Bhagvati Nath

I'm taking part in 'Mother Nature' exhibition in Big Foot Museum, Loutilim, Goa 7 - 11 December 2016

Inaugration 4 pm.  Open daily 10 am to 6 pm

An interview with me, mainly about my 9 years living in the Himalayas in caves and running an ashram, and also on how I began painting again.

An interview with me, mainly about my 9 years living in the Himalayas in caves and running an ashram, and also on how I began painting again.

An interview with me about my life in India, especially the 9 years I was living in the Himalayas, and how I began painting again.

For several years I sat on markets in Goa, selling originals and prints and cards of my paintings, and fulfilling commissions. I also painted signs and walls for restaurants and shops, hand painted clothes and made designs to be printed on clothes. ( ) Some of my paintings have been used for CD and book covers.
In 2009 an art collector from Bangalore asked me to do larger works on canvas. As a result I spent the next 2 years painting a collection of animals and trees, scenes from India, on large canvas - 100 x 70 cms.

These have been exhibited locally, at Artjuna in Anjuna, Goa and internationally, in Innsbruck, Austria (Galleria Claudiana) in May 2011 and in Delhi, India (The Tea Lounge, Taj Palace Hotel) in November & December 2011

June, July and August 2012 have been spent painting 5 large paintings (acrylic on canvas), several smaller works and working on the set of a movie about an artist. Unfortunately I am not allowed to show these paintings until the release of the movie. (Mangola Productions, Switzerland).

Nature Revisited

A solo exhibition of Watercolour Paintings by Bhagvati Nath

The Tea Lounge,
Taj Palace Hotel,
New Delhi, India

27th November to 12th December 2011

Born and educated in South East England (till BA Social Anthropology SOAS, London University), I lived and taught English in Verona, Italy for eight years. I also travelled extensively and was a professional travel writer, working for the British company 'The Rough GUides' and contributing to magazines for several years .

In 1993 I returned to India for the fifth time, where I met and fell in love with a beautiful Nath Saddhu, from Dharamsala, Himalayas. It was in Hampi, Karnataka, and we lived in caves, next to the river, amongst the rocks and temples where Hanuman, the Monkey God, was born and lived in Ramayana times. We lived with the Gods, in a surreally beautiful setting, around a sacred fire, singing praises to God. I was enchanted, transported into a different time and space so old it had no boundaries. I wanted to stay forever.

So after a few months and many adventures, we (seven of us) went to Dharamsala. I became a saddhu, (officially initiated in 1997 Kumbha Mela in Haridwar,) Nathji and I got married and we created an Ashram on a mountain above Dharamsala away from the tourists (anyway very few in those idyllic days). I learnt the ancient Vedic ways, lived with the Gods and worshipped fully. After a year and a half our beautiful daughter, Maya, joined us. We holy-dayed in the Himalayas, and migrated South when the mountains became too cold. We were on a constant pilgrimage in traditional sacred places, always by a river, living in temples, caves, jungles; always peaceful, beautiful; the people we met were loving, interesting, of all nationalities and beliefs, many becoming long term friends and whom I consider my family now.

Life was idyllic, if a bit crazy at times. But at the turn of the millenium disaster struck us, our lives were turned inside out and I fell into the abyss of no-thingness, where everything is before it becomes something. When I pulled myself out (with much help from Maya, my daughter) and looked around again I saw I had to recreate my life.

I sat by our river, with my special friend Omanath and our children, and decided to become a painter. It was the only thing I knew how to do that no-one else around could. And I'd been saying for years, "Someone should paint these rocks, this river, these trees, this life before it gets destroyed".

So I did. The act of painting became my meditation. I discovered the patterns that all things have; I played with light and shade, and the gaps in between, where the imagination grows. I recreated beautiful scenes, discovered tree spirits, captured a life dissapearing even as I watch. I rebelieved in God and the Universe and that everyone and thing has its rightful place in the universe. My spirit, the light inside me, expanded and reached to God, the Great Source of all, and I became a gifted painter.

Now I live in Goa, by the sea. My daughter goes to school here and I try to be a 'good' mother, while I continue to paint the scenes around me.

So welcome to my world, a reflection of my life.

Artist of the Month for January 2011 on

Monday 3rd February 6.00pm ArtJuna Anjuna, Bardez, Goa India 1 week

Exhibition of Watercolour on Canvas
Galerie Claudiana, Innsbruk, Austria
Preview 2nd May 2011
Vernisage on 5th May 2011
Close on 13th May

The Times of India, Goa Times 28th January 2010

Although I paint using different media, I prefer to paint with watercolour on canvas or paper. I like the transparancy of watercolour and I use it in layers so each colour shines through, adding its own effect. Once I have the desired colours, I add the details in dots and dashes, following patterns, to form the illuson of hair, or depth, or strange creatures.

I use colour, light, shade, reflections and the 'shapes in between' to explore the cosmic patterns and fractiles present everywhere.

A short interview