Success sometimes begins with a "story", so does Tseten Namgyai, a noted Tibetan folk Thangka painter. He was bound up in painting at his fifteen, when he worked for a farm. From then on, he was used to paint with a stick if he had time. He painted almost everything he met.

Tseten Namgyai was born in a poor Tibetan family. He began to study Tibetan language when he was ten. Because of poorness, he was forced to drop out of school and help his family with grazing. When he was fifteen years old, he worked for a farm and fell in love with painting.

In 1979, his destiny takes a favorable turn, he was an apprentice to the famous Tibetan Thangka painter Jampel Wangchug and started getting acquainted with and studying Thangka painting. He showed great talent in painting and gained remarkable improvement under the tutorial of Jampel Wangchug.

With 28-year study, he was qualified for a professional Thangka painter and set out his own career. In 1996, he opened a Thangka shop in the Barkor Street of Lhasa. Apart from other opponents, he not only sells paintings but takes apprentices, who are from both home and abroad. "As long as he or she loves Thangka, I am willing to take him/her in regardless of age, nationality and sexuality", he said.

"An excellent painting depends on the painter's altitude. Only with calm, happy and careful mood can create a perfect painting," said Tseten Namgyai. He said it usually takes one month to finish a simple painting, half a year or even more for a complicated one.

He said good altitude is the most important aspect for a Thangka painter as it requires hundred-percent devotion and concentration.

With good quality, his paintings are somewhat famous and enjoying a good market in Chinese Hongkong, Macao, Taiwan and other Southeast Asia and European countries. He donated most of his earnings to support the education in Tibet, he said:"Income from Thangka should be used in right place."

Tseten Namgyai's wish is to hold his private Thangka exhibition all around the world to publicize and introduce Thangka painting as well as culture of Tibet. He also plans to build a Thangka painting school in Lhasa both in Chinese and English free of charge for all Thangka lovers. He said :"Thangka is a 'cultural card' Tibet offers to the world."

"The handicraft of Thangka painting is passing on and on by all generations and will never stop,"he said.