Duc Vien Buddhist Pagoda is a place of worship for Vietnamese Buddhists, and a beautiful, serene, and peaceful environment for us to paint. The gardens are stunning with many tropical plants, water features, many Buddha statues of different sizes and shapes, and many mythical animals, including dragons, surrounding the pagoda to ward off evil spirits. There are several tortoises, symbols of strength and longevity. There are several karst landscapes (craggy, irregularly weathered limestone which is found in Vietnam) which made paintsite co-coordinator Jane imagine she was still on her recently completed vacation to Vietnam. There is a delightful collection of many miniature Buddha statues that are all very happy and doing many different activities such as resting, chatting, serving tea, praying, and playing the flute. The Buddhist nuns were very friendly and interested in our artwork, which made our visit even more pleasant.
The term "pagoda" is used differently here than we are used to. In Vietnam, a pagoda is a place where Buddhists go to pray and worship Buddha, in contrast to a Vietnamese temple which is a place to worship a person like a king, queen, or national hero. The architecture of a Vietnamese pagoda is not necessarily multi-tiered, as pagodas usually are in other cultures.
Their official website has photos, but is written in Vietnamese:
https://www.chuaducvien.com/
Upcoming Paintsites. See the SCVWS
website or the June Newsletter for details.
- Thursday, June 6, Lake Elizabeth, Fremont
- Saturday, June 8, Fredericks Field, Almaden Valley
- Thursday, June 13, Casa Grande, New Almaden
- Thursday, June 20, Maryknoll Retirement Residence, Los Altos
- Thursday, June 27, Sunnyvale Historical Museum
Artists and their artwork
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One of several Buddhas located in the gardens
surrounding the Duc Vien Pagoda (photo by
E. Rooks)
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| Brad |
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| Brad's pen and ink of miniature Buddha statues |
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Cindy (photo by E. Rooks)
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Cindy's watercolor of a dragon roof decoration.
As part of Buddhist mythology statues of fierce
looking animals are placed around the building
to ward off evil spirts. |
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| Dick |
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| Dick's painting of the fountain area |
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| Edward and Matt |
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| Edward's painting of the Buddha statue in the front garden |
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Helen (photo by E. Rooks)
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| Helen's monochromatic painting of miniature Buddhas |
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| Indira |
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Indira's watercolor of a mountain-like altar and fountain.
The structures look similar to the karst formations of Vietnam. |
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Iris (photo by E. Rooks)
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| Iris's watercolor of a reclining miniature Buddha |
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| Jane's watercolor sketch of a bronze crane |
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Liz (photo by E. Rooks)
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| Liz's painting of a group of Buddha figures |
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Lora (photo by E. Rooks)
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| Marilyn |
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| Marilyn's painting of a reclining Buddha figure |
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Matt (photo by E. Rooks)
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Matt's painting of one of the Buddhas on the west
side of the Pagoda |
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Salinda (photo by E. Rooks)
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| Salinda's painting of one of the dragons protecting the pagoda |
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| Sham |
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| Sham's painting of the marble Buddha and garden |
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| Tanvi |
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| Tanvi's watercolor of an incense altar near the front of the Pagoda |
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Tanvi's closeup of the one the four dragons
adorning the Pagoda's roof corners |
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| Toni |
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| Toni's watercolor of the leaves of a banana plant |
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| Toni's second painting of banana leaves |
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Wendy (photo by E. Rooks)
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Wendy's pen and watercolor sketch of plants and fruit offerings
beneath a Buddha and fountain |
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| Paintsite artists at lunch break |
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| Paintsite artists eating lunch |
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| Paintsite artists at lunch break |
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Brad setting up Paintsite artwork on his specially designed easel
(photo by E. Rooks)
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| Paintsite artists viewing their artwork |
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