Lama Lodro

Lama Lodro (Jefferson Alvin Olson) is a mystic and classically trained Buddhist meditation teacher currently residing in Whitehorse, Yukon.  Born in North America of Viking descent, Lama Lodro moved to the Orient in his early 20’s.  During his years as a Buddhist monk, he lived in Buddhist monasteries in Burma, India, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sikkim, and Thailand.

Lama Lodro is also an enthusiastic artist, certified journeyman carpenter, amateur naturalist, and hobby mechanic.  Largely self-taught as an artist, Lama Lodro’s unique and dramatic artistic explorations are flavoured by the colours and textures of the many countries in which he has lived and travelled.

The primordial, sometimes visually-explosive, energy formations that Lama Lodro paints are vibrant fusions of mysticism and science – often seasoned with a dash of whimsy.  His themes are drawn from astronomy, geology, neurology, physics, dreams, visions, global mythologies, and even from science fiction.

Lama Lodro describes his lively, spontaneous style of partially-abstract, experimental painting as “Interpretative Expressionism”.  He currently paints with acrylics, and the verve of his fluid, luminous technique developed out of his past work in textile design, batik, print-making, water colours, and oil painting.  Lama Lodro’s spontaneous approach to creating art was partially inspired by his studies in Japan with a Master of flower arranging.

In 2006, Lama Lodro’s painting “Gaia in Transition” won First Place in the People’s Choice Awards held by the Yukon Art Society in Whitehorse.  Lama Lodro has left a trail of experimental art across the planet.  Some of his art is in private collections in foreign countries.  Some of the art he made during his journeys was of biodegradable materials and was released to the elements (with ecological sensitivity) in inspiring locations in Belize, Egypt, Japan, and Peru, among many other places.