Envision is available in a limited edition of 281.
The image is 27.5" x 12" (70 x 30.5 cm), on 32" x 16"
(81 x 40.5 cm) archival acid free paper.

About the Painting - Envision

This water color painting depicts the fierce Tibetan female deity Palden Lhamo, protector of the Dalai Lama. It is based on traditional Tibetan thanka-style design and pointillism technique. However it reflects a personal vision and aesthetic and is very untraditional in both color and composition.

Envision was created in 1987 while living in Hawaii and required over six months to complete. I used a very fine brush to layer the colors with a more than one million small dots. The painting was partly inspired by my trip to Tibet in 1986 and visits to a number of monasteries in Lhasa and Shigatze where unexpected circumstances led to an opportunity to see and study some rarely shown Thanka paintings.

I was living in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1991 when the Dalai Lama visited the city on his world peace tour. In honor of the occasion, a framed two-third size copy of the original was presented to him prior his talk with a small group of invited guests at the Tibetan sangha (center).

A percentage of each print will be donated to the Sipapu foundation of New Mexico for the preservation of Tibetan culture.
-- Ari Tomita


Ari Tomita's brush works flow and become alive, and her paintings bear within them a life spirit that inspires ... I can only recommend that Ari's work be seen to understand the depth of talent that can bring western pointillism into the world of tanka. Ari represents the best of the modern Japanese school of living brush work.
-- Michael Saso, Prof. of Chinese Religion (emeritus), U. Hawaii