I was born Rebecca Ann Todd, the daughter of an artist mother. I grew up drawing horses and nature, then painting landscapes, then studying figure drawing in college, and, as time passed, exploring various styles and emulating various masters in search of my own subject matter and style. I wanted to express a spiritual meaning in my art, but I didn’t know much about what spiritual meaning was, and nothing seemed satisfactory. I kept painting, but as the years passed there was always a vague frustration or disappointment.
Then in 1984 I encountered the Hare Krishna movement, and the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. A whole new world opened up! This was a world of the ultimate meaning of life, and of a personal God who is unlimitedly beautiful and has unlimited pastimes with all the drama any artist could want. It was what I was looking for, not only meaningful artistic material, but personal meaning and faith as well. At last I had found something I could embrace wholeheartedly and dedicate my life to.
In 1985 I was initiated and given the name Madhava Priya devi dasi. It did not happen that I participated very much in the illustration of Srila Prabhupada’s books, but I did paint two pictures for the Tenth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Later I illustrated several small books in black and white line drawings, especially “You’re Not That Body” by Bir Krishna das Goswami, from whom I received second level initiation. I have continued to paint Krishna, always with the idea of sharing and spreading the knowledge of Krishna consciousness.
Since 1996 I have been giving classes on Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-Gita at the Atlanta ISKCON temple and in the Atlanta area, especially Little Five Points, where I reside with my husband, Bhakta Christopher Brooks.
Some of the original artworks on this website are available for sale, if you have an enquiry or any other question or comment you can contact Madhava Priya here.
Thanks to Bala Clark for putting this website together, you can contact him here
