EPISODE SUMMARY
My guest today is a California girl who bought a one-way ticket to India and landed in a Tibetan sewing workshop next door to the Dalai Lama and became one of few non-Tibetans to master the Buddhist art of silk appliqué thangka. Trained by two of the finest living Tibetan appliqué artists, she learned to stitch bits of silk into elaborate figurative mosaics that bring the transformative images of Buddhist meditation to life. Her art has been exhibited internationally and featured in magazines such as Spirituality & Health and Fiber Art Now and in the documentary, “Creating Buddhas: The Making and Meaning of Fabric Thangkas.” Today she is a textile artist, teacher, and author of the forthcoming book, “Threads of Awakening: An American Woman’s Journey into Tibet’s Sacred Textile Art.” Welcome to Authors Over 50, Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo.