Lok Chitrakar, renowned for his paubha paintings, is a self taught artist who started painting at the tender age of 12. His father and relatives made
various religious arts and as a child Lok would observe them with keen interest. Slowly, he started assisting them and drew pictures of various
deities in religious ceremony. He recalls, "I was 10 years old then one day, an urge to make an art of Astamatrika (eight female deities) captured me.
I searched for its iconography and finally found it in a small temple at Indrachowk. Looking at it, I created my first Paubha art on a cloth."
Art was in his blood; he was fascinated by the paints and brushes in his house and eventually dropped out of school to pursue the art form that came
to him as an inheritance from his ancestors, who belonged to Chitrakar (artist) clan, known for their artistry since time immemorial.
His relentless and untiring work over several years makes him one of the most respected Paubha artists in Nepal. The best part about him is that he
does not seem to realize the artistic height he has achieved and the contributions he has made to his country, and perhaps, this quality in him is the
major force that makes him work harder each day. Today, Chitrakar along with his assistants runs Simrik Atelier in Patan, the city of fine arts.
Maheswar Ghimire hails from rural areas of western Nepal. Born in a farming family, he had seen tremendous diversity of crop seed, livestock and its intricate relationship for sustainable farming system. He is primarily the inspector of organic operation for majority of International Organic standard like IFOAM, NASAA, USNOP, EU2092/91, JAS, and also represents Biosuisse, Canadian Organic Regime in Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea.
Mr. Ghimire also Chairs for SECARD Nepal from 2010, and have worked as short term Consultant for National IPM Programme of FAO/GoN for IPM Standard Development.
His special Interest is in Natural Science with reference to Phenomenology. He is currently focused to promoting Organic Farming in Nepal and other parts of South/South East Asia and is working as an Organic Inspector part time for NASAA Australia.
Mr. Ghimire has worked with different NGOs in Nepal, worked as an Agroforester for CARE Nepal, and worked as an Agriculture Instructor at first Technical School of Nepal in Jumla.
