Early life

Born in 1976 in Lekhnath in the western municipality of Nepal, NB Gurung is becoming globally known as a passionate leading watercolour artist. His artistic passion began as a young child when he started copying images from school text books. Encouraged by classmates and his teachers, he began to dream of being an artist some day, however after completing his School Leaving Certificate (SLC), his desire to become formally trained in art had to wait another five years

MOVING ON…

In 1998 NB joined an art training institute, Art Line, run by senior artist Alok Gurung and where he spent almost a year. During his training period he was so drawn to the medium of watercolour that his classmates and teachers were absolutely astonished observing his impressive talents! Although given the opportunity to work in other media it was watercolour which he loved. After completing his training he started selling some of his works to a local gallery but it wasn’t possible to achieve the passion and heights to which he knew he could fly by just doing this. He was in search of a broader canvas and where he could hone his superb talents

Early success

It was in 2001 that NB’s artistic journey took a U-turn when a national on-the-spot art competition was held in Kathmandu. He decided to take part in the competition where he gained second place from amongst four hundred competitors – along with formally educated students from the local Fine Arts College. This made him determined to live in Kathmandu and showcase his talents. But due to financial restraints this was not an easy decision – however he was determined! Meanwhile he decided to take a BA in Humanities and Social Sciences which helped his parents to decide to help him to achieve more studying in Kathmandu

University

In 2001 NB started his Masters Degree in Humanities and Social Sciences in Tribhuwan University. His study and creating works of art went side by side. Not easy to achieve but again, determined NB fought on! Buying art materials, academic textbooks and paying university fees lead him into a severe financial crisis and asking for money from his parents was no longer viable. So to generate income for art materials and tuition fees he started taking his works of art to local art galleries to sell – however not all gallery owners were willing to take a punt on an unknown and struggling artist and those that did agree to sell his art paid little for it. Undeterred, NB continued…

Freelance artist

After completion of his degree he had two options: either find a new job related to his studies or to be a freelance artist. Finally he decided to devote himself totally to his art and struggled, as do many aspiring young artists. Between 2005 -2010 to make ends meet, NB worked in art galleries as a curator and for two years as a part time lecturer as well. However his heart was in producing his own paintings and for the past few years he has been a full time watercolour artist residing in Kathmandu

Recognition

In his 20 years or so as an artist, NB has earned unbelievable recognition for executing distinct watercolours. He has staged three solo watercolour exhibitions, taken part in numerous group art exhibitions and participated in several art workshops. He has twice been selected as a member of the judging panel for the International Watercolor Society’s Art Contest in 2012 and 2014 and been awarded some major prestigious prizes. His art has been hugely collected in private homes and abroad

Nepalese Art societies

Apart from creating work of arts, NB has been involved in different organizations developing art in Nepal. Currently he is a Vice President of the Transparent Watercolor Society, Nepal; secretary/ member of Nepal Lalitkala Munch and a member of the Artist’s Society of Nepal and Commercial Artist’s Association of Nepal