portrait of the Rhodesian Ridgeback, the Bearnese Mountain Dog and the Dalmation were all snapped up, but the Nepali dog, the Boxer and the Saint Bernard are still available. I love the cow's hoof just outside the door.
Ram Mohan Patel's studio is a room off his house where he lives with his wife, two beautiful daughters and a son.
Sufraj Khadka cleans his brushes by painting anti-smoking graffiti on his walls.
This is the studio of Yuba Raj Adhikari of Pokhara. These paintings are all portraits of rescue dogs. I think all of the yellow dogs are still available, if they haven't sold yet at the Ghetto Gloss Gallery in Hollywood. This group is a little larger than the standard size for these signboards at 12" by 15".
Shree in his studio/home with a portrait of FloJo the Italian Greyhound on a couch. Shree lives and works in this one room with his wife and 2 children. The art on his walls always includes at least one Danger Dog. The first time I met him, he had a painting of a 'beware of dog' sign on his wall.
The Nepal Art Dog project promotes the endangered art of Nepali signboards. Signboards are painted on recycled metal, using synthetic enamel and are meant to hang outdoors. Over 1400 portraits have been commissioned to date, giving these artists real work. I have worked with over 58 artists.
On my last trip to Nepal, the Danger Dog commissions were the only art these artists were still hand painting -- all their other work was digital or printed on flex. These artists can and will paint anything. I decided to concentrate on pets as there was a tradition in Nepal already of 'beware of dog' placards and I knew that people would like them.
Each commission will be given to at least 3 signboard artists - giving 3 people work, the pet owner a choice and museum shops Nepali folk art. No money is accepted up front. If you don't like any of the 3 choices, you pay nothing.
Please contact me at [email protected] with any questions.
This project is for pet lovers who collect art and would like to make a difference in these artists' lives.
More information is available at NepalDog.com.