FROM the SOUL to the BRUSH

Painting is an art which is inborn. You cannot learn it. It is a gift of God and when driven forward with the innerself it comes out on a canvas with the power of the brush - the results can be extraordinary .....and divine.

Jay is such artist who has combined his meditation with his art to bring out exceptional masterpieces. We are proud to present him as an extremely talented member of Sikh Heritage.

Jay (Jaswant S. Tung) was born in 1960 in a small village 'Tung' in the scenic Punjab region of India, where folk arts, crafts and poetry are integral parts of daily life. Following tradition, he continued as a youth to develop his talent by choosing his surroundings as his muse. Even at an early age, Jay knew that he wanted to pursue his art both academically and professionally.
He earned a Degree in Painting at the College of Art Chandigarh India. During his five years there, he travelled around Punjab and the foothills of the Himalayas where he painted landscapes in water colours and oil, as well as a series of village life sketches.
Upon graduation, He lectured for the Government Polytechnic in Ambala City, India. In the mid eighties he went to Nepal where, he painted large murals and paintings for prominent five-star hotels in and around Kathmandu. In the late eighties he went to East Africa Kenya, where for several years he painted African wildlife in watercolors, acrylic and oil paints.
Jay has exhibited in over 50 solo, group and art exhibits throughout India, Kenya, Canada, U.K. and U.S.A. He has received several awards. His paintings are included in the permanent collections of Galleries, Museums and private collectors throughout the world.
The art of Jay reflects luminous consciousness, the essence of who we really are, an empowering path to well being and self knowledge. Each image create its own world where viewer enjoy the inner most and look forward to search for his own soul.
Jay is a member of Portrait Society of America, New York Artists Equity Association, Inc., Flushing Council on Culture & The Arts at Town Hall New York. Williamsburg Art and Historical Center NY, Southampton Artist Association NY.
Since 1999, he has been living and working in the U.S.

We present some of his unique paintings. More can be seen on his website:http://www.punjabipainter.com

Having traversed various stations in my life, the conflict within encouraged me to create these works. My recent paintings have been inspired by the Sacred Hymns of Sikh Gurus, poetic compositions of Nath-Yogis, spiritual writings of Sufi Saints, and the Punjabi folklore. I translate my spiritual and more worldly experiences into images through various media and techniques. Using symbols, words and images in bold colours, I enjoy the divine unsung melodies. Through meditation, I have forayed into the realm of the Spirit, which prods me on to convey my innermost aspirations.
To soothe my soul,
"I meditate through painting, I paint through meditation." (jay jaswant)

We present a few lines from articles published in a local New York newspaper:-

"THE MYSTERY" What we are; where we came from; and where do we go?

Different Prophets, Sages, Philosophers, Thinkers, Yogis, Scientists and other enlightened people have different views about our entity, our origin, and our destination. These questions are debated since thousands of years by almost every civilization. Many of inhabitants of the earliest civilizations have left their questions and answers carved or painted in the caves on the chests of stone, wood and metal in the hills and forests. Old civilizations left their indelible imprint in the temples, pyramids and other places carved, painted and written in so many different media and methods. To date, in the modern world, living in the cyber age soul searching is practiced by most humans. And most have different answers, questions and confusions, pervading their minds.

Soul searching artist Jay Jaswant says, "The answer is meditation, and art for me is a mystically magical journey of self awareness and discovery. It is about possibilities, ideas, energy transformed and expressed by lines, shapes, symbols, words and colors, emerging as forms of humans, animals and landscapes. Part of the magic is THE MYSTERY and the conflict within, encouraging me to create these works. The Sacred Hymns of Sikh Gurus, poetic compositions of Nath-Yogis, spiritual writings of Sufi Saints, and the Punjabi folklore have inspired my recent paintings. I translate my spiritual and worldly experiences into images through various media and techniques. Using symbols, words and images in bold colors, I enjoy the divine unsung melodies. Through meditation, I have forayed into the realm of the spirit, which prods me on to convey my innermost aspirations. To soothe my soul, I meditate through painting, I paint through meditation.”

His paintings are poems drawn on canvas in bold fascinating colors. The enchanting marriage of poetry and art beckons us to enter a garden of beauty and truth where we listen to unsung melodies and drink nectar from the unfathomable ocean of The Divine. Influenced by Guru Nanak’s philosophy, these images open sacred doorways into another world, where the artist walks, flies and swims with symbols, forms, words and colors, singing WAHEGURU- DHUN (Godly melody) in unsung ragas.
These amazing paintings reveal the deeper inner spirit and the refined qualities of the artist's skills, where his trees recite the name of Almighty God and birds sing the songs of Divine Truth. His ‘awakened’ collection of paintings reflects the process of his soul-search. These paintings take us through the moons of the soul where the artist surfs the sacred web of life, tracing reflections of spiritual qualities of the human psyche.
~Terrance Lindall (Vice-Chairman, The Society for Art of Imagination, London, England)

These works are a “soul-searching introspection” by an artist from Amritsar.
“Amritsar” is an Indian city of Golden Temple, where the great “Guru Granth” lives, and classical minstrels recite Gurbani, day and night. Many great spiritual masters, meditators, poets and artisans, the followers of Baba Nanak’s living tradition, blossomed there, contributing the most, by way of promoting Sikh religion and Punjabi culture through visual arts, performing arts, and literature. Many of them residing in different global zones, have proven themselves as blessed practitioners of the arts.
Jay ( Jaswant S. Tung) has all those refined attributes, which are, in essence, symbolic of that rich tradition.
His paintings, with their intensely rich and radiant colors, give us a glimpse of his unique sensibility. The healing powers of the colors can only engross the viewer’s attention, thereby negating the overwhelming emptiness, within.
~Sidharth (Artist) New Delhi

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